I'd love to hear from any real estate investors who live half the year abroad (Europe - especially France) and half the year in the USA (sunny California, in my case). 

And I am half way through the 2 books I mentioned!

Our detached garage is about 325 square feet now and half of that space was legally converted to a recreation room with a bathroom in the 80s.

A problem well articulated is half solved. 

Typically about 75-125 people in the room and probably half or more own or manage rentals. 

We went from a 2 bedroom 1 bath home on a little under a half an acre to a 4 bed 3 bath home and an extra building the prior owners called the "pottery barn" that sits on 2.5 acres in town.

This has more upside but there is a situation where you run out of cash half way through and get stuck. 4.

I'd definitely talk to your CPA to run scenarios, but I believe there are some exceptions to the 2 years if your move is due to an employment change or other extenuating circumstance that causes you to need to move more than 50 miles from your current place of residence.I feel like tax code is always slightly changing, so I've found running different scenarios with a CPA is the easiest way to get a straight answer.

The estate offers 9 bedrooms, 10 full & 3 half baths, bowling alley, indoor basketball court, theater, 3 swimming pools, 3000 sf master closet, housekeepers quarters and much more.

The location would be Northern California within 100 miles of Bay Area?