I will be closing on flip project next week and will be down in Corpus quite a bit in the 6 weeks following the purchase so if you'd like to grab a cup of java, let me know. 

There is no tax-deferral as with other conventional retirement plans.However, all future growth through investment returns, and any distributions you take from the account in retirement are tax free.The following calculator would compare the difference in net post-tax income to you by comparing into a tax-deferred "traditional" IRA or a Roth IRA.http://dinkytown.net/java/RothvsRegular.htmlThe other piece is that the IRA in and of itself is not really a good or bad investment.  

LOL  (no, actually I've been doing a slow burn for about 16 hours)So, what do we do next? 

It might not make you happy, it might not be fair, but its the law - these are the things you should have taken into account when becoming a landlord.There are certain groups of people you can't discriminate against, and if you try by wording things differently etc, you'll get burned much more in legal fees then that person will have potentially burned you in rent.

I have friends that did well ... until they burned out.  

You don't want to burn any bridges or abuse a contractor's services.

Ultimately, you're probably not going to be burned by the laundry issue and overuse, but why even open yourself up to the possibility?

If so, that will increase your premium overall, in case your building catches fire and burns the other property then they will come to find you.Also, don't wait for your current insurance to end for you to get new insurance.

And if you live two hours away like we did, you may eventually get burned out despite the financial gains. 

It's the same as someone's electrical wiring in their upstairs wall sparking and burning the building down.