However, when I was filling my taxes last week, my CPA (future former CPA) didn't know much about how to apply this exclusion on my taxes because it was a rental by the time I sold the property.

The current tenants will appreciate it unless its a long drawn out rehab, and it will be done already for when they leave and lessen the future turnover.

Even if nothing "wrong", it gives you an idea of where any vulnerabilities are as the future unfolds.

I agree with Jeffrey's post, it will create a double layer if you run into litigation issues in the future.

as a new investor I would probably stay more local just because I know nothing about your area, but if the market is that good it can't hurt to run some numbers for future I will message you with my info

@Mike Taravella, in future, you'll be better served by being less in a hurry to buy anything that comes on the market just because you can afford it, and more focused on buying bargains - even if you have to wait to pounce.

That portion could go towards providing future liquidity and/or buying additional assets.

If you see what went wrong and take much more care in the future with tenant screening, this will be your "high water mark" for bad experiences.  

Ideally (and in future), what you want to see is that after rehab, your Lender's appraisal would come in at say $130k (for this example), so that when you come to Refinance 70% of ARV (per the "BRRRR strategy"), you'd get back all your initial deposit and rehab cost, which would enable you to scale your buys much quicker than having to save your own $20k every time you want to buy.

If you are planning for the future, then this first purchase, is only a starter home, and maybe stay a year or two or three.