After a fresh remodel I can get above market rents and get tenants who are very qualified and take care of the place.

The 1% rule originated fresh off the hardest crash in over leveraged real estate coupled with the lowest interest rates.

This is a killer and I can't find anything even acknowledging the state tax bite, much less how to minimize (if even possible)2) If I want to roll a portion of the proceeds into a new personal residence, must I pay full cap gains on those proceeds then invest as fresh cash?

@John Hickey Thanks for the advice on changing hardware and re-staining to keep the new cabinets fresh.

The only time I've come across this was when tile was installed over a cement slab that was freshly poured for a new car dealership.  

I don't fully understand it but it's okay, maybe I'm a little to fresh in the real estate industry to wrap my head around this one.

I would recommend bringing the new tenant over some fresh Super Lemon Haze immediately.

Had about 54 cats that animal rescue pulled out of it.They got into the crawl space vent guard that was broken.The owner was a woman who loved pets but had mental health issues.Luckily the house only had a tiny mortgage on it relative to it's value.Cat urine was everywhere.We were able to eliminate it everywhere accept one room where she closed the door and 25 cats were in there.To get rid of that smell you had to tear the sheetrock down and replace the subfloors and Kilz everything.I sold it and collected my check to a cash investor.The lady kept 3 cats that were deemed healthy and moved into a big apartment complex facility that was a loft style with concrete floors.It was an old factory conversion into a 300 unit apartment complex.Had another property I did a Interior BPO on in pre-list for an REO.Owners had left dogs inside living there for 4 weeks with food to survive on.There were literally thousands of terds on every level of the 3 story house along with urine and clothes left behind.This was a few years old house in an upscale neighborhood of 500,000 to 600,000 homes.The neighbors came by and couldn't believe what they were seeing.So I will again say it's not about the pets but the owners who take care of them.On credit in my area most tenants have bad credit.If they have great credit they are buying a house for dirt cheap.The only reason they wouldn't is if they are staying for a short time or in transition.Why pay some landlord who could get foreclosed on 800 a month in rent for a 3 bed 2 bath when you can buy one for cheap.In my area you could get a mortgage and pay 500 a month for that same house.Many times people with good credit are ticking time bombs.They actually are not a great candidate but have just kept acquiring more debt to pay what they have until reaching critical mass.These types carrying a bunch of debt have bankruptcy in there future.When you rent to tenant out of a chapter 7 many have a fresh start and have income to pay the rent.So every renter is a case by case basis even though there are common traits involved.

Lord knows there are tons and tons of already-built developments in the areas you mention, many on sale, so would have to be something really special to attract investors, and even then you're better off approaching Europeans.RE Russia, it is a good time to buy given the strengthening USD and how far the Ruble has crashed (mostly due to oil & commodity prices + the political issues around sanctions and Ukraine).

Please understand that the sanctions for something the IRS finds out of compliance are draconian and punitive.