I would need to consult tax consultant for this however I expect to reduce my effective costs by ~$1,495/month (based on a 32% tax bracket).2.

Yes it's a huge problem.You should fix this correctly now.Open the walls and put in proper sound reducing insulation.

Before we sold it we hired a management company to reduce the burden, but even then we decided to sell and walk away. 

There is a big difference in how those are handled  HAHA I just saw a post and commented where the person wanted to ask if they should overpay for a home because they can get is seller financing.

Account ClosedI recommend that have a consultation with your tax accountant and/or financial advisor on ways to reduce your taxes. 

My lease requires professional carpet cleaning, which would cost more than $500 for a home of that size.Yes, it's reasonable to reduce the cost because she was such a long-term tenant.

But I guess that's the point, reducing the amount of effort you have to put in while freeing up time for more productive tasks. 

We certainly have found some deals that would reduce our living expenses compared to renting.

We’ve started talking about the potential for collaboration, particularly to reduce construction costs by building simultaneously.

To avoid reducing your lifetime exemption, you could gift equity incrementally, but this requires proper legal structuring (e.g., fractional ownership transfers).