But Gino can you pay your credit cards every month or do you have to carry a balance ?

In one of my projects, the landowner agreed to carry back a note, which freed up some capital for construction costs.

Would this be a letter of intent or promissory note?

I think if you can write a solid letter of explanation stating that you are going to commute to Colorado from Washington for 4-5 months out of the year for your job (and why), that should be sufficient enough to run this as a primary residence. 

Do you recommend doing a lease termination letter, just to have something in writing?

We found our forever home in the neighborhood we wanted by driving the entire neighborhood, adding the properties using DealMachine, and then sent them all handwritten greeting card letters stating that we're a new family looking to move into the neighborhood and if they had any interest in selling to please call us. 

Depreciation helps reduce the taxable rental profit, potentially bringing it to zero or even creating a loss, which can carry forward to offset future rental income or other capital gains.For high wage earners, other tax strategies could include leveraging cost segregation studies to accelerate depreciation on rental properties through bonus depreciation, taking advantage of tax-deferred exchanges (like a 1031 exchange), or maximizing deductions related to property expenses (mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, repairs, etc.).

If equity, do you structure with a pref and carry, or straight split?  

Such properties tend to carry less risk and can help facilitate scaling up for future investments.

I do my best to honor both, and God has blessed me more than I deserve; including having a portfolio of rental properties, which is a story in itself that came about because someone offered me a house on an owner-carry contract because he knew I could never afford to buy my own while living overseas.