It’s a complicated and time consuming transaction.  

The only downside is that he currently has another project consuming his time and capital.

I see a sharp economic slowdown because “consumer physical” or “location centric” sectors will take a beating.

Seriously,  as 2008 demonstrated after the fall of Lehman, the government is going to act as the consumer of last resort to prevent a deflationary spiral even if the economy shows massive unemployment. 

If the taxpayer works fewer than 500 hours in all significant participation activities combined, overall losses from the significant participation activities are passive, but if there is net gain, a portion of the gross income will be recharacterized as nonpassive.

After consuming dozens of podcasts, I wish I had stumbled across this treasure trove long ago and started this journey years ago.

Can a house hack without significant forced appreciation---within reason---be worthwhile if I sell ten or fewer years after the purchase?

Tell her if she fixes them up, she will get a better tenant and more rent...and fewer problems with repairs.

(i.e. they include fewer expenses than I do)  I'll paste an example of my calculations below. 

I'm looking to start with a multi-unit property, 4 or fewer units.