I totally recognize that is impatient and greedy.My gut is saying your short picture idea is where we're heading since we are taking the same hit with brokerage account (I didnt even mention borrowing against 401k - yes its not advised but my wife and I have stable W2 income to pay ourselves back) Thanks again, this BP community / forum is awesome

Glad you are making some head way with your build! 

Heads in beds means more revenue.

@Ashish Acharya: You hit the nail on its head !!

Now if your thinking location jumps out as a big factor to all this, you hit the nail on the head, location location LOCATION. 

Once you have done 100-200 deals you can really estimate in you head when you see a deal, so that 100 turns to 5 good ones within minutes and then 1 to get under contact with you to put an offer in. 

I always recommend starting with a prequalification letter to get a solid view of your purchasing power before heading out into the real estate market.

It's doesn't really sound like you are much into being landlords so doing a 1031 might just change from "annoying when things come up" to full fledged head aches when you buy more and or larger properties in your current market.

Then reality hits and you find yourself in over your head.

I have invested 7 times. 5 of 7 are not paying out and have not paid out and now asking for more capital. they have no idea what they are doing. they are over their heads.