Couple tax related questions:1) A 1031 exchange would never come into play in this scenario since there's no actual 'sale' taking place. 2) If we did an actual sale instead of a transfer, could he use a 1031 exchange to pay off his RV and pay no capital gains on the difference between the sale price and the $88k he bought it for 30 years ago?

But not ethically or by law.It is possible that the seller instructed the agent to take the best offer above $XXX,XXX and not to play bidding games. 

I played around with various scenarios in interest rates and generally, I don't see negative cash flow until interest rates increase 3.5% in 5 yrs which is double today's offerings.

I’m banking on the long term play hoping the city life in KC will deter some for the slower pace life.

Checked off a bucket list item Monday last week playing a round at Pebble Beach...it was awesome.

Once see in person going to get in touch with the contractor about getting this repaired property however I wanted to see where my legal rights are as I expect this work to be done with no expense to me.One of reason the side yard was so important is we allow tenants to have animals and for an in city rental it was popular to have the yard for animals and kids to play in. 

One decided to break lease due to job loss, and we worked with them to move out and re-lease asap so an eviction and additional charges were not placed on their record.I feel for those that are dealing with tenants playing the system.

However, if you were looking for lower turnover and more of an appreciation play vs. cash flow single family could still be a good strategy, all depends on your goals as others have mentioned previously.

Short term: (1) determine investment goals (target ROI, markets, property size, capital stack); use this to dictate where and with whom we invest. (2) market research to evaluate where and what will meet investment goals (this is where my OP question about analyzing properties with rent control comes into play). (3) decide to sell or refi our 4-unit property in line with points (1) and (2). (4) analyze cost benefit of selling GP interest as capital source in line with points (1) and (2).

Your DTI does come in to play, but you have to take what you can get!