Myself and family truly loved the property and house; just want others opinions on if this may be a mistake to proceed, or does this appear common practice for the age and location (upstate New York). 

its called a Hypothecation.. quite common..

I’ve worked with a lot of first-time buyers, and common concerns like HOA restrictions or property management costs often come up.

As mentioned the most common path is to do another 1031.  

Or, it could eat up all of your profit, which is most common.)

That being said, it's very common for listing agents to not respond to emails, texts and phone calls from buyer's agents with interested buyers- you'd never know if they are doing this or not, but I'll tell you it happens all of the time. 

@Mauricio Quintana -  Split payments are super common. 

It is also not stable, HOA increases and special assessments are common. 

Crime maps can by found on multiple websites, NeighborhoodScout.com is a common one.

It's a common complaint, and it's easy to deal with.1.