My husband and I would like a 20 to 100 unit and I will be helping my mom sell her Hawaii single family investment house and 1031 it into a more lucrative multifamily investment to at least triple her income.

Crystal mentioned a Structured Installment Sale may be a good soution along with possibily a 1031 Exchange.

Assuming you have two spouses who each make $300,000, your hourly rate is about $150 / hour assuming you work about 2000 hours a year.I personally think it is better to continue investing in LTR which will likely be less time consuming / stressful to STR's.You don't want to exchange something where you make $150 / hour(at work) to something else where you may only make $10 / hour.Best of luck

I found it through another investor that was doing a 1031 into a larger property.

Is this where a 1031 comes into play?

In exchange for paying the high end of comps for the house at $500k without going on the market, the buyer was ok paying a commission because they knew they’d have to anyway to fetch that price on market.

Putting it on the market (Of which I can help you get it sold and on the MLS), taking the equity and putting it into a 1031 cash flowing deal, or walk away with the equity if it is listed as your primary and you're able to take advantage of the tax incentive up to 250k single or 500k married. 

Now we are selling this property and buying new one under 1031.

.- 1031 Exchange: Utilize a 1031 exchange to defer capital gains taxes when selling properties, allowing you to reinvest the full amount into new investments.9.

Any experienced 1031 exchanger can provide some insight into this scenario?