When we renovated the kitchen for the first time in about 40 years there was no special smell and we've ensured excellent ventilation with the reno.

Should I get an agent that specializes in auction/foreclosures or even just finding houses that require a good amount of sweat equity?

I save those for special holidays (Halloween and Easter).

@Francesca TindalNew Yorkers who have an investment property outside of the state are required to file a non-resident state tax return where the property is located.Since you mention possible errors on the return, you may want to look at getting the return amended before working on the 2019 return.There are a couple CPA's who specialize in real estate taxation on this messageboard

California also has special fees that apply to out of state LLC's, and I don't understand whether the tax treatment of these entities are different.Would appreciate any advice, as well as a reference for a lawyer to advise and help create protections offered by different entities (Series LLC vs Delaware Statutory Trust for example) and a CPA to help advise on the costs/benefits of using those same types of entities.

@Mike Dymski @Theresa Harris I absolutely don't want to do that, specially with my first investment property, and that's why I walked away from the deal despite it was a decent one. but $10K is a hell lot of money compared to the $32K down payment and will bring the COC down aggressively  

I attribute that to the personal letter I wrote with a picture of my family stating how we would make the property our home. 

If your tax pro isn't REI specialized there is a fair chance they won't know the details of have a client doing this. 

He and his crew do a lot of work to make them habitable--way more than they would have to do for cat damage.With Pets you can get special carpet pads and special carpets that somewhat repel the urine problem, but with Horror Tenants your really just stuck with what the Devastation they leave behind.And like you said, so many people have pets, if you don't take them you really limit your renter selection, and Pet issues seem a lot easier to deal with than the Horror Tenant Issues. 

You might consider Niche or Specialized Housing like student housing.