I've read the opinion letters prepared for my clients and I trust the opinion of a tax attorney over that of a 1031 intermediary pathetically trying to protect his business by bashing the competition.

There's nothing special about the license; it's all in the trial preparation and strategy..."

Renovations and dispositions before the financial world fell apart…As my partner and I both realized we didn’t have a lot of interest in running the operations of our real estate investment company, we began the process of preparing to sell what we acquired.

Be prepared for the effort this will take.  

Be prepared to spend the next few months working every day on this. 

Ownership Structure: DSTs involve pooled investments with beneficial interests, while 1031 Exchanges entail direct ownership of replacement properties.2.

Bottom line...be mentally prepared to play project manager, which can sometimes be a stressful experience. 

Both are lengthy processes and while the fact pattern is favorable on your end are you prepared to possibly wait years for your capital to be returned or take title to the property? 

Not always preventable, but also good to prepare your tenants and take precautions.

I have a list of 1/2 dozen properties in “cool areas” that will cashflow out of the box, and have a vacant unit, that I just prepared for a client looking for something similar.Let me know if you need contractor recs - my contractor is an investor as well, and will help maximize your budget/impact.