Therefore, you can't sell the home to yourself to increase the tax basis.  

A quick mls search shows the cheapest apartment rented in Framingham that was listed in the last 6 months was rented for 925 and Ashland $975 so it looks like you have room to increase rents if your building is in decent shape.  

@Jose Jose, glad to hear you're thinking about this- water savings are an amazing way to increase your return.

I do have some large projects in the pipeline which could increase that number by another 100K or so but its safe to say low 300's and I will have a tax bill of about 50K this year so ultimately it is very safe to say I am liquid for 250K right now that I'm ready to invest.Due to my job I have access to subcontractors of all trades... roofing, tile, granite, flooring, paint etc at pretty much cost (day rates of the actual laborers).  

With that said, many landlords are charging below market rents so after making those repairs, one can increase the rents.

However, my California RE mind sees the prices vs rents and am bewildered by such statements.As of now, these are my desires in properties:a house or townhome built after 2000 - I prefer after 2003 turnkey condition MOST PREFERABLE, but not necessarily a requirement at least a 3+2 neighborhood well kept and not too much crime $50-$100K, short sales are acceptable Close to transportation and/or the fwy Relatively close to downtown and the airport (10-20 min when there is no traffic)Seeking cashflow, appreciation much lesser priorityFor rent of 800, the PP cannot be exceed 60kFor each additional $100 of rent, the max PP can only increase by about $12.5k.If you see immediate issues with these desires, PM me so that we can talk about it offline.

Rents are increasing rapidly and anything near transit is pretty easy to rent out these days.  

This results in 1) a higher monthly cost for initial coverage and 2) rate increases or policy terminations once they start making claims – and these follow you from insurer to insurer.

Of course, such "savings" typically come with increased spending over time versus making the expenditure up front.

You do need to consider the extra wear and tear that can come from certain breeds as well as the increased liability.