It was not a 1031 exchange, so we are now calculating our taxes.

I think we exchanged a few notes about this a month or two ago  

Quote from @Glen Wiley: I suspect that once I retire from my W2 I will probably set up a direct booking channel since I'll have more time but for now I am accepting the risks of depending on the OTAs in exchange for the benefits. 

Now keep in mind I had already done my own title search and a date down so I knew the state of the title. 1.Cashiers Check to Seller in exchange for the Notarized deed  You do this at a notary and the amount of the check is the sellers equity and what you negotiated. 2.

At this point the value of the house is still increasing but not at the same rate as the previous years for a number of obvious reasons (high Interest rates,  age of house, etc.) and at this point I'm not sure what my next move should be since I don't like having all that equity tied up in the property and borrowing against it (HELOC) doesn't seem like a good idea since banks seem to be charging even higher than "normal" interest rates because the house is not my primary residenceIt's been almost 2 yrs since a I moved out of the house and I know my time is running out before we'll have to pay capital gains on the property if we chose to sell it [unless I do a 1031 exchange of course] but wondering what other options I might consider.

I was then able to qualify for a construction loan at peoples exchange bank in stanton Ky without any prior ground up construction experience.

But you have two main options: 1) cash-out refinance and keep the property or 2) 1031 exchange into a larger property.

You need to know what services they provide in exchange for those fees.

One way to avoid that Tax is to put it back into another property with a 1031 Exchange. 

One option that might work for you is to partner with others who are willing to provide the down payment capital in exchange for equity in the property if you are willing to do the leg work for it.