I'd concentrate less on figuring out how to do things with no money than I would on getting some extra money.

In that case you will be concentrating on making the property case flow better so that market value should not be a great concern for you at this time.

I began to concentrate on debt reduction rather than more acquisitions.

I recommend you concentrate less on finding a mentor, and more on independently studying and learning all of the factors of the business.Also, if you add value to those around you.

When you have a large enough concentration of properties in one market area then it will become a consideration as to who owns the management function, your 3rd party provider or yourself.

Fighting with the Realtor right now is not going to help you, concentrate on "saving" your $4K.

I'd compare paying cash for the first ones and refinancing vs simply allocated a portion of your 1031 proceeds on each property as new loans.The strategy you're circling around is a sound one - it's all about concentrating debt and equity in separate locations in a diversification exchange. 

If you don't go too far south of Highway 90, the neighborhoods are fairly similar to Leon Valley, just with a higher concentration of rentals and more 20 year old subdivisions.

Welcome @Joseph Walsh   I agree with your strategy  about concentrating in the western suburbs   Hope to see you at a meet up. 

Brake your project down to 10-12 parts and then concentrate on only one part at a time.