How can we approach this scenario where living in the new place would be considered 'primary residence' and prevent writing off expenses?  

It's completely unnecessary and something that takes ~$100 and a week at best to have all set up, from a form(s) that takes 10 minutes to fill out in most states.

I have had investors come to me many times, stressed and overwhelmed because they do not really know why they are making their investment decisions or where they are in their 10 year plan or their financing structure model and they have a portfolio that is struggling for any number of preventable reasons - so planning based on accurate information is highly advisable.A really good team helps too.

Needs to include:* Strong mobile app with strong security (ideally 2 factor auth, no security codes via txt)* Support wire transfers in as simple way as possible (perfection would be either calling to set up wire, or securely establishing on-file wire recipients, and a secure 2nd channel wire approval method -- a push request to a secure app for example which MSDW does) * Support ACH (ideally no fee) * Support SANE loss prevention policies, that learn from my behavior.  

It is assumed by the state that any rental larger than a 1 bedroom will fall into this category at some point because of the anti-discrimination laws that prevent landlords from refusing a family because they have a child.

Plus, needing financing for your first few deals will hopefully prevent you picking up bad deals.

Do your houses have a magic shield around them that prevents robbery?

If you don’t have a separate account, you’ll spend a lot of unnecessary time sorting transactions and deciding whether they are personal, consulting or real estate related.  

For the record, there's no restriction that I know of that prevents someone from signing leases on two separate properties; parents cosign for their children all the time!

Otherwise you end up paying unnecessary closing costs for a refi that will take you time to recoup and ultimately eat in to your cashflow.