You might want to listen to some of the BP podcasts on some of the other ways that real estate "pays" you, outside of cashflow.Keith Weinhold from Get Rich Education also has a good podcast and regularly discusses the 5 different ways that real estate pays you. 

Taxes are just one of many things to consider but decisions on real estate should not be solely based on tax consequences.

Unless you already have buy & hold investors lined up make sure you have a reasonable inspection period as showing occupied properties can be a real pain unless your buyers only care about the rent & purchase price.

@Dan Abts I believe @Matt Carroll is associated with ConnectLinx, however, I just wrote the following post titled: "2024 Rentlinx Alternatives - Snake Oil or Real Leasing/Rental Syndication Providers" breaking down my journey trying to find an alternative to Rentlinx.

Once you have stabilized your primary residence and rental properties, consider additional real estate investments using the equity you build.I hope this helps!

Still working on timing my transition from stocks to real estate.

We have been learning about real estate investing since Aug 2015.

I added value to this deal by negotiating with the sellers to credit us $30,000 and to pay for all of the necessary fixes during escrow.The real value add though is in the capabilities of the property.

Real estate prices and construction costs vary significantly by location, thus, it could make sense depending on the market your planning on building in. 

So you can't just get a pre-approval for all properties like in residential real estate, but a pre-approval for the exact property you are going to make an offer on (Is that correct)?