But then again, my trucks are 'beater' work trucks and have fixed functions... diesel tanks on one and just under commercial weight limits (25999) on the other... 

Just make sure you have a good lease that lets you out of the maintenance and upkeep and other responsibilities.

Seller said tenants pay their rent on time but the upkeep of the property leaves a lot to be desired. 

Tenant is responsibke for all utilities and lawn care/upkeep.

If they have been paying their rent, and there aren't any expenses related to poor upkeep of the home on the tenants part, then I wouldn't be too worried.  

You're quoting the IRS instructions that have exactly zero legal weight.

Having dead equity returns nothing and ultimately costs you money to maintain.The property is a money pit in upkeep and lost income, how can you change that .

My Condo has a private entrance, 3 bedroom 2 bath, and allows dogs with NO weight restrictions which is pretty uncommon around here. 

LOL.. and those folks don't post on BP.. on BP its all blue sky rentals are the way to financial freedom quit your day job.. live the life you deserve etc etc.. well for some for sure.. for many NOPE.. they are like why did I do that.. and they exit no matter the loss.now this is more prevelant in the lower value asset markets.. not all markets are like this.But I look at when I started hard money lending in 01 for turn key and I started in Detroit.. the homes there appraised at that time for 120 to 140 each rented for what they rent for today 800 to 900 in those days the .05% rule was fine.. we loan 80k as a HML .. well those homes tanked as you probably know many went down to less than 10k in value.. thankfully the 200 plus I did there I got refinanced out of them all. but you know long term lender lost their lunch and so did most of the investors in those days.I am not prediciting another major meltdown.. but even  break even is not a good position to be in with rental properties in my humble opinion the risk/reward and hassle factor just weights on you.. but I know I am in the VAST minority in my thinking.So my thought is you really need to get these things paid for and keep them forever.. but life happens and I would say 80% of people that have that thought process going in never make it past about 7 or 8 years.

Most weight given to last 2 years.7.