I simply want to offer a second opinion should you need it.

My uninformed opinion was that 1031 allowed for the deferral and transfer to the new property.

Hey Chris, good to hear from you, thank you for your detailed opinion that you brought here, you made me think about it deeply and to compare markets, I'll do some homework this week :)@Chris Grenzig

ETF doesn't offer much advantage over mutual fund for retirement account in my opinion, as you don't want to trade often or cash out (unless for emergency).In general it's recommended to contribute 10-15% of income to retirement account.

The implications of taking money from a retirement account(if not Roth) is that the distribution will be considered income and potentially subject to a 10% penalty.In my opinion, real estate investments and securities within a retirement account are used towards your later years.So it doesn't matter whether it is in one bucket or the other.If you are subject to the 10% penalty, I would only take out a distribution if you strongly beleive your return from real estate will be several percentage points higher than what you can invest in with your IRA.For example, if your return within the IRA is about 8% and you can make 10% in real estate, I would consider doing the distribution because the extra return will pay off the penalty over a few years.Best of luck

@David Leggett In my opinion the Local Agent comes from the town wanting someone to serve with legal process concerning the property.

When seeking multiple opinions for a medical issue, it's likely that all consulted physicians will recommend a cast for a fracture followed by rehabilitation.

What we've found (our opinion):Virtual Assistant (VA): great for task-based work, but they won't care about your company, clients, etc.Remote Team Member (RTM): COVID allowed many to work from home.

The other 95% are either, part time or less motivated (for whatever reason).Your second option is the way to go if you want my opinion.

In my opinion, a 401K is a retirement account just as real estate.