Make sure that the squatter is not a related family party or trust.

@Pamela Guillen, The QI (qualified Intermediary) for the 1031 will be an unrelated party to everyone else in the transaction. 

After attorneys get involved, parties usually settle for something like 50/50.

The hard part is that finding private money when you are new in real estate is like unicorn hunting and if you don't already have that relationship it will likely be hard to make happen in the timeframe you need.

Anyway given the huge amount of supply coming up in the area, you can’t afford a bad location or « bad » property if you want to get rented on a sustainable basis in my humble opinion.I would only get something like that if I wanted to use the property for myself only and want to be on the middle of nowhere.Hope this helps and sorry if I involuntarily poop the party but, at the risk of repeating myself from previous posts you can’t expect to buy by anything in Tulum and make or not lose money.

If they are not a party to the contract, they cannot market the deal without a license (and never could, under VA law, though that does not mean they do not try--but they should not be getting paid for something they have no interest in by a closing company).  

I appreciate all the insight and for the most part I do agree with you all on this being the typical experience with STR's.

How much is your annual spend on 3rd party software and apps?

They act as a neutral third party and are the ones who hold the proceeds and facilitate the transaction in accordance with IRS rules.

Absent a clause in a trust that provides for a beneficiary to designate powers of sale (or will, if that’s the controlling document) then you are just an interested buyer party.