They pay their own utilities including heat which is big in northern New England and also pay snow plowing and mow the lawn.

With HOA fees, management fees, upkeep (pool, lawn, etc)  it all starts to add up.  

I'm stunned to see that some use figures artificially inflated by the pandemic to sell their condos and "promising" returns that the buyers will never make.

I don't have to worry about exterior maintenance, lawn care, or snow removal... those are the huge advantages that I have noticed. 

I'm curious about my eligibility for real estate professional status for tax purposes, given my active involvement in the following ways:I actively manage our one STR and the two LTRs (with plans for cost segregation for all three properties).I handle property management directly, without a property manager.I have already dedicated 750 hours to real estate activities this year.I'm even open to taking the realtor exam if it aids my qualification as a real estate professional.Almost daily (and without fail on weekends), I engage in various real estate tasks: visiting our property or properties, tending to the yard, monitoring and adjusting short-term rental pricing, managing tenant and guest expectations, scheduling cleaning and maintenance, caring for the lawn, and more.My primary question is whether the activities mentioned above are sufficient to qualify me for real estate professional status, or if additional steps are required for eligibility.

Torn blinds, scratched doors, torn carpet, burned or dug-up lawn, odors, chewed trim, and more.

That's a huge out of pocket expense.Additionally, our water bills are around $400 as the house has huge grass lawns in the front and back yards.

And with all the rain that Ocala gets, the lawn is green and the shrubs are kept trimmed by my lawn guy who sends me pictures after he cuts every week. 

I ran a lawn service for 7 years with 172 accounts weekly. 

In the end it didn't really matter because they are so busy they stopped taking new refi until an unset date.Also right now due to demand and uncertainty in the market it appears that the rates are artificially higher than they should be with the lenders that are still doing Refi , despite how well your finances are.