I definitely think there is a case to be made ... when we bought ours we used recent local comps for the land value and then broke out as much of "everything else" as we could ... roads, mailboxes, fences, light posts, there is a storage shed on site ... each type of "improvement" will have a different depreciable life, but it should get the weighted average down which will help ... there is a good podcast episode on this topic done by @jeffersonlilly early on ... you should look that up and check it out ... good luck 

I'm also not sure how much weight I would put in a "10 year job growth prediction".

If so, you might consider paying the bare minimum on those and use the extra savings to get into REI faster.

I think their is a faster more efficient way, but I may have to purchase probate list service to attain that info.

Funds are used 'same as cash' so it would not only make your offers on the market more competitive but you can close faster than traditional financing also. 

My question is since the tenants in the back yard are very aggressive and uncooperative, is there a faster easier option to eviction for these guys?

Going through this process, I wish the bank was a bit faster in the turn around when submitting documents.

If you can use smart leverage with a loan on your investment property, this will get you there faster as well (i.e. saving for a down payment vs saving cash to buy out right).To move things along quicker, take action in multiple ways.

Or you can refi after the initial balloon into a product with a shorter amortization term if you want to pay it down faster. 

If you want to pay faster on a 15 year schedule you can, but won't be required to do so.