What I would encourage you to do is to compare how much cash you currently have invested out of pocket in the deal and also calculate what the cash flow is for that property.Cash flow is the income (rent) minus all expenses: mortgage payment (including principal, interest, taxes and insurance), average maintenance costs, capital expenses (new roof, hvac, water heater.

Yes, you get depreciation and tax write offs.

If you have been working on it but not listed anywhere, you can't deduct any expenses until next tax cycle.Also, I would highly suggest you get yourself a CPA that can help you.

My situation is that I wonder if I can use being a real estate agent as a strategy to save on taxes by creating a solo 401k.

Will this void the liability protection an LLC offers?

I am not opposed to flipping, but I need to educate myself on the tax implications first.

Let the property owners worry about taxes, insurance, etc... while you make money every time a property is cleaned plus every time someone stays in the property.  

Sarah's a qualified Accountant and has always dealt with our tax affairs, in the US and in the UK, so it makes total sense for us to take back control...

I will say it is difficult to ensure these properties as not all insurers will insure mix use as there are various points of liability for them.

As far as taxing goes.