Mainly because I'm particular about certain details in the transaction. 

I agree that many transactions shouldn't be done simply because you can.However, out of curiosity, if you had the opportunity to buy a $hit property with golden financing & then immediately sell the $hit property but keep the golden financing & transfer the financing to a great property would you consider it?

Do we need to go through the whole condemnation process to qualify the transaction for a 1033 exchange?

We are looking into houses on the lower end of the scale at first to get started for a "low risk" (we could pay mortgage out of pocket no problem even if property is vacant for 30 years) house that will give us the experience we need as rental home landlords - and I am looking down the road at potential investment ideas to keep this thing rolling.

I'd much prefer to put $60K on a down payment and closing costs so I have $50K to fix it up.So a couple of questions: 1) Am I mistaken in thinking those kind of lower down payment products are out there for regular folks like us? 

I am an investor, agent, and mortgage lender here in AZ who primarily does investment transactions.

A 1031 Exchange is also known as the Tax- Deferred Exchange, which allows the different shareholders as well as different depositors to reinvest the profits that these people had acquired as well as earned, most particularly when it comes from the different financial transactions of the property that the investor had advanced without acquiring different taxes from the government.

That means either you won't cash flow or your Return on Equity (ROE) will be terrible.Since this is your primary residence you'll be exempted from paying capital gains taxes when you sell.If you sell to your parents, it will be considered a non-arms length transaction and will get closer scrutiny.

I think the ability for the lower cost places in the midwest to 'cash flow' has been way, way overstated.If you know a market well though, that's definitely an advantage.

Buildium is also one you could use and I think they have a lower minimum door count.