Have your agent start to look for properties that will do the 1031 now.See my comments in recent post. 

I'm starting out doing redeemable tax deeds and going to auctions where everybody has "bigger pockets" than I do.

Figuring out the true cost will heavily depend on the type of dig down, depth, and total square footage. 

It's not just the taxes, but being able to at-a-glance look at expenses by the month and year, profit and loss calculating automatically, and even cash flow by property and total portfolio by month and year.Thanks for suggesting it!

For fix and flips I want to stay away from total rehabs and focus on properties that need minor work such as kitchen, bathroom, paint, outdoor improvements, etc. 

Say they sold the properties over 3 year period and could not sell the rentals together as a portfolio.Could they put the money from each sale into a DST then use the total to buy a expensive rental property?

It's the safest way to start and it's a guaranteed profit when you get the right deal!

thats $116,161.92 total.  

Did you started working on it?

What is the current market valuation of the property based on comparable sales (defined as similar properties, within a 1-mile radius, within the last 30 to 180 days, that are within 10% of total square footage)?