The HA representative told me today the the $1,211 is the governments portion and the tenants portion combined. 

CPAs are licensed professionals who are highly regulated and are experts in tax filing, not necessarily 1031 exchanges, which is more of a real estate attorney function.

It looks functional.

We have a few pivot plans to rent it out long term to some people, and/or mix and match to fill up rooms if the MTR doesn't seems to function as well as we planned.

Less for me to remember.For property taxes, I pay some directly, another is combined with the mortgage.

Once you have a short list, get an account with each one and run them through the wringer to see how they really function.

The two more recent ones (last 10 years), one is more of a townhouse style and because of the condo fees (combined with caps on rent increases) is harder for it to cash flow. 

If I refinance and pull a loan of $800,000, the debt service will eat away my cash flow from the current property and I can't find another property that will combine with the current property to cash flow $4k monthly.Basically, if I refinance I will be cash flow negative from my current net income on the property.Is it better not to refinance in my scenario?

I don't think you'll add any value by combining the two lots into one.

I have a big chunk of cash saved that I need to put to use, but I'm having trouble determining the value of a new build vs a more traditional deal just buying a rental and rehabbing.I've been presented with an opportunity from a builder to build a new duplex in an area which can be used as short-term or long-term rentals in Knoxville, TN.The builder is a rare combination of fast, cheap, AND quality, and has written a "cost-not-to-exceed" clause into the building, so it's an extremely competitive build cost (details below).The deal would cash flow very nicely, but it would force me to leave a chunk of cash into the property.Here are the numbers:duplex: each unit 2:2, 900 sq ftTotal cost of land, 1.2 acres (This is already leveled, excavated, and prepped for building): $80kMaximum build cost: $252kTotal cost: $332kCash in: $67,000ARV: $350kApprox cash flow: $800-1,100So, again, how does this compare to a typical buy/rehab?