@Cole Britting Congrats on starting your journey.

While still amazing profit-wise by ordinary standards, I also figured that by the time I got to them, I'd have bought my new sailboat and be doing other things with my life.

Skilled captains with years of experience, like seasoned pirates who know every ocean current, can navigate deals with cunning and confidence, often steering their earnings towards higher shores.Imagine them making complex calculations in their heads, spotting hidden potential in seemingly ordinary properties, and sealing successful deals with a firm handshake.

My re-sale profits are mostly ordinary income and not capital gains.

I would tell investors to find good property management companies in the midwest and buy houses in Iowa, Nebraska, and parts of Ohio where you can still turn a profit. yes I got the same conclusion, it all started in 2013, the appreciation outside California is indeed happening because CA and NY money (and WA too).Originally home price in some parts of CA/NY/WA is going up not because ordinary income, but coming from Tech/Research/medical company, well basically wall street.

Ordinary income tax of $20K isn't all that much in perspective. 

According to the IRS, you must report “any portion of the gain from the sale of depreciable assets that’s ordinary income under the depreciation recapture rules in the year of the sale.”

Obviously if we sell the first two we pay the standard RE fees, ordinary income tax, etc.

The income and expenses should be all ordinary ones, not ones that are one-offs.

I don't feel they do anything out of the ordinary from a marketing perspective for my properties, however they do provide excellent copy, images and setup on all those sights so one could argue you get more bookings because of those nuances to their service.