Much more tax efficient to wait at least 2 years and 1033 exchange...

Only after addressing expenses I'd look at selling the condo.

My view is that in order to really make this work, there is a minimum fixed cost of involvement (in terms of time and education) but it scales well, so it's efficient to do this in scale.However, in doing that analysis, it's hard to project what profitable deals will look like if interest rates are materially higher than they are today.

This issue of real estate dealer vs. investor has been brought up many times, but none of the forum questions I can find seem to address my particular situation.

But on the POF letter theres contact info with an office address and web site.

I have just recently had this issue addressed.

I'm a licensed REALTOR in Michigan (solely for my own investing), which makes access to the property and to information as efficient as possible. 

Apparently entering your home address on ZeneHome will be able to pull all things relevant on your home -  from what you should be truly paying for prop taxes to every permit ever pulled on your house. 

How do you prepare the property efficiently without running up a huge bill since you do not know whether you will be having a renter or buyer?

Sure there are defects such as the loan is non performing currently or there are other issues to be addressed, but remedying those are what adds value to the loan and makes it salable or a cash flow stream to tuck in your portfolio.