It is perceived fear as opposed to actual proven need.

Based on your posted comments - I don't perceive you have experience in rehabbing or managing rehabs as part of your background. 

Some charge more if they perceive more risk, some charge as little as a point if you have a lot of experience and a great deal. 

Again helping mitigate the perceived risks of the 1031 timelines.4.

@YiBing T.What you are proposing is possible based on the interpretation of many tax attorneys, as outlined by @ George, but there is still some layer of risk if there is any perceived benefit between any of those plans.

I work and live in Chicago in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood and my biggest concern is that so many people who live here, are not in a position or perceive they are not to take advantage of the changes. 

How can a landlord get away with saying you have drug activity simply because you have a few friends who visit?My landlord approached me earlier today and said to me that she had gotten complaints of "drug activity" ...

I have tried with two smaller lenders(National Bank of Arizona and OneAZ Credit Union) and they have both dragged it out for several months before deciding they wouldn't do the loan for what I perceived to be fairly silly reasons(Management didn't like that the tenant had only been in for 1 year, Management didn't like that the structure used to be a residence, management didn't like that 3 years ago I took a loss in a completely unrelated business etc.)I am hoping that someone out there has had some success purchasing or refinancing commercial property like this in AZ and can put me in touch with someone who actually completes deals like this.

The market tells you what a house/area is worth, so look up the most recent sales in the past 6 months to get an idea of perceived value.

Refunding the application fee also helps to avoid push back or even worse, a formal complaint based on real, perceived, or imagined discrimination.