Just because one lives in a foreign country, even year-round, doesn't automatically mean they're eligible for the FEIE.Whether the FEIE is better than claiming Foreign Tax Credits (FTCs) is based on fact and circumstance, and should not be taken light as the FEIE is a tax election. 

Simple CoC does not give you a clear understanding of investment fundamentals if appreciation potential is high.

@Andrew Wiggins, Vacant land is eligible for 1031 exchanges as long as your intent is to hold the land for productive use (farming, grazing, building a building to hold, appreciation, waiting in the path of development etc)  If your intent is primarily just to buy it to sell immediately (flipping) then you're a dealer and the land is inventory and you can't 1031 it.  

@David Pere My goal is to have a few long term rental properties under my belt by the time Im eligible for retirement (4-6yrs).

FHA/rental restrictions: To be FHA eligible the HOA has to meet certain owner/occupancy restrictions.

Now regarding the assessment/transfer taxes, I'm not experienced with OH assessors, but when these transfers are made for estate planning/asset protection purposes you can typically relay to the assessor's office that ownership did not fundamentally change (when you provide them with an explanation of your structure) and that typically straightens out any re-assessments they may make due to change in ownership.  

You should be asking questions to make sure they are eligible to rent the property.Some might include basic information such as name, phone number, email.

Plan is to hold it for another year or 2, take advantage of the appreciation from the market and Exxon moving in and then sell and buy a few more rental properties with the equity.Sam, is this home eligible for the home home owner's tax exclusion for capital gain?

In either case, you should verify that you are eligible to transfer the funds from your existing retirement account (e.g. if the funds are in your current employer 401k, you will likely not be able to transfer until you quit your job). 

If so, call a mortgage loan officer and see if you are eligible for an FHA 203k loan.This loan product will allow for you to put little money down, and it will give you funds to fix up that unit that is gutted.