Any good deal will go very quick and like you said, out of state, or recent arrivals are buying anything not nailed down so prices continue to climb.best wishes

Hello @Jesse Fifield,@Rory Gill Hit the nail on the head with his advice!

Eamonn nailed it- Unless you are buying that property with capital gains there are 0 tax benefits

Again, perfectly nailed it @Chris Hopper. 

I've worked too hard to get my credit back to good standing over the last decade I don't want to ruin it because I'm shopping around for the best deal.Another few articles I've read say you can only really vet up to 3 lenders, so that puts a cap on it I guess, but that's still 3 hits to your credit score even 3 soft pulls gotta bring your credit down a handful of points. 

Service based retail that is hard to replicate online, such as convenience stores, restaurants, QSR, grocery, wireless stores, dry cleaners, medical offices, hair and nail salons, etc can generate strong risk-adjusted yield compared to apartments.

Is there a CAP on capital gains?

Currently we're working on reaching a savings goal before we make a move, but we're trying to nail down a strategy to pursue.

Currently we're working on reaching a savings goal before we make a move, but we're trying to nail down a strategy to pursue.

@Kris H.I like the HGTV comparison, you hit the nail on the head.