Waterproof,  easy to clean, durable from a wear/tear perspective.

(pro tip - asking tenants questions about the place is a great way to gauge the problems of the home and a good perspective on how it might be dealing with that tenant)You'll be happy you put the home on the market vacant than trying to schedule appointments and dealing with a tenant. 

Would it be a good idea to start my RE journey while in school in a tax perspective?

Everyone comes from a different walk in life and they will give you different perspectives.  

These loans require your personal "DTI" to be in order, but to put it in perspective I see those rates at or around 7.49% on investment LLC loans with 20-25% down and 2% or less in orignation fees. 

So there are a few ways to look at this, the 1st question is are you sure your renovation’s will double the property value, most renovations on primary residences, your lucky to get 60-70% of the dollar cost back out upon sale, so really nail down your comps, than you have basically a math problem if your rate on your primary goes up how long if ever before that extra payment is more than 400k in taxes, that’s just a simple calculation to help you decide, but I suspect you actually have a different question here, from a purely financial perspective my guess is the best option is to do anything to avoid that tax hit, but one of the reasons to make money is to spend it on things that you enjoy, based on your overall financial picture and a subjective view of how much enjoyment you will get out of a renovated home, you should decide if you want to roll your profit into another deal or “cash-out” your winnings, I love cars and I’m willing to spend more than is fiscally smart on them because they bring me joy, there is nothing wrong with that, but i don’t think it’s a fiscally smart choice, without knowing your exact property id imagine a renovation would fall into that category, so that’s the terms I would use to decide.

The LLC question was Bill's assumption, I didn't bring that LLC structure in my initial posting because I didn't want to complicate things...but you both are right, it is part of the question (although not from, or not only from the 1031 exchange perspective): what is the best structure to hold these properties?

So, the following comes from the perspective of a small-portfolio landlord who is a DIYer who lives close to his units and doesn't want to pay for a Registered Agent and PO BOX.

Both arenas challenge us to see the world from new perspectives, assess risks smartly, and enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

Each return metric gives a unique perspective into a particular risk associated with an investment / portfolio.