With regard to renovations, I always suggest taking incremental steps to bigger renovations or partnering with someone who has already done a renovation at that level.I've been known to just go for the big rehabs for my personal investments here in Chicago , and during that process, it's always more stressful than it needs to be...As far as navigating the competition, I've found the best thing I can do is get EXTREMELY CLEAR  on what I am looking for; then I am confident pulling the trigger quicky. 

This tax change could trigger even with offering contacts for those services as it could be construed as contractors.

I would love to get a condo down in Miami to have a as a forever rental, but it's just so hard for me to pull the trigger.

Don't over think this, pull the trigger actions create results. 

@Kevin Hoover, with certain types of entities it is possible to contribute property to and distribute property from that entity without triggering a tax event. 

Ensure that the mortgage is assumable, and confirm that there are no due-on-sale clauses that could trigger the full loan balance. 

But if they don't willingly make the payment your only option would be to sue, and they have the upper hand to let the lender know about the sale possibly triggering DOS.

You would only pay taxes on all passive investments in a traditional SDIRA at distribution, unless you have a mortgage, then the portion of the income derived because of the mortgage will be subject to UDFI (unrelated debt finance income) which will trigger UBIT (unrelated business income tax). 

I sat out the boom bust since 2008 and focused on returning to full health after a spine injury.

This location is in a 1mm population metro area, 230 units, and cost is about $1,800,000 all in.Limits of Insurance: Coverage:Liability and Medical Expenses$2,000,000/$4,000,000 Occurrence/Aggregate Comprehensive Business Liability$2,000,000 Any One Person Personal & Advertising Injury$4,000,000 Aggregate Products Completed Operations Aggregate$2,000,000 Any One Fire Fire Damage$25,000 Occurrence Customers' Goods Legal Liability Deductible: $0$25,000 Aggregate Sale and Disposal Liability Deductible: $1,000$10,000 Any One Person Medical Payments $1,000,000 Occurrence Hired Non-Owned$300,000 Each Employee Employee Benefits Liability$25,000/$25,000 Per Claim/Aggregate Employment Practices LiabilityLoc Class Desc Coverage Limit Ded Valuation Type 1 Self-StorageBlanket Building & Business Personal Replacement Cost Property $2,100,000 $25,000Earthquake IncludedSinkhole IncludedWindstorm or Hail Included 5%Business Income Actual Loss Sustained 24 MonthsPollution Clean-Up & Removal $100,000Employee Dishonesty $15,000Money & Securities - Inside $10,000Money & Securities - Outside $5,000Accounts Receivable $25,000Electronic Data $20,000Valuable Papers & Records $25,000Fine Arts $10,000Employee Personal Property $10,000Limited Pollutant Removal $25,000/$100,000Cosmetic Loss Limitation IncludedEquipment Breakdown Protection IncludedPremium, Fees, and Taxes: BOP Premium: $ 7,760.00Optional Terrorism Premium: $ 31.00Total Premium: $ 7,791.00Key notes:a.