Anyone who is active particularly in missouri I'd love to hear from you.

If I'm full gut remodeling, I don't mind a higher DD because I know I'm fixing everything anyway.

Keep in mind that it will be difficult to finance this with a conventional or DSCR loan as they normally require the properties to be "turn-key" and you would most likely need to finance the deal with all cash or hard money.You can also collect documentation on the repairs during your due diligence period, but I would suggest getting this done upfront before your earnest money deposit is at risk.

The property is valued at $3,000,000 but is under contract for $2,500,000, providing instant equity of $500,000 upon closing.I am actively exploring ways to quickly secure the required $300,000 and am considering various strategies, including negotiating with lenders or partnering with an investor.

If there is a rental license that's been active in the past 3 years, the city should issue a new rental license as long as other rental license pre-requisites are in order.

Keep in mind, it is very easy to weed out contractors as there are A LOT of obvious bad ones. 

The best way to build a pipeline of good off market acquisitions is to be active & perform on contracts you execute without re-trading on terms (unless there's a valid diligence discovery).

But my understanding is also that there can be tremendous tax benefits / write offs when it comes to real-estate.I am looking for more guidance from professionals on how to structure my investments and how I could potentially harness the power of depreciation and write-offs to legally save money on my active earned income.

or can we each exceed 100hrs assuming thats higher than any other individual participating in the activity? 

just curious it the property is fsbo and the sellers do not mind if you bring the contract what kind would you use to wholesale