By living in the property, you can almost ride out anything.

I'm currently not in my own place and would like to be on my own as soon as possible, an apartment is also an option.I started a new job 3 months ago that increased my income to ~$80-90k/yr (sales, mostly base salary with some commision) and I do ride sharing on the side to get up to around $100k.

The translator who was riding with us says you can just rent someone’s garage.  

Although it has appreciated in the last 10 years, it's the land that has gone up, and you are basically riding the wave of great market appreciation.If you can cash flow $500/door/month without living there, and only putting 3.5% down, then it will be a home run.

I just closed on another one and it definitely was a roller coaster ride!!

And at the end of the ride your heirs get your properties tax free. 

You wrote in your post the property needs rehab so you might already proactively address some of the repair issues that cause older building to fail...BUT...do not expect an easy ride regardless.   

Would you recommend selling the property at a substantial gain and trying to 1031 or just holding and riding it out with tenants not paying?

It makes it a REALLY safe place to park some money to ride out the storm.Account Closed did you see this?

You want someone along for your ride.