In most cases, neither is warranted.Warning: I am not an attorney and this can be a complicated topic.

To complicate it even further  :) , STR investors do not need REPS anyway  

Don't make it more complicated than it has to be.

I never do it with the intention of making a tax return longer and will, of course, remove unnecessary pages if they're truly useless.

It will complicate things and cost you money every year.

If your tax situation isn’t too complicated, you could try handling it yourself using good software, but if you want peace of mind, a CPA could be worth the investment.Since your parents have experience, you might lean on their advice while you learn the ropes.

Please let me know if all of this is unnecessary or a valid strategy for building strong business credit.

You cannot refi most loans without an existing tenant and lease in placeBeing out of state complicates things a bit here. 

Many items were completely unnecessary which I stressed to RL, but after a couple of conversations it became clear they did not want to budge, which made me fire them.

Not sure how complicated your situation is, it is easy to miss necessary elections in order to claim appropriate deductions.