I guess that's good and bad depending on which side of the table you sit on.Anyway, I'm more than likely going to sell the Phoenix home, rent here, and invest in Baltimore.

This is pretty simple for your CPA to figure and the depreciation tables are available online in IRS publication 946: How to depreciate property. 

You won't hear it's a problem until you get to the closing table or a day before then the lender will request you fund them out of pocket.

Partnerships have the potential to be the greatest but just need to have the cards laid out on the table!

Your CoC goes up if you bring less money to the table. 

I had been gathering bits and pieces of information from each podcast but this one finally got me to my kitchen table figuring out how I could do it.  

You would still have to come to the table with a down payment, but for owner occupied you can use gift money for down payment — you could play around with the purchase price to make this work if you don’t have any cash.

Those are just some questions I'm usually interested in when talking to someone more experienced than me.As for tips on approaching people, if there are any kinds of drinks or refreshments, just go right up to the table/bar and get a drink or food and kind of stand there - the next person that comes by ask, "So what brings you here tonight?"

You would have to get a payoff for it and either include it in the short sale negotiations, have the seller bring money to the table to pay it off, or the buyer would pay it. 

If market rent is $1000, and you are renting for $750, you are leaving a lot of money on the table.