Usually if it’s a revaluation where the whole town goes up in value you see the tax rate decrease and taxes stay the same or go up a little like yours did.

Good renovations done at purchase should decrease repair and vacancy cost. 

With hurricane season now over and the house would (hopefully) be sold well before the next one I am curious if anyone has any seen any change/decrease in sales with areas that have flooded recently?

A lot of 'off-grid' places are not, which will lower their value and resale ability.Also, you are decreasing your potential market by choosing a venture like this..not everyone will find composting toilets as cool as you and I might.Having said that, I think it could be a great find, if it check all the the boxes.

Should we refinance now if rates decrease even just slightly so we pay a lower monthly while we see through these repairs, then once repairs are complete have home reappraised and take out this equity to buy next property where we would live while renting out our current home?

I would also try to minimize expenses through decreasing cleaning costs, installing smart tech like a thermostat to control utility costs, etc.5.

And lastly, I search FunishedFinder listings nearby, find comparable properties, and track the listed rent for a few months (does it increase, decrease?).

I am seeing a decrease in nightly price and demand for these units.

When this happens, inflation-adjusted rents tend to decrease.

You can find higher ROI (on paper) here and probably in other cities…but the probability of actually collecting rent significantly decreases.