Also as I think through the mechanics of the scenario you proposed it becomes complicated.

Obviously, all of this is complicated by COVID and state eviction moratoriums.

In short, I try not to complicate investing in Real Estate.

;-)  This is why I value meeting/befriending Travis - We have 2 opposite strategies on the same business but are both open to examining and respecting each others technique (Watching closely of course to steal ideas and get in an I told you so when possible). 

It's a little hairy and complicated, but the bottom line is that both you and the LLC should be on the policy. 

I sent you an email, would love to discuss further.Question: If a property is $150k  and I only have $50k eligible funds in the 401k that can be moved, can I finance the remaining $100k easily or does that complicated?

At the time I had never done anything more complicated than renting to my roommates, so the thought of being a "landlord" from another state terrified me.

To make the comparison, you can calculate the net present value(NPV) for both selling and renting the house.NVP for selling the house would simply be $100k.NVP for renting the house is a bit more complicated, as it will require the assumption of risk free interest rate and future market value of the house if when and you decide to sell the house. 

Wonder how complicated it is for Canadians to buy US real estate - a lot of paperwork?

They check that value using recent sales to make sure that it is roughly in line with with the market, however, markets change very rapidly (especially lately) and have some seasonality so unless the reevaluation was done in the past few months, the cost basis for the tax assessment would not be accurate to true market value today even if tax assessors were using the same techniques as appraisers.