It's so artificial that a judge in one of the district court of appeals once called it "The legal fiction of the 1031 exchange". 

The last thing to consider which isn’t guaranteed or exact science is the amount of appreciation you may get year over year.

I'll say two more things: buying a rental property is not rocket science: find a good agent who is an investor (easier said than done) and you'll figure out the rest as you go.

. - I created a picture of a fictional "perfect" fund that met all of my criteria. - Because nothing really came that close, I ended up just buying notes directly.

There is a real science as to why but that's an entirely different topic that is tangential to your post so I will leave it at that.

@Stephen Dispensa Thanks for clarifying, it sounds like you have it down to a science after many successful deals.

It's not a perfect science, but I've noticed that in most midwestern markets like Memphis, Indianapolis, Kansas City, etc...Anything that has a true market rent of "around" $800 and below is almost definitely a "C" property.  

A bunch of wanna bies who watch too much fiction TV and a bunch of failure who truly believe their best opition is to go to war togain an advantage in society.

This isn't rocket science, or Congress.

Everything is sold right off the MLS, and the only marketing we do is direct to local buyer's agents who we have worked with in the past.Our average DOM is 17 days, with about half our properties going to agents we know (and market to) and about half going to buyers/agents who just find the property on the MLS.I guess what I'm saying is that it's not rocket science -- have a great product at a great price and it will sell quickly off the MLS, though it doesn't hurt to build relationships and market directly to past agents you've worked with.