Now I can see some builders having an issue with comps.. but other than that its crazy to take these funds as income and then pay tax and plow it right back in.. 

Where to get the most recent and accurate data for things like:Unemployment dataPopulation growthJob diversity and top employers in the areaVacancy rates (eg huduser.org)Property taxes and jnsurance costsI saw bp pro and reventure and a bunch of other websites provide some of this data, but i wonder how accurate and recent it is.

The US Government and the States have but one way to deal with this, taxes.

There are two reasons this is a bad idea.Investing with an SDIRA (assuming it is not a Roth) will often result in paying significantly more taxes. 

This allows you to use all of the tax and deferred depreciation recapture to purchase the larger MF propertyA consolidation exchange is where you sell multiple investment properties to purchase a larger and nicer investment property, but you also get the benefit of using all of the tax you would have had to pay to your advantage.

The cashflow should cove ALL of the expenses for the primary (mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, etc) AND put money in their pocket.

You have the ability to sell while limiting your capital gains tax because you lived in 2 of the last 5 years. 

Here’s the situation:Purchase Price: $540,000Down Payment: 20%Mortgage Rate: 7.125% (30-year fixed)Monthly Expenses (Mortgage, HOA, Taxes, Insurance): $3,706Realistic Max Rent: $3,000As you can see, I’m currently short $706/month even with max rent.

Do you have a current need for that cash flow generated from the tax savings?

As U.S. citizens residing in Europe, we are required by the local tax code to hold the property in our personal name.