It’s 10% better and 10% cheaper every year.

Everything is smaller, thinner and cheaper. 

As others have said there is no way for you to access those funds for personal use without taking a distribution which will be a taxable event...3. 

3 recent national studies show that the rent to value ratio is at an all time worse (what they really studied was cheaper to rent than buy, but there is strong correlation).  

If we were to find a duplex/triplex/fourplex that met our criteria, I was thinking about maybe owner occupying one of the units in exchange for being able to use the 203k loan - for not only cheaper financing but 3.5% down + being able to include fixup costs in the mortgage.

But since it was being used for investment when you sold it you also qualify for a 1031 exchange.If you find that you still have any taxable gain leftover after the primary exemption, then you can indefinitely defer that tax and not have to recapture any depreciation in a 1031 exchange.

The expensive home may use better brands which might be slightly more but immaterial in this situataion.Where did you find this information that cheaper homes are likely to give more of a repair credit?

I would say generally, buying already built is cheaper on the mind, stress and time.

Eventually, tried both Digb and Stessa which are setup specifically for real estate out of the box and are cheaper than QBO.

I use wise.com to send money internationally, much cheaper than PayPal...