He layed out a step by step process and held me accountable through multiple weekly calls to make sure I was executing on what I needed to.

I can hear the wheels run over the tile as they ride back and forth (in an 800 sf apartment) for what seems to be like hours some days. 

Our personal  house had previous work done but the piers were poorly done, and we noticed dry wall cracks and tile floor "separation"  about 2 years back.   

My concern.. if these big corporations are buying up a majority of houses, assuming there’s no legislation in place to stop them from doing so or sell them off, now IS the time to buy before they take everything from us over time.. it DOES seem like now or never.Regardless of recession and lay offs in the future, these big corporations will just buy more, they’ll never run out of money. and we will all have NOTHING.

You will need boots on the ground to get a better lay of the land however. 

Does cousin B have the cash laying around to pay all the taxes on his sale after using all his sale’s cash for this deal (to avoid taxes he must use all cash.) if the IRS denies his exchange and demands the taxes be paid?

Maybe once I can get more specific numbers and plans I can lay those out to be critiqued.

For primary residence #3, we bought in the path of progress; so, not a live in flip per se but similar in that we will get high organic appreciation and also add value through easy rehab such as refinishing floors and railings, replacing fixtures, improving landscaping, upgrading tile, etc.

Covers keep water out, but you still want a drain inside that goes to the drain tile. 

If a larger issue with the hill exists, I would bury drain tile and catch some of that water from the hill and direct it around and away from the house.