Selling one expensive property to buy 10+ cheap ones. Thoughts?

[Ellie Narie]

I have a house hack FHA fourplex that I'm thinking about selling. I don't currently live there but have lived there for 2 years. If I sell it, I might make around 200k+. My goal is to get a lot of cash flow so that I can live off of it. Currently, I live in a very expensive area where properties appreciate a lot but don't cash flow. My property doesn't cash flow all that much (maybe 1k a month). So, I'm contemplating selling my one property to invest into 10+ cheap properties. For the market, I'm thinking Ohio. Maybe Cleveland/Akron, because it seems like a good cash-flowing market, which is what I'm looking for.

What are some nuances that I could run into with this? I would assume I'd need to do a 1031 exchange on the 3/4 units that I didn't live in, and I can take the other 1/4 profit tax free because it was my primary residence. I read that you need to buy properties within 45 days for the 1031 exchange. What are your suggestions about how to do this? Should I just go on zillow and find 10+ houses that I want to buy? Or do you recommend looking for an investor portfolio? I would like to do this myself without using 3rd party re-sell companies. 

I also heard that the value of the properties I buy needs to be no more than 2x the value of my current property. Does that mean if my current property is valued at 700k, the other properties can't be valued more than 1.4 million total? Is that how you count it, or do you have to take mortgages into account somehow? 

What lender should I use? I assume I would do 20% down plus closing, and I'd probably buy turn-key houses that don't need rehab since I can't be there in person to remodel anything. Should I just use a well-known bank like Wells Fargo and go with Fannie Mae investment mortgages? 

Any other thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.