Now when these homes are paid off I am golden but while they are just cash flowing it won't put where I want to be and it won’t provide the lifestyle I would like to provide for my family.

The "secret sauce" is to memorize this sequence of numbers, 1073741824, and follow the 2 Golden Rules of Real Estate Investing:Golden Rule #1:  Never, under any circumstances, or rationalization, ever...spend your cash. 

As long as the lender has no reason to believe that your employment will discontinue within the near future, you're golden!!!

If you find a good tenant, then you're golden.

If I was one of the owners in a tight spot looking to sell, I would probably call the number on several postcards and go with the best offer if I'm not able to sell through MLS.I can see how investors contacting property owners with offers to redeem the certificate and buy the property might upset the certificate holder a bit, after all the golden goose is getting the property not the % return on $ and redeeming the certificate puts them out of the equation, but I do believe it's the better scenario for the property owners. 

Where so many wholesalers falter is thinking they are they golden goose because they find deals for a living.

But, here are some quick examples:AZ - 4 plex in Casa Grande for $160k with $2400/mo gross - that's 1.5%AZ - unoccupied 4 plex in Globe for $100k that needs $10k in improvement with a rent potential of $2000/mo gross - that's less than 1% (if you can even rent it out)AZ - PHX metro area in general was even less encouraging.

I still wouldn't know the difference between a ball valve and a globe valve if I never needed to, but it made renovating my house that much easier.

Keeping and renting with a positive cf, or selling, whether with a 1031 or straight sale leaves out an option I think you might be overlooking:  cash out refi of the rental or heloc.Why 'kill' the 'golden goose', when you could possibly keep taking the eggs and perhaps leverage it up to another property or other cash-flowing investment.Since your post sounds like you are in growth stage, how much do you think your existing rental will be worth in 5 or 10 years down the road? 

I figure if I can estimate a "bare minimum" estimate and it's higher than I need, I'll be golden