@Donnie N. - how long have you owned the 3 properties?

Good to be among knowledgeable professionals here. n

Roy N., where did you get your psychology degree? 

@Jonathan HarmsFirst ... a 1970s house is not old :-;   We are presently rehabbing a unit in one of our "newer", old buildings (Circa WWI) ... lath-n-plaster for the most part with cloth wiring and tar paper laid under the hardwood floors.Different building materials, naturally have different smells - both in their original form and after many years (or decades) of ageing:  the glue used to stick horsehair to lath or 1930s wallpaper to plaster will smell different than the glue used to hand wallpaper today.  

Does anyone have any perspective from a 'buy n hold/rehab/BRRRR' approach?

I am pro San Diego buy n hold but recommend you sell.  

I would say 1) When setting up a partnership for buy-n-holds where one partner brings the down payment funds and one does all the 'work' and they are forming a 50-50 partnership, are there details of how to set that up to minimize taxes, particularly for down the road when selling?

If you are interested in fix n flipping the guys that run the group are great. 

These posts make the decision to be black n White when in reality a lot of analysis determines if a property meets your investment criteria.  

I invest buy n hold mostly in inland north county San Diego.