One area that I think I need to improve upon is estimating the monthly rent for a potential property.

Here is generally how the strategy plays out: when a sponsor acquires a property, performs a cost segregation study, and takes the bonus election, the portion of the property's value that is allocated to land improvements gets depreciated 100% in the same calendar year the property was purchased.

It helps that I've continued to improve my credit score to help get those lower rates which I believe should be sitting around 740-750 now.I'll update this with hard numbers after the refi is complete!

But everything must be arms length, IRA owned can't do any work and must use unrelated third party for any improvements/repairs.  

By doing this you'd probably improve your cash flow, decrease your taxes and benefit even more from appreciation.  

If you think that the area will bring in people upgrading the buildings and improving the area a lower cashflow deal can be worth it the paydown on the property and appreciation are your true wealth generators!

I recommend against not having any additional income while you spend more money to improve the place Best, Michael

I spent a lot on improvements on a rental this year (hvac system, new flooring) that usually I would have captured on my tax return but I’m worried that the lower AGI is going to affect how much I qualify for for the new house.

One facility (about 60k sqft built in July. 2021) is valued at $1.3M ($1.1M improvement, $0.2M land).

You also have to have a plan in place to fund those improvements in the meantime.