Spend sometime work on getting both at the same time 

Id like 250k available to me to work with, probably spend closer to 200k.

You could spend 10+ years building a 30 property portfolio for example and lose half of the properties in one lawsuit if they're not structures appropriately.

That said, the plan is to be spending more time on the USA West Coast or Hawaii with the London place a 'lock and leave' bolthole.

Spend sometime on Youtube and watch Tony Robbins and Jordan Belfort 

I am a contractor and I work with great contractors I have been thinking about building a house from the ground up and I would really love an opportunity to talk with somebody who has done this before and I’d like to know all of the costs associated with doing this and about how much I should expect to spend and how hard is it as far as planning and development permit’s etc.

I'd make sure you have a cushion of cash in case one (or both) decide to leave and you have to spend a month or more finding new tenants.

My question is, how much of what I am spending on renovations in 2019 can be used against the taxes on the rental income I make in the coming years?

its where I plan to spend my summers in my retirement years you can find me fishing on lake Davis.. or hiking up a the buttes ..

That would give you a buffer and then he wouldn't have it to spend.