My best advice is to pick the issues that are of major concern like roof, foundation, radon etc. but perhaps skip the leaky faucet or burned out light bulbs.

I'm in the Los Angeles County area so saturation is a real concern.

Just a note for you since I was just talking to a client about this: if you live in a high-income state or have privacy concerns and are living the digital nomad lifestyle, south Dakota has an interesting residency status program that can potentially save you guys 10s of thousands on income tax and have great anonymity. 

You can usually get the zoning destination with the property listing, then look that designation up in the town's zoning code to see which uses are allowed there.Basement habitation - There is a concern that limited egress, fire and CO are major risks to bedrooms and habitation in general of basements.

This is the most complicated piece because you are essentially the mortgage originator (which might run into licensing concerns depending on how many times you do this and your state), and you need to make sure the person who is buying is a good borrower.3) close with a title company or lawyer (state dependent) who knows how to deal with this type of transaction4) set up an account with a servicer to collect the money from the borrower (not required, but highly recommended from note buyers)5) collect payments

It seems that the cost of the money isn't that great of a concern if the numbers are making sense on the deal.

I would call the concerned parties and make sure you gather paper trail.. call the credit bureaus, they will give the advise you will need to get the flag removed

My concerns with selecting a servicer are the following: customer service, access to funds, access to education materials so I can learn how to stay away from prohibited transactions.

They setup to assist clients from all over the US and have great online/mobile banking system so you don't even need to go to a branch for your banking needs.

It's a very common concern that the other side of your transactions might try to take advantage of if they know you are doing a 1031 exchange.