You've received excellent advise from others here.

If you need help with landlord laws, house backing strategies, or traditional MTR investing specific to New Jersey happy to help.

Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions as well.

A guru called this gator lending but I would strongly advise against borrowing funds for a down payment.

Specifically I could add a French door to a room to make it a bedroom.

Although many properties with a specific zoning code are technically eligible, they would be subject to an extensive waitlist that could last years.

If you wish to network or ask specific questions about your local market, you can go to your local real estate forum and discuss with investors from your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/86-local-real-estate-networking 5.

Those are the only properties I need to give a specific accounting for as far as my debt goes.

If you could avoid an HOA, I'd advise to do so. 

There is no specific IRS-mandated minimum holding period for a property acquired through a 1031 exchange before you can retitle it, that's why it's hard to find an answer.