Sorry the only way to avoid taxes is holding the property until you die.

One source of cities to avoid is Neighborhood Scout's 100 most dangerous cities.Disaster Risk - Some parts of the country suffer frequent natural disasters.

It means you would be purchasing the business (shares of an LLC are called membership interests) that owns the real state rather than the property itself.Sometimes you can avoid paying transfer taxes doing it this way... it depends where the property is located.Generally speaking, when you purchase a business this way you acquire its assets as well as its liabilities.

First, refi cash out maybe 70% LTV, which is tax free and avoids the Federal capital gains tax  which is under consideration to increase until legislation under consideration. 

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

What I was implying was that I would possibly avoid setting up a LLC with the contractor (if they are putting no skin in the game and you have no previous working relationship).

The things that will consume more of your time will be maintenance calls and/or coordination (these don't happen every month, especially in a good property with a good tenant), communications with tenants about lease renewals or violations, and of course evictions (hopefully you can avoid these of course).

The IRS allows workers to relocate for up to 2-3 years (check with tax professional) and still maintain a permanent residence at another address.A way to avoid that may be to turn your primary unit into a STR 1 or 2 weeks/month. 

This is another example of the reason to avoid investing in condos. 

Regarding avoiding squatters, there is no guaranteed strategy to avoid it.