You now have $5k in unreimbursed expenses, and 2 houses; one with a $200k mortgage worth $250k (giving you $50k in equity), and; one with a paid off HELOC, value and mortgage unknown, but presumably with more than $165k in equity.You should also treat the $5k unreimbursed renovation cost as a debt and pay it back (even to yourself) accordingly.There is no tax due because not only did you not make any realized gain, but there was no sale. 

Over time of that LL making mistakes he is gaining much knowledge and hopefully it turns to wisdom and eventually he is helping others.  

@Wilson Pereira  I think it might be to his benefit if you set up more than one trust but what is the gain if most of your property is joint?  

There are companies that allow you to invest extremely passively in areas that are very affordable.

Are passive investors put first in the deal, earning a return before the sponsors?

so what suggestions might you have for more passive investments? 

Buy and hold for long term gains How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

My main question is if these properties ended up cash flowing or gaining appreciation in the past few years? 

Physical REI is not a paper investment; almost anyone whose invested on paper numbers I am willing to bet is showing a lot less than the reality of if it unless they took realized gains by selling(into the appreciation rate) or cashed out refi. 

Would refinancing now to simply gain a point (if that) on my current rate affect my ability to carry out one of these other strategies in the next year?