I should be able to rent it, flip it, burn it down if I want.

This in and of its self will help to keep that burning desire to want to succeed in REI Alive!

I've got the Realtor, the Inspector, the traditional Lender for the cash out refi, a few thousand dollars, and a lot of optimism to step into the BRRRR game.My realtor and I have discussed the "fixer upper" homes in the area compared to the ones that actually sell and they generally range from $20,000 - $35,000 for something that could be fixed rather than burned down and the other "normal" properties that the fixer uppers compare to are going for as high as $70-$80,000. 

They have been there for 35 years, are not looking for a fight, are just doing a job, and we both work together to a solution. however, with them gone, younger personnel will be promoted, and these are lesser experienced folks many of whom feed their families by working for the IRS, and so they are looking to make a name for themselves and can be less interactvie and /or flexible.In conclusion you will be able to exclude most but not all of the gain, even without aggressive expending.

I've asked a lot of people but not getting any clear answers. These questions are keeping me up at night!

1.) My wife and I want to maximize number of conventional loans. We heard if lenders see that we file taxes to...

I ended up fixing it by replacing the evaporator fan that burned out. 

I did calculate the rent for rentals in the area and values based on comps, but evidently to promote as a rental investment in the paper would need to adjust.

If you treat investing like a hobby, you're probably going to get burned.

We cannot self-promote, however if you do a quick search in the search bar there are a ton of forum posts about the direct mail companies out there.How many mail pieces are you looking to mail out at a time?

I hope no one else gets burned by them as badly as I did.