@Perry DollarYou should have found a CPA as you were selling the properties.One way to mitigate taxes is through a 1031 exchange.

That will get your feet wet in real estate investing and mitigating your risk.  

I think in larger cities the risk is mitigated (we are currently stationed in Oklahoma City, and it's a large metro area, lots of other employers) so I'd worry less here b/c  of that. 

Make sure to let him know how he is protected, and go over worst case scenarios, and let him know how you will mitigate them.

Your lease stating tenants are responsible for fines from their actions is definitely a good thing to have, but it’s only mitigating a part of your risk.For instance, let’s say your condo building has 100 units (made up numbers for easy math), and finds it needs to spend $1,000,000 on replacing the roof, siding, and HVAC.

Can you establish residency, or "intent" to reside and still be meeting the FHA guidlines while renting out the other unit to mitigate holding costs?

Owner didnt want to bother mitigating termites.

If you follow this it should really help you mitigate a lot of issues when you are investing from afar.Don't buy in the roughest neighborhood in the urban core.

But if I earned lets so 200,000 outside of real-estate, then real-estate doesn't help me mitigate taxes?

The only mention of water intrusion by sellers was "Only ever a tenant caused issue and mitigated in full".