Hard to answer.If the rental space was physically part of the living area of your home, such as a spare room used rental room, the rental usage doesn’t affect your gain/loss calculations and will qualify for the full exclusion given the seller meets all other requirements If the rental space wasn’t within your living space, such a duplex with its own entrance (and kitchen and bath), or a working farm with a farmhouse on the property, then you have to take into consideration of the business use and you need to make separate gain/loss calculations for the business and residence portions of your property.

I'm looking for advice on out-of-state investing since I can't be physically present in Ohio due to my 9-5, and some advice on first-time investors.

Hi @Dan Vleck,My thought is that I would ignore his physical condition at this point.

I highly suggesting being in the area physically for awhile if you are going to invest here. 

RESPONSE: Renting an Apartment just to change your address without physically moving into the new place, sounds like could have some semblance of misleading the lender or depend how the prosecutor might charge it - Loan Fraud!

You get what you pay for and paying for someone to protect your asset physically and financially is one thing you need to ensure you vet correctly.Best of luck to you!!

There is a lot of benefits to owning property (cash flow, tenants pay your loan, it's a physical asset, etc.), but I think you're running into the hardest part of investing in Real Estate:There are a lot of options to invest in RE.This is either a blessing or curse, and your case, because there are so many options, it's a curse haha.

Should I connect with contractors before I start physically looking at properties to get estimated renovation costs?

From what I could gather - correct me if you know otherwise....IRS requires a physical address for federal taxes - so your company is supposed to have a physical mailing address regardless of the state you live in.

My property manager charges me 6%, she collects all the physical checks and cash and schedules maintenance.