How would you invest $275K as a 1031 exchange?

[Alex Rearmice]

I am doing a 1031 exchange for $275,000. I'm trying to figure out what to do on a number of levels. The first is:

* buy a bunch of small cash-flowing houses that total $275K
* buy one big thing for about $275K
* buy one big thing for more than $275K and get financing

My inclination is that I won't find financing b/c I have too many loans already - can't even refi what I have - even though my credit score is good and my work income would support it. So I'm leaning toward staying at $275K, though, if there is a good reason to, I'd consider pushing to $350K and trying to secure financing where I am at 20% LTV.

The second level of thinking is - what will I do in the future? If I 1031 into one thing now, I can 1031 into something bigger in the future. But if I buy, say, 5 houses, then I'm going to be 1031'ing in the future into other small fish things.

The third level of figuring out stuff is - what do I want to accomplish? I think that nationwide, there isn't going to be any run-up any time soon (5-10 years), so any sort of "speculative" play doesn't appeal to me. I think I just want good cash flow and to know that I will get say 3-5% growth a year over the long haul - though I may just as well plan on it being flat growth depending on what happens in the RE market nationwide.

I know it's a lot to consider, and I'm not set on any one plan as I've described. I'd like to hear from you experienced folks, what would you do with a $275K 1031 exchange right now?

Thanks in advance! 35 days left to identify. :-)

Alex