Its an active business. 1031's don't come into play for active businesses.

Now obviously this isn't the 2% rule, but if the tenants pay utilities, it wouldn't be a bad long term retirement play.  

Some may give it all they have and never get across the goal line, not everyone gets to play.

I have about 15k cash to play with.

Here's my $0.02...There is a cultural factor at play as well.

Consider finding a friend that you can train on a script that is willing to answer 24/7 for a commission on every deal.

New York City seems more for capital gains plays.

He's playing too many roles so he can blur the lines.

I think that would be a unique approach, if you could wait it out and play the monopoly board for a while.

If I roughly doubled the numbers above that would give her the flexibility to stay where she is, quit altogether or take a position that she thinks would be more fulfilling even if it involves a major paycut.Note this isn't as much the goals as it is getting to the point of just playing with the "house money" to build a better lifestyle rather than just being able to replace current living conditions.