Then you have capital gains taxes, which is generally 15% (for non millionaires anyhow) if you hold onto it for a year or more, otherwise it could be taxed at income tax rates. 1031 exchanges are a popular way of postponing capital gains taxes, but they won´t be of much use to you as a non US national.  

Now, though, we are facing postponing trips in order to save for an investment property.

The other thing is agents will try and postpone a trustee sale by showing offers so they list it to get an offer to buy some time.

Is this enough to postpone buying the first rental until weather warms up or is this difficulty not really an issue?

I've seen a lot of deals which look great when the numbers are run only to find out that there is a lot of "postponed" maintenance.

But I don't think that I can postpone the depreciation recapture unless I do a full fledged 1031---an installment sale alone pursuant to IRC 453 will NOT help with that IMHO.The other question concerns the status of (1) "monetized installment sale" or (2) "structured installment sale" or the like. 

I locked in a rate in Aug, closing got postponed a month and now I am facing a $2,000 rate lock extension fee to keep a higher rate than what is offered now.  

Don't postpone it if you really do want to delve into the REI world, or in the blink of an eye it will be years down the line, and you'll be wishing you did at a younger age.

After due diligence the bank kept postponing the closing due to the appraiser, underwriting, etc.

I believed her to allow her to move in being a teacher and she keeps postponing every week saying she will pay and I have collected no money from her.