I was able to negotiate about 10% discount that was purely circumstantial, I'll let time do the appreciating passively instead of running a 6 months construction project with holding cost.

For instance, states like California, Oregon, Montana, and Massachusetts have "clawback" provisions, meaning they may tax deferred gains if you eventually sell the replacement property and don't reinvest within the state.

If you are just painting and replacing carpet, you still need to move into the home within 60 days of buying. 

A subsequent cash-out refinance of the replacement property (e.g., $250K on a $1M property with a $500K loan) is treated as a loan and generally has no tax implications related to the 1031 exchange.

I'm not looking to replace my w2 income with it.  

Its not balance your not going to replace a 3% loan payoff with a 8 % new origination in today market.

We keep "kiddie" as we say backhome which is a pot of money set aside for rainy day fund in case we need to replace appliances, perform repairs or other capital improvements. 

You can look at a mobile home and see it as an easy rental with new carpet, trim and some paint but there are other bigger uglier expenses that can come up.Roof Replacement, soft floors (water damage) in kitchens and bathrooms- most floors are particle board, exterior door replacement (special order), underbelly insulation falling, bad hot water tanks with rotten floor underneath (real joy), bad windows (water again), bad bloated siding (water), water damaged base frame around perimeter of home, cracked tubs (special orders) and frozen pipes (Good luck finding a plumber to come work on a mobile home- they do not exist). 

I.e. contractor pulled all the drywall out, here are the before and after photos, we replaced the studs here are photos, and then show a before and after mold test that was completed on the house.

.- My Goal: to have $10k/months of income to replace my day job.