@Chris Blackburn, while I can't speak to this specifically, there are a few red flags I see in your post.1: A Realtor has to be a member of the national association of realtors, an industry trade group primarily focused on your typical home buyer.  

I plan to head to the area in the beginning of December and would love to use the time I spend there to speak with lenders, property managers, etc. to make a more educated decision. 

@Alan Asriants Since you already received your decision,  I assume you selected the non oral hearing option?

I have a free training on my YouTube channel that teaches you how to create a comp set and review the competition in your market so that you can make an intelligent decision on whether or not to move forward.

I get the whole 'dont fall so far behind market value' narrative but this is a long term play for me to gradually trade less of my time for w2 income if you will.

This leads you to a decision, whether you are aiming to be a passive investor or an active investor.

That's would be a decision the seller/lender could make. 

Using a GC you will have less headaches as you'll have one point of contact and they will coordinate schedules between the various trades. 

The 1031 exchange is designed to give you a loophole: You are not considered to be selling and buying, you are simply trading your property for a different one or ones.

Under the same scenario, a GP with a fixed percent return would probably make the choice to sell and take profits because they would see the 20/80 decision as a bad bet.