Would a low enough sales price make all of my concerns go away?

Duplexes for sale starting at $585,000 with a 3.75% interest rate.

As others have said a 1031 exchange, which allows for the deferral of capital gains taxes, is not applicable to properties held primarily for sale, such as a flip.If your goal is to defer taxes, you might consider holding the property as a rental for a period to qualify it as an investment property, which could then potentially be eligible for a 1031 exchange.

Purchase price: $341,000 Cash invested: $136,000 Sale price: $519,000 A house that I bought, renovated, and sold.

I have the credit, experience and the knowledge on how to underwrite the deal to show their ROI in this arrangement vs a traditional sale. 

I did not mention, but this is a probate sale, and the seller is the executor of the estate.

I am also a member/subscriber of Vodessey, Short Sale Prophets Basic, and several others. 

Talk to house hackers because that would be a great way to start, but you are also advanced with money so you may find smarter options that act more like index funds (syndications).Yes I was actually looking at syndications that was going to be my next research topic that seems extremely interesting and powerful syndication seems like an awesome way to diversify without getting my hands dirty necessarily.

The increasing barrier to entry results in fewer new STR's coming available for sale, but also fewer options for guests to rent. 

The reason is the rent-to-price ratio is good so you can cash flow, and most of the West side doesn’t have a Point of sale inspection which is really annoying.