Landlord will promptly respond to Tenant request for repairs but will not be monetarily responsible for tenant disruptions or inconveniences during habitable times of repairs or tenant/guest injuries incurred in or around obvious areas of maintenance, repairs, or construction.We are more converned about them expecting us to pay for their losses rather than getting recouped for damages to our property. 

That being said, I'm always an advocate for paying for mentorship to fast track your goals. 

OMG, please do  NOT take money out of your 401K to pay off a mortgage, especially not for a rental. 

They pay themselves good "salary" from the loans they get.

Another option is to invest in the market instead of paying down a mortgage.

From what I understand, a 1031 exchange doesnt apply in this case, and so I will have to pay short term capital gains on the appreciation ?

I'm assuming I would have to pay it off if I won the house. 

If you pay cash, you don't have to cover the cost of a mortgage.

One would think that a bidder would pay $45,000 in my example (since they are assuming the first mortgage), but they are actually bidding $225,000.

The seller's LLC pays capital gains tax and depreciation recapture, while the buyer's LLC uses the purchase price as the new cost basis.