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

Or put in cheaper paper and see if you get comments on how it feels like sandpaper.