You could take them out, get a profit now and put it back the distribution over the three years, or move those funds over now and start growing a tax advantaged account immediately.

@Joseph Miller is there any city where you boots on the ground or a competitive advantage. 

So, books are great, but I would like some of you to tell me the way to take advantage of the next questions:1- How do you analyze a property?   

You want to work with your accountant throughout  the year to take advantage of tax planning opportunities. 

So, books are great, but I would like some of you to tell me the way to take advantage of the next questions:1- How do you analyze a property?

Once you get face to face with them, you can use it to your advantage and let them know about the standards you need to maintain when dealing with sellers.

Also if you do decide to buy outside of your area, you don't have to settle for a completely turnkey investment, while there are definitely advantages to that, if you build a team in the area you can truly take down any strategy you want. 

We also have no land transfer tax, or rent control, which is a big advantage in multifamily (5+ units), as you can improve the property, raise rents to market value with only 3 months notice, and suddenly the building is worth exponentially more.

I do think that loans for home buyers are almost always way better than loans for investors, so there are advantages to what you are saying. 

I don't plan on buying anything in the immediate future, but I'd like to practice analyzing deals in a market that I might ultimately invest in so I can use that familiarity to my advantage when the time comes.