I don't think the fact that prices have gone up 5 years in a row is a good clean indicator that they will continue to do so, if it cashflows today and I can hold it for 20 years inflation should do most of the heavy lifting for me. 

People seem to buy mainly for appreciation, but I'm not sold appreciation will continue to rise the way it has the past 5 - 6 years, so feel like CF is the safer investing avenue for me. 

If that continues then I'm definitely out ( and we will see).

Hope you get a mobile home expert to help you out. 

I don't know how to make this happen but the numbers work well, so I'm looking for creative advice/equity partners/private money/hard money  for how to make this happen, and then when my business sells I can pay back the loan and find financing at that point to continue the rehab.

I’m not an expert, but I don’t think you could live in the new property if you 1031 nor would you be able to access any of the proceeds for personal reasons.

Let's stay connected and continue to learn from one another. 

I also advised to continue to contact IHA and document all of the communications if there are any.

Or is it better to capture all the rental income while continuing to pay my current rent at $500/month?

A legal expert might correct me here.