Zero risk and money in the pocket is better than some/any risk with money on paper.Naturally, there are caveats, but this is the main thrust. 

From myself getting thrust into this world of real estate as a result of 9/11 and ripped my life apart as an airline pilot.

Yeah, you’re right about the 12-, the exemption would be prorated....but, you can shield part of the gain thrust the prorated 121, and exchange to defer the rest of the cap gain/depreciation recapture. 

If you want to chase down probate leads, you've got some homework to do first, like the probate laws for your area and how someone can navigate the process (your counties website should have some guides for this), how to find good estate sale reps, how to do clean outs for cheap, vendor lists, etc.. all the things someone that is overwhelmed with the role that has been thrust upon them and how to best help them.

In the Air Force, we referred to it as "all thrust and no vector" which means you have a lot of energy but no focus on direction.Read some books.

Depending on the thrust of this goal, you will arrive at the most probable strategy within REI.  

And she is not selling as part of a business, this is a situation thrust on her suddenly.

That's sort of the cut-and-thrust of my main query.

(Technically, I'm becoming a real estate investor by default, as I will be moving into my 2nd property as my primary and turning my current home into an investment property).As luck and timing would have it, I'm simultaneously being thrust into more real estate investing as a piece of land that's been in my family is now under contract and I've been learning about 1031 Exchanges on the fly (we're closing in a few weeks). 

The "magic" is in the thrust-and-parry of the negotiating process.