If you don't plan on allowing 4+ cats in your rental in the future you shouldn't start now.

Future land appreciation in this area might outweigh any tax benefits from buying in other areas, with a better (tax-wise) ratio.Before pursuing your plan, talk to a real estate accountant to figure out if you can, in fact, benefit from cost segregation.

This has the obvious weakness of the unknown nature of future cap rates, but that's really the heart of your question here.Estimating future cap rate is part art, part science. 

We don't have kids (might in the future), my husband and I are young and healthy, have stable high-income full-time jobs, and just put in a lot of work to both properties so don't expect huge expenses in the near future.

It really depends on your bigger picture and also what you are hoping to accomplish in the future.

It sounds like you might have some great insights or connections & I’d love to explore how we could work together or share resources to make impactful deals happen.Let me know if you’d like to hop on a call or chat further—I’m excited to see how we can collaborate now or in the future.

Remodel while the property is still in your name to increase its basis, which can reduce future capital gains taxes, and take advantage of the capital gains tax exclusion if you sell within three years (up to $250K for single filers or $500K for married couples).

One time I had a guest smoke and it went right up the ducts into my unit, it was awful.I'm conscious about how that could potentially affect guests who will be staying in the upper unit in the future.

You may not have done your subject to purchase in a way that protects their future ability to borrow.

As for foreclosure, yes, the debt might go away, but it would wreck your credit and make it tough to borrow in the future, so that’s not a great fallback.