I live here in DFW Texas, I owe $12,000 property tax.

That would accomplish exactly what you asked - to split the gain and tax across two tax years. 

In MLS systems that use the Core Logic Matrix system, which is about 50% of MLS systems nationwide, square footage is pulled directly from the governments tax records.Additionally, there is no standard way to measure square footage.

They love knowing more voters/tax dollars are potentially headed their way 3.

Expenses naturally rise with inflation - insurance, property tax, utilities...Those two factors, by definition, result in lower NOI down the road than in-place/year 1 NOI.

If 2795 is the current market rent for a property like this, then you might raise it a little, so by 50-75 each year after the current lease ends to cover cost increases (prop taxes, prop insurance, labor costs, etc). 

Less affluent areas that will benefit greatly from occupancy taxes and tourism may be a better bet.

Our plan in the near term would be to use the cash-flow to buy additional properties every 1-2 years, increasing cash-flow so that we can live off that income after 10-15 years.Given our modest goal of $10K/month, I am leaning towards Option 2 which is to use cash to buy properties and in a few years re-evaluate financing.Here is one of the new construction duplex properties I am vetting right now:Purchase price: $360K for a duplex.Expected rents: $3300 monthlyInsurance + taxes: $500Vacancy, Maintenance + Capex, Property Management (25%): $800Net cashflow: ~2K/month (CoC ~7%)

That might be something to consider, and we got a tax break as well.

The only concern if doing quitclaim will trigger home reassessment, that will push property tax higher.Comments and suggestions are welcome.