If there is any indication of movement I will use another option. 

Do REOs negotiate in smaller movements ($500, $750) and might it be better to start small movements now?

The flexibility of the 1031 to go small to large, few to many to few, geography to geography and sector to sector give you the ultimate power to shape your portfolio to get the performance you want in the place and sector you want and never pay a penny in tax on the gain from the movement of those properties.

We've been noticing alot of movement and nice rentals/ flips in the Devington area. 

Ratios, cost per sf, equipment, who maintains what, market movements, zoning compliance, environmental impacts ... 

I was looking around the north side, but not having any luck places that would cash flow (without being very creative).I recently redid a data analysis looking at zip code level trends - basically areas that are likely to have 1% opportunities and also regions that are showing positive movement for population and rent growth.Here's a map (the color is population growth according to census data - yellow up to 9% and green above 9%). 

Just wanting to be prepared for fast movement when needed.

Since then there hasn't been any movement in the market though.

In sum, how can you increase rents at this time in any way with no value add, no common area improvement, no clear improvement to management inefficiency can be assumed in this environment.Thus, I agree with most that an LP right now should really be on the sidelines for a bit, if even to get a better feel for where deals are going, vacancy issues, rent price movement and what the new normal to be. 

My favorite part so far...for comedic purposes, and please keep in mind this comes with some sarcasm.....I found things like: "The weights of the components are statistically optimized for each metro area in order tobest capture the underlying cyclical movements in the local areaeconomy." translation....