I don’t see the sense in paying off my own house at presumably low interest rates, and exchanging that for a higher rate, variable interest line…unless I have a really good plan for not losing my house.  

No, if you’re an LP in a real estate fund or shareholder in a publicly traded REIT, you won’t qualify for a 1031 exchange.

Now, very profitable with $4,000 rents and low monthly payments.Passively considering a sale to do another 1031 exchange.

Are you planning to do a 1031 exchange or a trust deed to avoid/ minimize the property gain tax?

In exchange, I’d be able to be sort of an intern or someone to help with boots on the ground here in AZ.  

Security deposit amountYou can find plenty of examples by searching for "tenant estoppel certificate doc" or exchanging "doc" with "pdf" for more options.Here is an example and explanation: Sample EstoppelSome have a lot of legal jargon but this document does not need to be so detailed.

Bookkeepers who serve REIs have to have a good amount of U.S. tax code knowledge or at least have to know where to find the info.You're not going to get this for $4/hr.I think outsourcing other activities to other countries to take advantage of exchange rates can be effective but do yourself a favor and don't do this with your bookkeeping/accounting/tax advisory/tax filing/etc (anything financial).Just like Kristen Ambrose, we see really screwed-up bookkeeping records from these types of situations all the time.

I do have one question, you mentioned getting your "first property" via a 1031 exchange.

I'm located in NYC as well, and would love to connect and exchange thoughts!

Some syndications offered a fixed pref in exchange for a equity bump, which basically raised you up in the stack for payment, the bank, or major lender is usually number 1 in distributions since they hold most of the equity of course.