There's other items such as this where it may be helpful to talk to a CPA/EA for a little tax planning, especially since you'll likely get caught up in the passive activity loss limitations if taking bonus on a single rental property as I often see.It's also useful to mention that even if you do the cost seg study (I'm assuming you're doing one to be talking about this), you'll still benefit from accelerated depreciation in the form of shorter useful lives on the assets where you received bonus from.

For these, costs tend to double across the board, especially for older buildings.

In my opinion, the US and the UAE have agreements to avoid double taxation, so there should not be any additional costs in Dubai.

The forms are online, and it costs $100 per filing. 

Would a cash-out refinance to free up equity and keep growing be a smart move, or should I focus on paying down my existing debts?

Covering the mortgage isn’t an issue, but I’m considering factors like: Multi-Family: House hacking would help offset costs right away, but I’d likely need to put money into renovations upfront.Single-Family: Easier move-in with no immediate renovations needed, plus potentially lower tenant turnover once I rent it out For those who have been in a similar situation, what did you choose and why?

When evaluating a property management company, it's important to look beyond just the management fee and consider the full scope of services and costs involved.For example, at our company, we charge a 10% monthly management fee, a $250 lease renewal fee (unless it’s a takeover tenant, which requires additional effort to establish a strong relationship - because usually people are changing pm companies for a reason), and the first month’s rent as a leasing fee.

I always a little under my target amount ( a month interest and half the cost of the attorney) so they can negotiate. 

Feel free to reach out if you would like more information.

Typically starting with a smaller rehab budget of $50K or less (maybe a max of $75K) and avoiding a 1 to 1(or higher) ratio of purchase to rehab costs is recommend when you are first starting out.