I'm on the last year of my contract and for the past 4 I learned I needed to make a lot of changes or I would be broke indefinitely and without direction.

In a nutshell the 1031 exchange will allow you to sell the Houston property that has been held for investment and purchase replacement investment properties (SA is fine) and defer indefinitely the payment of that $30K in taxes and all depreciation recapture.  

And you will get to defer recapture indefinitely as long as you do a 1031 exchange when you sell your property

A taxpayer is on qualified extended duty when at a duty station that is at least 50 miles from the residence sold, or when residing under orders in government housing, for more than 90 days or for an indefinite period.This change applies to home sales after May 6, 1997.

If I have to have the stuff moved from inside on the day of pick up (at an indefinite time) to outside it will be easier to just load it into a dumpster at the outset.

You could have moisture issues, which will shorten the life of the paint, and even if you don't, it has to be repainted at some point indefinitely.

The lease and the tenant’s right to remain in possession continue, indefinitely, until the landlord has “good cause” to terminate.

I was fortunately able to go back and repay all the PUA premiums I had missed out on, so my premiums-paid are right in line with the illustration, though I'm behind a few years on the time-value of money.With my OneAmerica policy, I have the option of not paying any more premiums after the third year, and the policy will still be self-sustaining indefinitely.

Since you know the costs you can see if the contractor is gouging you.You can also write into your materials contract that Contractor is allowed X% waste (5% to 8%) on indefinite quantity materials and X% mark-up (5% to 20% depending on complexity) for all materials.It is not uncommon for contractors to be able to purchase items cheaper than you can due their purchase volume.

I've never been a big fan of indefinite deferment--just letting my descendents pay the taxes when I die is not a good idea to me.