I got in when interest rates were great but i took variable and unfortunately the rates have gone up and my monthly payments have gone up almost 1400$ from 2 years ago. the plan was to refinance which is why i took variable but i never did as i was not sure what to do. right now the 3 units bring in a total of $3900 but the mortgage payments, insurance and taxes alone add up to about 4.1k.one of the units is a 1 bedroom where the man who has been living there for 28 years is only paying 580$.my main question is what do i do?

It seems to me like the push to quadruple Colorado STR property taxes is softening quite a bit. 

Yes, Insurance is a tax write-off for a rental property.It is also true, that if expenses are higher than your income(not including depreciation) that it may lower your DTI Ratio.

However, I would not say it is not realm of possibilities if they have genuinely identified a gem and has a legitimate value-add business plan. 

Proposition 19 is making the Tax Assessors Big Brother. 

If 1-2 stopped paying you want 10 properties, not 2 or 3.)Today’s Bill has about $3k/mo in property taxes/insurance due on those same properties  (thank you Las Vegas.) that I could pay.Ps. 

My strategy is more about wealth building through appreciation (forced and natural), principle pay down, depreciation tax benefits, and cash flow eventually as rents increase, but not usually immediately.

IE build  camp recreate.. but some land that gets traded around at tax sales in some areas is truly worthless unless a neighbor is adding to their parcel..

We as a firm have investors working with us who have rental properties all over the US big and small.Finding a real estate-focused tax professional and one who can help with advisory and grow with you would be my suggestion to focus your efforts on finding.

I am very new to Tax deed investing in the US.