@Dylan Baxter You appear to be going in the right direction as far as the partial exclusion of gain from sale of a primary residence under Internal Revenue Section 121 (pubs are informative but during my tenure with the Internal Revenue Service, I learned that pubs can be superseded by IRS code section language), but a little more information would be needed to comment furtherJim Kennedy

I am 1-3mins away from major highways and 3mins away from Newark Liberty International Airport.

Ideally, I'd prefer to take ALL rental properties including ones under my name and have transactions flow through the LLC checking account along with any new real estate purchases and then pay myself in profit to pay for my personal mortgage (via a simple internal bank transfer each month). 

Some use an automated value, similar to a Zestimate, while others will do an internal appraisal.  

I would really appreciate connecting with anyone who might have experience holding international properties who could guide me in the right direction has to how to expand this portfolio and to manage my portfolio more systematically and pro-actively or tips on experts who have experience in this area that could help me.

or was there some internal collusion to steal it from me? 

From handyman to international mechanical contractor.

Cap rates only tell the story for an instantaneous moment in time, and investments are measured over multiples years (and with multiple metrics) If you factored in all the costs, including opportunity costs, the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for many rental properties will be relatively similar.

Things to take into account is that we usually get a slightly higher rate, closing costs (international background checks...) and a lower LTV.

We also have a few companies near me that use a relocation service for international employees but they tell me up front there is no fee.