And to make it eligible for 1031 you would need to move out and turn it into an investment for a bit.However it's going to be worth your while spending a few minutes with an accountant to go over your specific situation.  

Dude, go buy property and quit sweating stupid stuff.To make sure you keep your 5 inches of land you need to grant permission/easement to the encroacher but otherwise pick something worth worrying about and move on.

@Tom Tesmer what is a typical buy and hold deal looking like in that area?

I paid nearly $2K to set up my LLC and it was worth every penny.

They don't have their hands tied with regard to the number of loans you have.Hard money is typically for flips, but you can get an unlimited number of commercial loans for long term rental properties.

- In terms of market due diligence, what is an optimal target population, what percentage of such demographic should be 50+(or if that needs to be of higher age), and what about net worth/income?

I'm getting quotes on 20% down ($185k price) of 5% and up.  Should I keep shopping around or are these rates consistent with what others are seeing? I'm in DFW / Dallas area.

To make a strong offer, you need little to no contingencies, quick closings (typically), large EMD, POF, and an ability to create a spread for profit.

If he is considering a short sale he likely owes more than the home is worth.

I've recently started looking out of state and employ the same search method and it's already netted me 2 deals this month : )For the local deals, I would go to the house myself and since I've done about $250k worth of rehab work on my own properties, I generally know what it will cost with my team.