So the first seller agrees to direct title to holds the funds and when you close on that purchase you record a new note for the first seller on the second home.

We are close by in Orlando!

Soft close on all cabinetry (think thats probably pretty standard in most areas now), dimmers on all light switches, mood lighting in kitchen, and cased windows rather than drywall returns.

I like the feeling of being close by to my rentals and managaging myself. 

Probably not even close.  

(I know, nothing is certain but just hypothetically) and all cash out loans are not created equal. if you have a lot of equity you can borrow up to 60% with the lowest rate possible, which would be close to a half point lower then borrowing up to 75% loan to value. 

Another aspect that's important is to communicate to your relinquishing property buyer (Boston condo) that you're going be doing a 1031X and that they can offer you flexible closing time.

Schools are not great.I would not consider that area anywhere close to AT&T stadium, but maybe closer than CA. 

And the second was that it was in a flood zone with the listing agent and seller saying it had never flooded but we were able to get confirmation that it had taken on water at least 3 times in the past year and the insurance agent for the property stated that with the flood insurance the premium would be close to $11,000 annually which meant the list price had to drop from $339,000 to less than $239,000 to make anything work.

1) 50% rule is a well accepted generic approximation 2) hundreds of underwriting has shown it to be fairly close for my underwriting for a SFR purchase in San Diego.