I do not see that home prices have dropped 2-3% and this is a lot of added savings in additional to a downpayment if so. 

Moving forward in my  commercial leases I will now include language making the placement of thermostats the landlords decision with additional language prohibiting the relocation. 

Additionally, we addressed plumbing and electrical issues to make the property fully rental-compliant.

There are cheaper one’s in D/F areas but I would be careful as those can create a laundry list of additional issues.

If you violate any of these rules you could blow up your IRA or 401k and the IRS could force you to distribute all of the assets in the IRA or 401k.

Additionally, young adults are living together with no intention of marriage.  

Additionally, I've been spending a lot of time evaluating condo / HOA management solutions and accidentally stumbled on ManageCasa, which offers a free trial and < 3 unit free tier that has allowed me the time to get in, kick the tires, and really appreciate their attention to detail and broad feature set that adapts to each unique industry sector.

Additionally, properties with high monthly costs struggle to compete with fee-simple homes, affecting resale value.

There is some additional information that wasn't mentioned in your post above which sheds a different light on the situation.  1.

Also, here's an article with additional FAQs on cost segregation studies that you may find helpful.