Acquisitions team, renovation crews (fully licensed and insured), Property Management, and a Real Estate Investment Brokerage in case you ever decide to sell.By teaming up with a solid firm you can mitigate your risk and have some "boots on the ground" that have your best interest in mind. 

I know electric heat is more expensive, but the small square footage and the ability to control each baseboard locally should mitigate that.Thanks for all of the feedback.  

Risks can be mitigated and avoided to a large degree, but never fully eliminated ... so there is no investment vehicle in the world that will allow you to multiply your money 2-8x in 2-4 years with zero risk ... you should run away from anyone telling you otherwise. 4 things will keep you out of trouble and safe in a downturn, and you need all 4 (not just one):Equity: From a down payment and/or forced and/or market appreciationQuality Cash Flow: Not just any cash flow, but low maintenance, low volatility, stable, high quality cash flow that comes from high quality tenants who want to live in high quality property in high quality location.

Acquisitions team, renovation crews (fully licensed and insured), Property Management, and a Real Estate Investment Brokerage in case you ever decide to sell.By teaming up with a solid firm you can mitigate your risk and have some "boots on the ground" that have your best interest in mind. 

In addition, Delaware statutory trusts were shown to be considered a trust for federal tax purposes, making them a pass through entity that mitigates taxation for their trustee(s).[8][9] The second holding offers the opinion that real property, being held under a Delaware statutory trust, is eligible to use a 1031 exchange, without the recognition of gain or loss, as long as the following seven restrictions are met:[8][9]Once the offering is closed, there can be no future contributions to the DST by either current or new beneficiary.The trustee cannot renegotiate the terms of the existing loans and cannot borrow any new funds from any party unless a loan default exists as a result of a tenant bankruptcy or insolvency.The trustee cannot reinvest the proceeds from the sale of its real estate.The trustee is limited to making capital expenditures with respect to the property for normal repair and maintenance, minor nonstructural capital improvements, and those required by law.Any reserves or cash held between distribution dates can only be invested in short-term debt obligations.All cash, other than necessary reserves, must be distributed on a current basis.The trustee cannot enter into new leases, or renegotiate the current leases unless there is a need due to a tenant bankruptcy or insolvency.Best Regards, Elder Jeffre Saint James

@Shaun Patterson, You're right, a reverse exchange can be a great way to mitigate issues in finding the right property within the time constraints of a 1031 exchange.  

I have no real concerns about paying with cash (I know that I must get receipts)---but I want to mitigate risk plus satisfy the IRS (if it ever comes to that).

Go for some solid, lower risk, higher quality investments to start ... try to hit a few singles and doubles in your local market to get your feet wet before you go swinging for the fences trying to hit a grand slam homer that seems to have huge ROI ... stuff that seems too good to be true usually are, especially if you are a newbie without the experience to spot all of the risks that usually come with the promise of higher ROI ... experienced investor will be better able to spot and either avoid and/or mitigate these risks to capture a higher ROI, but in the beginning chasing after them can be dangerous because you don't yet know what you don't know, so take the time to learn the game on lower risk, easier to manage, and yes potentially lower ROI initially assets in the beginning.

Risk should not be undertaken without knowing all the facts on what the risk is and doing all one can to mitigate it.

So anything you can do to minimize or mitigate them is typically to your great advantage.