I learned that the end of December was not the ideal time to purchase a property, as I was not able to take advantage of a property tax reduction whereby a tenant was required to be in place by January 1st to take advantage of this property tax savings.

It would be a big tax saving for me by doing so.  

This has saved me several times.

Or stop and start saving for a rental property instead.

I'm simply being patient and am adding to my savings (and by savings I mean money for buying properties).For everyone, including myself, I yell, don't do a deal that doesn't give you the cash flow you want!

I've been reading and consuming content for 8 months, my husband and I are working to save our first 25k, and I have a hefty student loan bill I'm paying down. 

As some have said, the hardwood floors might not be able to be saved. 

But I will say this, meeting with them throughout the year will provide great tax planning and prep that will save you money in the end.

You neglect to share where you are located, which will make a BIG difference on how this gets resolved.  

I'm sure the nightmare is the PM themselves doing bookkeeping to save the money.