But if you think appreciation has stalled or capital expense might be lurking then a 1031 is better than just a sale because you get the compounding effect of the deferred tax working for you not the government.

In these cases, interest rates tend to surpass cap rates, compounded by rapid appreciation.

Keep taking your journey step by step and those actions will compound for the future. 

I would suggest doing your first flip close to home as there is a lot to manage, especially time and that is compounded severely when you do it from a distance.

Gotta love compounding.  

This is further compounded by the fact that working up high, it just takes longer so you are going to have way more hours involved because for anything they do, they are either having to perch themselves in the man basket of the lift, or working around the support structure of the scaffolding.

Let's say the details are a 5%+ annual compounding appreciation in rents and property value is to be had....

Not understanding compound interest3.

Let the compounding effect of time take over from there.

Leverage merely compounds the effects, better and worse.