The best way to position yourself for a successful 1031 exchange is to be as proactive as you can when finding your replacement property.

What I did was after my sale was under contract and I was down to a couple weeks from closing I started shopping seriously and had my replacement under contract a couple days before my sale closed.

for example when changing cabinets, addressing trim, door pulls. hot water tank replacement: place a pan under it.  

Purchase price: $179,000 Cash invested: $15,000 Lived in the property for 1 year.Knocked down living room wall, replaced Hvac, floors and gutted and remodeled the kitchen, attic insulation, converted the living room and the dining area into rooms.

Purchased it for $65,000.00 and replaced the plumbing, floors, cabinets, and painted for 18k.

Or, acquiring in satellite markets at sub replacement cost values.

If you've done a cost seg before and have broken out your property into 1245 and 1250 property, it would be best to be thoughtful of your replacement property to ensure you'll get full deferral.

I have had a lot worse and never been forced to replace it to get insurance.  

You also want to make sure you have Replacement Value so that if anything catastrophic happens you can rebuild.

Some carriers offer loss assessment insurance, which can come into play when the HOA experiences a large covered insurance loss, such as a hail storm requiring roof replacement or a fire requiring building replacement.