Also, I should add that it's as much of a business and operations play as it is a real estate play.

@Marko BukvaI'm not entirely clear on the plan and ownership, but there are potentially several different types of tax at play for a transaction like you're discussing - gift taxes, estate tax, income tax, property tax, documentary transfer tax, etc. 

Live & Invest where you play.

I was playing with the idea of selling my condo, taking 300k of the equity to put a down payment towards a house listed at 660k.I'm assuming the reno will run $300/sqft and going in with the assumption that phase 1 will run 750k (figure the expansion of the house will have to wait) for the gut reno.I assume/hope (but definitely not banking on) that I will be able to refi in 2-3 years at a lower interest rate; if not for a lower rate.This will likely be a family home for the next 5-10 years at LEAST so investment value isn't quite at top of mind ATM.Questions:Even if it's not for lower interest rate, do you feel it's advisable to refi to remove the 203 loan in the future?

But it's playing with fire to buy there if STR is a priority as it's very likely they will eventually start enforcing it better.

Any and all distributions I take are tax free.  

I love seeing long-term plays like this pay off.

Amenities do play somewhat of a role, but not as much as you might think.

This is the market to invest for value-add plays, and appreciation plays. 

It was pretty interesting watching this all play out..