I use my license for multiple activities: Of course- comps, when buying and when selling, tax data- to see what I am about to pay when i own the home ( for long term holdings), check the DOM (days on the market) for the subdivision I am either buying on, or when I plan on selling, etc. 

So all of the gain and depreciation recapture are initially still tax deferred.However, like Joe said, the down side is later when sold  you lose the 1031 option. the client will pay tax on all gain and depreciation recaptured from before the 1031 also. 

Step 2- close and start rehab-- would need to pay holding cost during rehab?

And I would love some passive income or at least someone to pay my mortgage until we can pay it off maybe.

Section 8 refers to a voucher that some people use to pay for their housing.

Often times you will pay much more in taxes than if you pulled the money out, paid the taxes and penalty and then started investing in real estate.For example, with the financing you mentioned, the IRA must pay taxes on the portion of the profit earned by financing. 

They put one of their employees into one of my houses, and after I switched to a new property manager, that tenant stopped paying rent (amazing!)  

You can learn from someone one step ahead of you and then do business together.I'm sure there are plenty of mentors you could pay substantial money to to gain knowledge and know how but i doubt it could replace actual relationships that are pertinent to your market and current business.

If you own this as a rental then there is not homestead exemption and you'll pay much higher tax rate than a resident/owner occupant in SC. 

Typically this means they will take longer to close, may not have all the information for the companies they work with, and most hard money brokers get their money by taking an existing product and adding extra points to pay their fee.What is your investor success rate?