We've replaced 5 water heaters in a single year, had plumbing stoppages that resulted in 3-5k worth of work, and even had to replace 1/3 of the pier and beam foundation in the house we're currently living in.

Now the minimum standards your basement has to hit for it to be able to count as assessed sqft not estimated is a height of 7 ft, a point of egress (bilco doors) and a window usually in the rear, It's one of those things where if your going to go through the process of digging out a basement you might as well go for it and dig it deeper then 7 and closer to 8 ft so you actually stand out compared to the competition.Now the other side of this coin which I would suggest is if you're willing to spend 40-50k on a basement dig, consider adding a 3rd story addition if your a 2 story (think master suite, walk in closet, master bath) or an addition off the back and add a roof deck if your a 3 story (either master suite or just additional bedroom).

Additionally, I'm planning to commence my real estate investment journey by house hacking and eventually scale up to large multifamily assets. 

Since they live in another state, you will have to file in that state to force payment.

An additional benefit of a detailed engineering-based Cost Segregation Study is that it can increase potential insurance premium savings as well as provides support for the property tax appeals process.

You have the book knowledge started and a general idea, but you have to remember that the books are all a broad overview and not exactly how it will all work in real life because your finances, properties, living situation will all be different than other.What's your goal of leveraging your current property to get another one?

Hi Garrett,I live in Santa Fe, and invest in multifamily Albuquerque. 

I live in Illinois where it is not airbnb friendly.

You can't actually tell me that if someone willingly divulges additional information to you that could affect their ability to pay the rent, that you actually do not give that information a second thought when evaluating the other criteria which forms a legal basis for qualification!

I'd advise you to either do a few deals in your local market- I don't know where you live, but yes, deals are possible there and people are investing.