Saving yourself 2-3% on your down payments can be a nice benefit.

If you have an insurance claim with renters in the property and a homeowner policy I would expect the claim to be denied.The benefit of landlord insurance is that it will actually cover you, if you try to rent a house out with a typical homeowner policy you are simply not covered (even though you are paying premiums).Insurance is not where you want to go lowest bidder or look to cut corners - it is there to save your behind in the event of a major incident.

The purpose of course, is to save for retirement in either a deferred or tax free account. 

I found this other group called Certified Tax Coach (https://www.certifiedtaxcoach.com/) that help with tax strategies and tax savings. 

A LOT of distrress is leading to mergers and firings, in just the last few weeks, this happened: (Big credit to @NewsLambert)Lower to acquire Universal Lending retail and wholesale operations (11/1/23)Trustar Mortgage acquired by Archer Mortgage, LLC (11/1/23)People’s Bank of Commerce to exit residential mortgage lending (10/27/23)BMO Bank cutting 228 jobs in Northern California (10/25/23)Homestar Financial to wind down operations (10/25/23)City National Bank layoffs in Los Angeles total 71 (10/23/23)Hometown Lenders layoffs (10/12/23)First Savings Bank to lay off 135 mortgage workers (10/4/23)Wesley Mortgage absorbs competitor Colten Mortgage (10/4/23)Cenlar to lay off 85 in Ewing, NJ (10/2/23)Rithm Capital to acquire Computershare Mortgage Services Inc. (10/2/23)Wells Fargo cut 525 jobs in South Carolina (9/28/23)Better Mortgage lays off additional employees (9/22/23)The Graystone Company has acquired Direct Mortgage (9/13/23)Flyhomes to purchase certain assets of Home Sale Assured (9/13/23)Divvy Homes to cut 95 jobs in San Francisco (9/11/23)Farmers-Merchants Bank to sell three branches to focus on core mortgage business (9/11/23)It goes on…..The mortgage industry is in a starkly deep recession.And RIP refinances, unless you are holding an even higher interest rate loan (like a construction/bridge loan or hard money, or perhaps you just fixed your credit.

The extra five months of rent income would have covered 50% of the renovation and saved me a lot of time and struggle.

Turning the thermostat down when no one is home wont save any money . 

Good info above, but the depreciation is usually THE biggest financial benefit, it's cash in your pocket, so don't overlook that.

Building these relationships will save you time, money and headaches down the road.

You'll learn quickly, save yourself money and be the most motivated to get the right medium-term rental tenants and the keep it occupied.