simply do not take anyone's word for this landlock situation.. open escrow get a title commitment and see it it is actually landlocked.. if it is your remedy in the real world. is1. getting a neighbor to grant you the proper easement you will need.2. confirm from the city or county that you can access the property from this new easement..despite common statements folks will make that no property can be landlocked.. and there are remedies this simply is not true.. properties can be landlocked... owners do it to themselves.. not common but it does happen.As for the old house.. sometimes if there is no lead or asbestos fire department will burn them down as an exercise.. ( sometimes)biggest issue in many markets now is the lead paint and Asbestos remediation during the demo.. some areas they don't car.

@Peter Bui You may want to partner with your lender for an estimate of closing costs using the specifics of the property that you're interested in purchasing and the type of financing that you have secured, during that conversation you can ask how closing costs are calculated to see if the magic number of 3% makes sense in your situation

The power went out a few times on the block recently and they’re asking for the code “just in case”.If you were in my shoes, how would you handle this situation different?

As far as I know, there's not been major changes to the tax laws on this since.There's several situations that leads to taxation of the boot.

@Camden Smith,  It's going to be your accountant (or rather your parent's accountant) who's going to file the returns and  knows the ins and outs of their situation. 

My current situation is that I am renting, but looking at doing a “house hack” in the near future.

What are some things people have done to increase value of the properties they have as well, in similar situations.

Or Handel this type of situation?

The second issue is situational while the first issue is unavoidable.

Since last August when I took possession of the 20 unit, I began raising rents 2-3 units at a time, and now everyone is at the higher rents (average $140 per unit).In your situation it sounds like the rents haven't been raised for a while, coupled with your improvements the tenants expect there to be an increase.