Meaning the at the end of the lease, the tenant has the option to buy (but not the obligation) whereas the seller has the obligation to sell if the the buyer chooses to buy (works just like selling stock options!)

I would say these are not deals for a retail investor.Regarding investing in syndications, its really a personal choice of being passive and trusting people when real estate is not your specialty - similar to stocks - I do not manage my stock portfolio because I am clueless on it and my wife is 1000x smarter than I am and manages it.

Also AirBNB stocking fees, maintenance, cap ex.But at the same token know that the principal portion of your mortgage payment is actually not a true expense so there is that benefit to doing all of this even if you are light on the cash flow or break even.  

There are other options such as harvesting capital losses on other financial instruments, but the stock market has been pretty good lately, so that may not be an option.

There's a high chance that you are feeling FOMO from the returns in public markets, sell your houses for a loss, pile into stocks, and then see mediocre performance while real estate heads back higher again.I see this, and similar actions, play out over and over.Personally, I'd stick with the real estate rather than selling it.

Sorry for the following Contrarian advice, but you're not a 5 year old so:The only reason to buy a personal residence (Home) is because someone is forcing you to.Usually, this person is called your Spouse (which is Latin for someone who forces you to make horrible financial decisions then criticizes you for them endlessly:)perhaps DON'T buy a home, just rent something affordable and invest the 20% or in your case 50% into the stock market (sp500 16.1% yearly return last 15 years, 11% last 50 years, 10% last 125 years)remember, your RENT is your maximum monthly housing expense, but your Mortgage is your minimum or starting monthly housing cost, it always goes up from thereI've, owned 2 personal homes, 100% appreciation in 6years on #1 and in 7 years on #2, (I timed our market perfectly both times), with 20% down and very low mortgage rates, but after honestly calculating all expenses, only made about 5-6% a year "investment wise".

As expected, he recommends Roth conversion and invest in stocks. 

One other point to add is considering donating appreciated stock.

These rates of return surpass what bank-provided bonds and stock dividends offer.

Investors buy shares and earn returns through dividends and potential stock price appreciation.You typically can’t lose more than your initial investment with publicly traded REITs.