Unfortunately, this problem waste a lot of my time that could be spent on other investments.I have used the same tax professional for many years and he is very educated, but also much older than me and it's hard for me to understand all the reasons he has expressed why is better to put the rental on my personal tax returns.

Personally, I do not like any strategy or approach that aims to benefit from the misfortune of others.

Many banks limit personal loan amounts.

Will you potentially be more at peace if you sell and buy an investment property that you have never lived in personally?

You will have to pay higher personal income tax rate, versus waitingtill after one year for lower Capital gain tax rates.

Based on your numbers, and assuming you have a credit score high enough and have never filed for BK, you shouldn't have an issue getting approved for an HML to buy/rehab the property that I would estimate at about $370k-$375k (which includes 100% of the rehab costs).

And I don't think they're taking applications yet, but you'll likely have to apply in person.

The owner was motivated due to personal circumstances and wanted to avoid the hassle of listing the property publicly.

I want to start smart and scale up as I learn the ropes, but I’m personally struggling to narrow down which area to focus on.If you’ve done this before, what advice would you give someone like me?

I personally target Lauderdale, Limestone, Morgan, and Madison Counties.