It sounds like the occupants did you a favor, leaving without making you evict.If you were looking to flip, now you can start right away.

What I'm getting at is if there are two identical houses one offering 3% and one offering 2.5% as an agent I'm going to favor the 3% right.... it's all coming from the seller's pocket.

Do yourself a HUGE favor and find yourself a local, seasoned investor to help you on your first 5 to 7 deals so you can learn from the mistakes of those who went before you.

Holding past day 365 is one of the magic formulas for favorable tax treatment.  

Yet, they want me to spend hours researching and favor them over my existing clients.

I've been investing in real estate for over 25 years and bought over 700 properties from SFR to 250 unit+ apartment complexes so I thought I'd read them as a favor to Brandon.  

As you mentioned above, favorable recourse can be difficult.While predicting exact increases for taxes, insurance and utilities can be difficult, it can be done with a reasonable level of accuracy. 

It is the fact that your primary residence does not qualify for 1031.  1031 exchanges are only for investment property.But the rules are actually in your favor on your primary residence.  

Flexibility can work in your favor and you may be rewarded with a long term tenancy of someone who takes care of your property.

Personal capital tells me I'm too heavy on the foreign but my take is PersonalCapital favors domestic a bit too much.