Build a local team that is familiar not only with the area but also with the type of property you are purchasing - location, unit count/mix, rents etc...These folks will be your boots on the ground.

I can always count on you for a great answer. 

Fannie also fairly recently allows Airbnb incone to be counted now too 

Count me in...

I have been told I have to have my rentals for a min of 2 years and another said the income would only count if it was on my 2017 tax returns. 

Yes, it's true you shouldn't "count" on appreciation, but shouldn't you be looking in areas that indicate that they'll appreciate.

I am not counting any chickens before the eggs hatch but I believe everything is coming together.

Anyway you go, short of putting a new loan on that property for the cost of improvements (and that's iffy because the IRS doesn't generally like financing placed right before a sale) you're not going to get the money back from the sale without a taxable event.So you may want to count the cost of simply taking $25K out of the proceeds as taxable boot and using those to repay your realtor.Or purchase the replacement property and then do a cash out refi to access the funds to pay them back. 

Odds are, only the W2 job will be "counted," but I can't say for certain without all the information. 

I can't even count how many times I moved in between and that's not even counting deployments.