Most of the houses I have looked at are new construction since a good amount of the sellers are offering a buy down towards rate or closing costs which is very appealing for the first property. 

You are not going to find a turnkey property on Zillow, buy it, and start netting $200 a month at today's rates - it's not happening.https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1159104-overl...

The downpayment is higher, the interest rate is higher, etc. 

Having said that, with high rates and the macro economy in a state of flux, wanted some guidance.2.

They do typically carry a slightly higher interest rate than conventional and often have a prepayment penalty.

Whats your current vacancy rate and longest tenancy in these areas?

Sorry you had this happen....But there are a few takeaway lessons here.First - Never use a GC that advertises as any other trade.

I want to take advantage of the 0% LTCG rate up to 90k-ish MFJ + standard deduction, but if I use all of my capital losses realized in 2022 against all of my income from 2022, I will show zero income.

Nobody with quality RE wants to give up super low interest rates. 

As you said, finding profitable investment properties is a challenge right now especially with interest rates at 7%-8%, and that challenge exists in many markets.