At least when I had my quotes they barely paid anything out because my roof was too old in their eyes. 

Ohio SOL is 2 years, yes they have r/d, so @Shane H is correct. 

I went to a four-year university that barely cost that.

@Gabriel Rinato If you are moving, then why bleed out $21k+ in taxes and insurance alone just to save a few bucks on capital gains taxes if you have to wait to sell (not sure where you are on the time line)  I guess you have to perform the calculus there and talk to your CPA to come up with the ideal scenario.Option 1, presents a bare minimum negative cash flow of $8500 a year if you rent for aforesaid amount of $3500 a month. 

I recommend you try and take a look at Columbus, Ohio because it has an affordable market on the east coast with a thriving economy and home.I would actually consider investing with a bare minimum of 1% rule.

Trust me when I say that code is the bare minimum and not for the highest quality construction.I’d approach this with an application, rather than a product approach.

Barely out of college, with a newborn, wife unemployed.

That's going to be the bare minimum. 

I wasn’t clear as to if being an active investor (“real estate professional”) versus passive investor has any baring on whether I need to file 163(j) or whether it is my request to do a bonus depreciation that resulted in my CPA filing 163(j).  

Me (current):10+ years in corporate finance & accounting; The most recent 2 have been in project management (hybrid between finance & IT) in the healthcare fieldBachelor in Finance, Graduate Certificate in Accounting, and Master in MIS (Management Information Systems)My strengths are working with people, numbers, Excel, and automating systems and processesBetween working more than 40 hours, a 3 year-old and a 8 month-old, I barely have any time to dedicate to REI.