Are the two stairs of the same height, the basement may have been designed in a normal method which would mean not totally waterproof.

I am trying to decide between doing the BRRRR method while living in one half and renting out the other or building a duplex from the ground up.

How can I go about doing this either with a 1031 or what is the best method to attack this? 

For athletes in pro sports, you have to be careful of the time vs. money situation.

If this method of paying for help around my homes isn't legally sound in CA, I will have to change my ways. 

I would work with an investor-friendly agent who focuses on cold-outreach methods like cold-calling, cold-texting, etc to bring you off-market deals.

Other methods do too, but I can personally vouch for this one. 

Most of them lie about what they've done, when they did it, and how they did it.The time-proven method of building wealth is very simple: earn, save, invest.There was a time when you could buy properties cheap, rent them for more than your expenses, and then rinse and repeat.

Don't let that scare you, you really need an investor agent that also focuses on the BRRRR method that has all of the connections, deal flow, resources, & hustle to land good deals.

If you really mean that all 4 of you are on title and mortgages for both properties, then you may want to look into methods to clean up title, if you desire to separate from each other.