The business itself (your real estate development company) would operate in the taxable world however.There are a few threads here on BP that touch on the topic, but not anything I have seen that really has much meat to it, unfortunately.  

The home you are looking at will most likely need to be gutted, especially anywhere the water touched. 

The neighborhood is in a good location and the other houses on the street are well taken care of - except for the house next door, which has holes in the roof and a backyard that looks like it hasn't been touched in five years.

You touched on the most important topics that were key issues when I bought my first property, primary residence, now a rental home.

@Justin Ellis, that's what I would do ... freshen it up but try to keep some of the original touches.  

I've found it's one thing to get great answers to questions from knowledgeable people on here, but it's even better to get in touch with some of these folks from around your area who have already offered great advice and take them out to lunch to hear their stories and learn from their experiences.

Your attorney can touch on insurance issues as well and draft an agreement as to how insurance claims will be disbursed. 

Afterward, the PM was able to rent the renovated side for 1250/mo, up from 850/mo and I was able to unload the property for $190k when local investors were only offering around $100k before the rehab.I can put you in touch with the PM but unfortunately I do not know who they contracted to do the work.

Hi @Abhi Golhar I think we touched base on a previous post of yours.

He was looking to get in touch with you as well.