Write-offs, knowledge to lower my taxes substantially, write-off's you don't commonly think of, things like "paying your kids 12k a year", and "using 'vacations' as 'team building' exercises for said employees, etc.3.

@David M.I would strongly suggest taking some random listing or even the home you live in, and calculate the figures for what it would cost to remodel it like you plan to do for your flips.What I mean is calculate the square footage and go down to home depot and actually run the numbers on how much paint you'd need, flooring, cabinetry, etc.

I do plan on exercising the option to buy when the lease term is up, but I don't want to buy in SoCal.

For the third property, I would highly suggest networking and speaking to local lenders.

I would love some suggestions. 

I would love some suggestions.

Atleast do as already suggested and let her know that A your not doing ANY of those requests and B you hold the power position and inform her you won’t be taking ANY crap from this point forward

Suggest you use the TAR Lease.

Would suggest finding other means for sure, since most lenders dont like to see that much cc debt even if you are making all payments on time and pay them off each time. 

If you're looking to do investing yourself and you're an agent, I would suggest you just make a choice on which side you want to be on.