Look If you are thinking of house hacking, then who cares if the market is overrated or not, as of right now if you have been renting all of these years you have been loosing $25-40k each year by renting and not gaining from the Miami appreciation of the market.

I am just unsure if we can avoid capital gains taxes if we do the seller financing route. 

Most come out ahead over an extended period of time by buying better quality assets where they perhaps have to leave some capital in the property but find themselves able to sell for real gains or refinance out appreciated equity and scale more effectively that way. 

@Rachel Seymour-NewtonIf the smaller property is a strong deal with solid cash flow and tenant demand, it could make sense to buy now and start gaining experience.

If you do a 1031 exchange, you can defer both the capital gains tax and the depreciation recapture, which is a nice benefit.

Because I benefit from more business oriented books I also like Who Not How and Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy.

It's a great way to gain hands-on knowledge and connect with experienced investors!

It's not profit until you access it in some form of cash.I've seen investors loss properties with equity (a few with a lot of equity) because they can't sell at a price high enough to gain that equity, or because they can't refinance it due to the negative CF,...which would increase with a new mortgage.

While it’s a helpful quick filter, the bigger picture—appreciation, tax benefits, loan paydown, and compounding growth—often tells a much better story over 5-10 years.The key is balancing cash flow and long-term gains.

The $450K will be returned to me as payback of my loan to the intermediary, without trigger any capital gain taxes, right?