there are also a couple of scenarios where accumulated depreciation is either never recaptured (e.g., the death of the owner) or deferred (e.g, a 1031 exchange) and they should be taken into account as well.
There's nothing wrong with either way. It just depends on one's future intent for both short and long term, keeping in mind that my "intent" may not end up being what I originally wanted.
For me, I'm looking at the possibility that if I die first, my wife will not be able to keep the house we're in now. She'll need to sell it and can use the proceeds to pay off one of the rentals and still have enough left over to renovate/update any one of the rentals the way she wants.
