There's several strategies you could take here, including unlocking some of that equity rather than outright selling. 

But then I could sell and unlock the other 30% of equity and move on.So basically what I'm looking at here is either 1) sell and give the IRS 40% of my profits and walk away with $40k (assuming the above sales price works out... it could very well NOT work out this way), OR 2) retain the house, rent it out at $0 cash flow per year, but get a $100k check in 5 months to go reinvest.Is my thought process correct here?

If this ends up working for you, please let me know.I'd recommend a kevo quickset smart lock with the kevo smart hub, which allows wifi access to the lock so you can lock/unlock the door from anywhere. eKey handoff is pretty simple with it as well.I haven't looked into the smart smoke detectors or water detectors, but I do like your thinking behind these devices.But from our findings, we've found millennial renters are willing to pay a 10-15% rent premium for smart home amenities, so I'd say its worth looking into to see how IoT devices can impact your bottom line.

@YiBing T.I use August, it’s phenomenal, you can administer virtual keys, can lock and unlock remotely, log of activity and it’s only the latch lock so no need to get new handles.

I'd certainly not do the auto pilot thing either.Any Realtor worth a flip shows a property and when they are done, checks the property to ensure it's locked up, that the back door wasn't left unlocked, etc.

What if she has some suspended passive losses that would be unlocked when sold?

This is EXACTLY my goal - to unlock my retirement funds from my current plan administrator so that I can direct investments into RE.

I have let my car unlocked with the keys inside a few times, when I wasn't home for the renter to pick up.

They had those electronic locks where you type in a code and the deadbolt electronically unlocks.

How do we unlock the value we created in the rehab?