Your best bet is to get on the phone, get multiple opinions, multiple quotes, and make decisions on the type of build before pulling the trigger.

I can bet if inflation runs then Boston prices skyrocket, but I doubt Austin does.

If you kept the property, and accumulated the CF/yr, it would take you 25 years to get that same equity that's sitting, frozen in your property.Also, if you cashed out and used that same equity as a DP on different RE, at 20% DP, that equity would buy you $2M in PV, not just $700k,...and, I'd be willing to bet, you could find new RE that would have a yearly CF well over $20k/year.On top of that (remembering my initial statement above), any appreciation applied would be applied to $2M, not just $700k. 

Don’t share number or call odd hours.  

You said: "This seems like an odd strategy - purposefully invest in an asset that loses value, with the hope that it will regain value to save a little on taxes... 

The Midwest is probably your best bet for a number of reasons.

I haven't seen any statistics to this effect and I don't think any has necessarily been compiled but I bet I wouldn't exaggerate if I state that 95% of the value of real estate in Southern Spain or at least the province of Andalucia is in the Costa del Sol.

I've dealt with thousands of reviews in my other companies, and I get how you increase the odds of not getting a bad review by comping, but there's always a couple crazys who still give a bad review. 

Bacon is more yummy than a Christmas tree, but I bet I'm going to have a whole lot less regulation growing Christmas trees... however, before we even get to that, it's necessary to know that the inquiry is even about bacon v Christmas trees, rather than Bacon v grapes. 

What do you think the odds are that a strategy like this will survive the next economic reset?