My wife and I recently setup a trust (based on my social security number), and would like buy the replacement properties and keep them in the trust.   

In your case, it sounds like they have had advance notice that 9/10 is the move out day.You can dispose of their items the next day. 

Should I replace the carpet?

. - don't confuse it with tax saving - the CSS allows you to accelerate depreciation (you get more of it sooner, and less of it later) so you have to factor that in in your tax strategy- it's good to have CSS done when you replace an item (you'll be able to claim loss deductions)- there is also an inheritance benefit - your heirs will benefit from a CSS in place.Maybe @Wes Mabry can offer more advice.

Sounds like you're doing all the right things to get yourself educated. 

And by the sounds of it it’s not doing your wallet any favors.

@Samuel Carmichael besides what @Brandon Ingegneri said about looking at absolute dollar amounts to figure out if it's even worth the aggravation, I also agree with @Michinori Kaneko about looking at percentages.Personally I look at percentages first, namely 1) cash on cash return (yearly money back after all expenses including mortgage, divided by all money invested to get it rentable) and 2) debt service coverage ratio (net income after operating expenses but before mortgage payment, divided by the mortgage payment).The first is (obviously) a measure of return, while the second is more of a measure of risk as it tells you how much of a buffer you have between the property's net income and the monthly fixed mortgage payment.After you get a little more experience you'll also start to factor things like replacement reserves into account.

It's a numbers game and you need to continually search for "replacements" for all parts of your business that aren't working optimally for what you're trying to do.

Sounds great!

To me it sounds like I should get rid of it.