In the first situation, given the reduction in income and future income uncertainty, I would be selling those properties and moving into an area with true cash flow via the 1031 exchange.

Long-Term Goals: While predictions suggest that rates might drop in the future, there’s no guarantee on the timing or extent of these changes.

Best of luck with your duplex and future properties! 

We currently have 21 homes under construction in North Port, FL, and Port Charlotte, FL.We are providing families with their future homes, where countless memories will be created in each one we build.

I would suggest having a conversation with your agent on what the expectations are for the near future.  

If you are looking at protecting your profit, you can have a prepayment penalty, that would be graduated, for instance, you could have a $50,000 prepay year 1, then $45,000 year 2 and so on until you get to year 10 with no pre payment penalty.Also for future reference you can get Fix and Flip loans without having to tap into the equity in your primary residence.

Our goal as a family is to move outside the US in the next 3-4 years and live half way around the world for the foreseeable future (5+ years). 

You have another three years to sell and still meet the requirements to exclude gains under Section 121.If you decide to hold the property and relax with a continued market appreciation and cash flow, three years of future appreciation is a gain that can be excluded when you sell within that time window.Because of Austin's powerful appreciation and positive cash flow, it might be better to hold the property long-term.

Even if you are not an expert electrician after a Summer or a year of weekends and holidays, you will know more than most and perhaps be able to do your own minor repairs and know where people you hire in the future cut corners and you will learn appropriate pricing.4. 

In the future, I would love to start with owning multi-family rentals and eventually get into investing in high density rental developments.