I imagine you are still feeling the effects of Helene.

Only to make yourself feel better by getting verification, but that's not how you learn.

Besides directly contacting the employer, this is now the only way I feel comfortable verifying income—especially since pay stubs and bank statements are frequently being altered these days.

I feel the same.

Hop on Airbnb and scan nearby properties of similar size to get a feel for what they offer at the price points charged.

I feel if you can do the 1031 you should lean towards that.

I also reccomend lining up a contractro early, realy early, from what I’ve heard, so you can keep everything on schedule and budget.So now that you’ve tackled what most investors would call a major job, do you see yourself repeating a similar strategy.. or do you feel like branching out into something else?

Whether you're a new or seasoned investor, feel free to reach out.

Quote from @Jaycee Greene: As long as you feel you can cover large capex, there's not much need to keep much cash in the account, though I would keep the SD in there, so it looks like you're not co-mingling funds. 

I was able to see those for you here https://www.biggerpockets.com/analysis/rentals If you can't see those feel free to email [email protected] with your browser and a bit more information about where you are seeing the issue