There are many ways to avoid taxes, so nobody can give you a complete answer without knowing your entire tax situation.If your only taxable item was selling this condo, you would owe long-term capital gains on the $150,000 plus ordinary income on depreciation recapture.

Are the fireplaces the only heat source or anything out of the ordinary with them?

I made friends with billionaires, multimillionaires, and ordinary people from all over the world.

We ask our tenants to keep the grill on the patio or further from the home and instruct them not to use or store the grill in any garage or shed on the property.

Your income is treated as active income and taxed at ordinary rates instead of the passive income we are used to with LTRs, but there might be more deductions you can find as well.After all that, if you know you want to do STRs in the long run, now might be the best time to make the jump.

Thank you, These fees arent out of the ordinary for what I typically see in my market - do keep in mind that the $2k in fees are outside of the realtors control and are charged by your closing company, she is likely estimating these amounts with what they typically see in the area.

It depends how many units, but 2-4 unit properties I'd say are $400 - $600/unit per year.I've done duplexes that are $1,800/yr and that's not out of the ordinary for a $300k property.

Adding some artwork to help give the place more character - $100-200 on Etsy or Society6 can get you some really unique prints that will help your apartments show well in listing pics and really set them apart from the competition.If you have the space outdoors, the quickest and easiest amenities to add are a fire pit and BBQ grill (or maybe a patio as well, if you're so inclined). 

Specifically the pool inspections as well as the patio inspections were incomplete.

The repair doesn't get made.My lease is clear that tenants must give the vendor access during ordinary business hours.