What you’re also going to want to take in to account (and I’m not sure these fit into an excel sheet) is the benefit to buying owner-occupied-from loan flexibility and down payments to reduced living expenses and ease of self-management.

@Yolanda EilandYolanda thank you so much for that my brain is at ease.

IF the immigration policy keeps tightening, we will have more pressure on the labor market that works for contractors & their subs.BTW, for SoFla, those costs are pretty average.

@Alexandre Lalancette I would say that doing single family first is a good way to ease into investing however if your end goal is multi family I’d just go for it right out of the gate and master that area.

I'm trying to find a strategy that satisfies the below requirementsMotivates potential tenants to apply and lease quickly (a weak pressure sale tactic?) 

Make good notes about pressure from city, and write down names and dates and phone numbers for your notes.

However, because there wasn't a lot of building done in 07-14 we are behind on the amount of needed inventory so buyers are just moving further out from the main business areas and commenting which is putting pressure on transposition to keep things moving well. 

That would not only let you use the 1031 for the improvements to the new property, it would also ease the calendar angst of each individual exchange.Nice problem to have - congrats!

I also sent them a $20 gift card, with the letter, as a nice gesture to hopefully ease any fears they may have about me as the new landlord of their home.

Keep the pressure on yourself to keep moving.