My question is, are there any best practices in terms of balancing paying down that debt as opposed to letting those payments ride and saving up for a next investment instead - and how does the current state of the industry play into that?

There would still need to be a deed transferring ownership, and not sure if that would automatically have tax implications or not, but seems like it would.Ideally I wouldn't contribute all of the sales proceeds... e.g. maybe take half off the table in cash, let half ride in the new development.Anyone have experience in this arena?

Develop a relationship with someone you trust and bring them along for the ride.

Ride together, die together.

So my advice would be to compare all investment opportunities on math measures like Cash on Cash return and Internal Rate of Return not on whether they are a 'business' or 'real estate'.To explain this way better than I ever could I'd recommend you read (or better yet listen to while riding a motorcycle) 'Am I being to Subtle?'

When i gave advice with new investors, i stress that one is not going to be able to ride into the sunset with their first property. 

So many times the most profitable place to be is riding right on the line of what you can and can't do.

As for tenant buyout experiences, yep a major emotional roller coaster ride, and significantly more so the last 7-10 years as the rental market has become so impacted in SF.

It is close to hiking, fishing, OHV trails, and horseback riding.

A month after I had the job done, our city got hit with a major hail storm.