I increase their ROI in the process and decrease risk/headaches. 

Do I have them put down the same amount or decreased amount since it is so far in the future?

Is the payoff on decreased maintenance/standardization of units worth the upfront cost.

Financial independence to me is being able to replace some of my current salary (unless I am able to house hack or have little to no mortgage costs) and that number would dramatically decrease.

Now, property values have dropped—almost to the point where the capital gain tax I avoided through the exchange is offset by the decreased value.Has anyone found an effective 1031 exchange strategy that allows you to take advantage of the tax benefits while still buying the replacement property at a good price?"

I would by real estate in cities that have seen large negative decreases in sales prices but are still positioned for population growth.2.

in Florida I know of several renewals in the last 60 days that came in with a decrease in the premium with as much as 20%.

If you like your gig and making money from it.Real Estate is first purchased as an investment.Any potential tax decrease is a plus.Comparing real estate with other investment types such as stocks / bonds, real estate will likely get you the best after tax return.

It seems that Dollar General, although they decreased # of stores open this year, are a stronger brand than FD/DT.

Only issue I see (I am huge into data for my day job so I run numbers on cities on a regular basis) is that there has been population decrease in last 5 years.