Your proposal sounds reasonable to me.

.- There is a CA proposal that if you sell in less than 3 years, the state tax on gain is 25%. 

Generally, the only way to get financing with less than 10% down on a multifamily is going FHA, and unfortunately it can be very difficult to compete with cash and conventional offers when you are proposing FHA financing. 

I've heard this ranges anywhere from 45-85$ depending on the size and what agreement you have.Best of luck,Eric  Also, take a look at this article.http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-ci-airbnb-rules-proposal-20180205-story.html

In short, we went over budget on the rehab and the proposed interest rate is ~8.75% if we move forward with refinancing.

You can include rent + appreciation, but it's probably relatively low.What you propose is a riskier strategy, but along with that higher risk comes higher potential rewards.

He proposed opening a brokerage where I am the sole agent.

@Valerie S.If I understand you correctly, you are the buyer in the proposed transaction? 

The IRS has issued proposed regs that may give more confidence in using a series LLC.

The first proposal from the lender was to escrow T&I, but I have a commercial insurance policy with multiple properties.