Im not a tax expert but it seems like this would be an important distinction as the fundamental structure of the financing is different and dictates who is earning interest income.

My favorite was a hoarder house full of trash that took me six months to turn around, but it turned into a killer deal that earned me a 600% return.

Since you're a citizen but you live and work abroad you'd still qualify mostly for second homes occupancy or investor non owner occupancy (primary is hard to claim if your job requires you to be physically next to the office as an example so an underwriter isnt going to readily believe you unless you can get HR to write you a letter to state you're remotely capable of earning this income/job duties anywhere).Hopefully that helps let me know if you have further questions into mortgage planning.

Run the calculations on the expense of doing a refi at a slightly reduced rate vs. keeping the current loan for whatever period of time you think you will hold this house.

-------Building an ADU in Raleigh is a fantastic way to enhance your property’s value (a whole other discussion there) and increase your property’s income-earning potential. 

If they had invested their earnings while they played, they wouldn't need me to teach them real estate.

- Design language (this has differentiated my home in Massachusetts though tastes differ and not all markets are as high earning as Mass)- Do you typically work with the same contractors, electricians, etc or have a network?

Since your goal is lowering monthly payments for better cash flow, it might be worth focusing on reducing expenses elsewhere or exploring other investment strategies.

Open to any advice here tooI want to sell my underperforming assets to reduce expenses.

From what I’ve read in Bloomberg, electing S-Corp taxation for your LLC might reduce your self-employment tax burden when you start paying yourself a salary.