I had a client get burned because of this and it made things awkward. 

And as far as the relationship advise, is that kinda like saying "hey you know your girlfriend kinda looks fat in that dress, you should probably tell her that" or something along those lines? 

Would love to hear from either of you, @Hayden Burns or @Matt Burgess about how you've navigated this.

I wouldn't touch the <100k properties...if you're looking to build long-term wealth.There's a good chance they will burn you.

But if you spend 100K and all of the properties are ultimately redeemed you make a big fat ZERO dollars.

@Briannan Burns I understand how you feel.

that's how you avoid getting burned like the folks in those other threads i posted. 

Here is an example of what not to do - "I have $1m cash to burn on investment properties.

Then the home was always used as a residence from time of purchase up until the last 2.5 years or so, which is NOT to be included as "non-qualified use", so the "Home" version should have 0 non-use days by the days owned, making my non-residence factor a big fat 0%, which multiplied by the gain makes my non-qualified use gain another big fat $0, meaning that my gain that is eligible for exlusion is 100%!!!!.......

I have never had issues with a stone countertop, but I have had burn marks on a laminate counter from a tenant setting a hot pot on it without a trivet.With all that said, I would really just go with what the market wants.