Thinking of Doing a 1031 on two SFRs to Multi-Family

[Charles Chang]

I have been reading a lot since joining the forum. Now I am finally ready to pull the trigger after getting over the biggest hurdle... convincing the wife.

So I currently hold 2 SFRs with no mortgage in San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire region of SoCal. They combine for about 1.2 million in value but return only about $4000 per month in rent.  Obviously, the cap rate is very disappointing.  After doing many hours of reading and research on BiggerPockets, I have realized that I must make a major change in my investment strategy.  

So I have decided to put both SFRs on sale soon.  Unfortunately, I just found out that I must give my tenants 60 days notice to vacate the property since they have lived there longer than a year.  So it will take me a few more months before I can list my properties for sale.

I would like to get everyone's opinion on the following questions...

1.  What is the best time to put the SFRs in the market?

2.  I am mainly looking for the best cap rate.  Fresno seems to be pretty good.  Any other cities I should look into?

3.  How do I go about validating the effectiveness of a property manager?

4.  Should I pay for the multi-family in cash or buy multiple apartment buildings by leveraging the proceeds from the SFRs?

Looking forward to hear everyone's opinion!