Signed the contract for a 2Ac land in April, spent close to $10K in attorney fee, ALTA survey etc. and come to find out that there was a restriction on land that'd reduce the buildable area by 25%.

Well, they didn’t do the work you contracted for....so agree on a reduced price or don’t pay them until the work contracted for. 

You learn how to be an investor and immediately reduce or completely remove your biggest monthly expense (rent).If I was starting over I would have house hacked straight after college.

Instead your time and energy should be focused on building solid relationships with realtors in your investing area.

You can exceed this amount by 10% for EEM or 20% for Solar Energy equipment.

We also require 3x the rent for income, which has helped reduce delinquency.

Not sure I feel to confident with this at first glance.I'd recommend paying yourself if you're self managing as it's time/energy and (i'm assuming) at some point in the future, you'll hire a PM?

I really enjoyed the energy, so I started the podcast from the very beginning and been tuned in every since.

I believe the only ramification from this is we will both have to file form 970 w/ the IRS which will reduce the gifts we can give by the said amount less $15k (so his lifetime gift allotment would be $11.4M less $235k and ours would be less $110k)?

As long as you are confident that you can afford the mortgage, I would get a multi-family with an FHA loan and rent out the extra room. this way, you can at least pay a reduced mortgage and build equity over time.