It's complicated and poses more risk.

It’s a balance between having immediate liquidity and avoiding unnecessary borrowing costs.

My taxes are overly complicated and worst of all these houses really only break even for us every year.

Because she is competing with hundreds of others who are hooked to MLS and pay highest amount to get that property (they are not in hot market and in horrible condition, lots of unnecessary  risks involved).

Sometimes these deals are easy and smooth and everyone agrees, nice, and friendly, and then sometimes when they look easy, they end up way more complicated. 

You'd need to enlist one anyway if you go through with the 1031, so asking someone who really knows the ins and outs of a complicated transaction like this would be a good first step.Best of luck!

Buy right, fix right, sell/ rent right, everyone spends so much time making it more complicated.

However, the more complicated something is, the more likely it will go wrong.

Reminder too that once you get more properties under your belt and begin having a bigger real estate investor portfolio your file begins to get more complicated and even a simply loan like DSCR sometimes may ask to prove other items.

@Anthony Wick yeah I wish tenant estoppel was unnecessary but it just makes it easier if anything ever were to be in dispute, especially in my state.