You read that last sentence right.

I would highly recommend @River Sava over there, she's great. 

I recommend that you find a trusted or recommended Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO), who can give you options for property-based loans (mostly investment loans) and they don't use your taxes but the P&L of the property.

I am still unclear about everything I read on the tax benefits for getting the cash out refi, and would like to understand that better2.

What strategies do you recommend for scaling my portfolio?

If you are new and don't have a clue, then I would certainly recommend them or some company that can guide you through things until you have an understanding. 

I definitely don't recommend renting to a friend.

If so, is that recommended for a first-time buyer?  

I’d love to connect and am very interested in hearing about your agent recommendation.

You can read about the differences here: Cost Segregation Study Approaches ExplainedLet’s first start with what the approaches:Detailed Engineering Approach from Actual Cost RecordsDetailed Engineering Cost Estimate ApproachSurvey or Letter ApproachResidual Estimation ApproachSampling or Modeling Approach"Rule of Thumb" ApproachSo which of these approaches is required by the IRS?