Have had it happen in personal houses before, it was usually due to humidity in cities with high, high humidity. 

Anyway the point on the land basis is if you have a very low basis you have just now subjected your land equity to ordinary income and market risks on top of it.Plus personal risk on the loan if it goes bad do you have the money to pay the first off if you need to.  

If you can positive cash with today's interest rates, and you buy in a growth market, then you'll have a winner.

My personal motivations and limitations have made me not consider turnkey, flipping and house hacking. 

I personally want to get the highest appraisal possible.

Our over all objective is to hold the house for equity growth and future financial freedom, but is it worth potentially just breaking even or having a small monthly expense to keep the homes? 

What is each person's role/superpower?

While 8% is pretty hard to come by for the average person, there are plenty of other options in the 2-3% cashback range for all purchases.

Have you all personally used them and tried them in Seattle? 

There is no shortage of renters out here and Section 8 is my personal favorite for my own properties.