So it was never a money play.. 

Too many people rush into it and a condo or townhome is a safe way to enjoy a property, play it carefully, but also set yourself up with a rentable unit when you are done.

Playing with the numbers in the calculators. 

I think it comes down to you the investor needing to raise your financial IQ to be able to advise your tax professional on what to do so they can implement the strategy instead of them strong arming you into a conservative and poor tax play.

@Frank Jiang agree 100% that while they pitched this as market making and it could have been more of a pure play like you described.

I refi at a more conservative LTV than most but that is my way of playing in RE. 

Trust me, I’m looking ahead to play the long game.

Targeting newer brokers who haven't built up their buyers list yet is a good play too. 

Best of luck and I hope that it plays out well!

I paid for an inspection up front and walked through with the inspector (I figured $500 was the price to play).