What you have described sounds like a real estate  race to the bottom and you will be in the lead .

@Gabriella PellolioIt sounds like you’re in an exciting position to leverage the equity you’ve built to grow your portfolio. 

Here are a couple of ways you could structure the deal:Lease Option with Seller Financing: You could lease the property with an option to buy later, allowing you to rehab it while giving the sellers time to find a 1031 replacement property.Seller Financing with Deferred Payment: Structure the seller financing with no immediate payments, allowing you to refinance once the property is appraised, and the sellers can complete the 1031 exchange when ready.Escrow Holdback: Transfer the deed into an escrow account, giving you control without immediate transfer, so the sellers can take their time with the 1031.Third-Party Facilitation: Use a qualified intermediary to hold funds and facilitate the 1031 exchange while you refinance.These options allow flexibility for both you and the sellers.

Plastic walls sound like a good idea.

I'm thinking of maybe just lumping them into a category under repairs or something but want to see if others have a It sounds like categorizing deductions under a ‘repairs’ category could work as a temporary fix, but it might not give you the full accuracy you’re looking for long-term.

Quote from @Marc Shin: @Bruce Woodruff so a photo of the living room, followed by a completely separate photo of the game room?

We went completely distributed and virtual from the jump because I believe that's where professional services is headed in the next 10+ years.  

I hired Jenny Yi to design our latest STR in person, she demanded that I pay the full amount of her services upfront, $7,500, which I thought was strange as we are used to paying half upfront and half once it's completed, but proceeded anyway because a couple of people recommended her.

I intend to rent out the units by room to college students (does it sound like this would work in this area and what are some general tips/things I should look out for?).

The property will need to have a slight rehab to get it up to STR standards, but when complete it should easily be a $200k Gross booking revenue property.