North Hollywood has a handful of 20-50 unit communities structured as co-ops.

It sounds as if you have a property management issue on your hands.

One that puts transparency and control in the hands of the investors. 

You are just transferring debt. 

If you are setting aside funds for capex, taxes, insurance, or other expenses that don't occur monthly, transfer those funds to Savings each month and hold them there until it's time to spend them.

Gaining a risk-free property, with a long-term resident there to pay down your fees, etc, with a property management company in place to hold your hand along the way and making sure your property is kept up with. 

We buy a handful of single-family properties in this area every year, most recently for between $150,000 and $160,000.

Here are a couple of ways you could structure the deal:Lease Option with Seller Financing: You could lease the property with an option to buy later, allowing you to rehab it while giving the sellers time to find a 1031 replacement property.Seller Financing with Deferred Payment: Structure the seller financing with no immediate payments, allowing you to refinance once the property is appraised, and the sellers can complete the 1031 exchange when ready.Escrow Holdback: Transfer the deed into an escrow account, giving you control without immediate transfer, so the sellers can take their time with the 1031.Third-Party Facilitation: Use a qualified intermediary to hold funds and facilitate the 1031 exchange while you refinance.These options allow flexibility for both you and the sellers.

To expand on this, and to peg when a person can just be "The Owner" and wash hands of being IN the day-2-day.... 

As a beginner investor based in the Seattle metro area, I'm eager to learn from your experiences and share my journey as I get started in this field.My current strategy is to focus on live-and-flip for the first three deals (looking for my second deal) to gain hands-on experience while building equity and learning the ins and outs of renovation and the local market.