They are pros who understand real estate and can help you make a solid plan to help you accomplish your goals.

We are looking into getting a fixer upper and plan to rent out our original residence ( Zillow says we can get $2700 median rent in our area ) while moving and fixing up the new house.

Do you plan on using a quitclaim deed? 

Can I pay property taxes in January that are due now, then deduct them as well as next years that I will (plan to, anyway) pay in December of next year?

That being said, I will preface this with the fact that I have a legal background, specifically with estate planning and asset protection as it relates to real estate.

I do plan to consult my real estate attorney who handled the closing but this is his busiest week of the year, so I definitely don’t want to bug him with something that isn’t extremely urgent until after the New Year.

If you have a focused plan and prepared questions you can learn a lot in an hour. 

The initial plan is a 1200 sf build out with plans to expand back away from the cliff later as finances and interest rates are more favorable.

I plan to do some of the work myself.

Generally there are multiple units for each "zone" if you will when I've seen them installed.Regarding your problem at hand, I personally would simply adjust your plan to move and make your initial plan to get the current issues resolved, while costly now, in the long run holding onto the unit will likely pay off.