Settlement attorneys and appraisers charge for their services too.$18,000 year in rentsOffset the rent with $2,400 year for taxes and insurance (in your market) and yearly payment total of $8500 on an interest only loan that does nothing to reduce the principal balance.Most properties require some sort of maintenance. 

These investments benefit not only the taxpayers making the like-kind exchanges, but also generate jobs and taxable revenue for unrelated businesses upstream and downstream from the exchange transaction, such as real estate brokers, title and property insurers, escrow / settlement agents, lenders, appraisers, surveyors, attorneys, inspectors, contractors, building supply vendors and more. 

Look at your settlement and truth in lending statements and learn how to do some of those high cost tasks.

If you have a relative in FL, they could be your registered agent or even the attoney that you use for settlements in FL.

In Philadelphia they can be 5-6% of the purchase cost (plus settlement agent fees, notary fees, title insurance cost, etc.), however in TX, I do not believe there is any transfer fee cost.

I just got a little shy of $30,000 from a seller and their listing agent for a client of mine post settlement, because the listing agent wasnt familiar with a law that was passed that required the disclosure of private water utility costs.  

He is convinced that there will be litigation/settlement.

I've been working on purchasing this ONE PROPERTY since September and I still haven't made it to the settlement table.

My guess is he has used those deposits illegally and you are entitled to them at settlement.

You can use a sub-2 arrangement or just rely on a contract and option to tie it up and get paid at settlement from a lien on the property.Relist after improvements with the same Realtor, that should make them happy to help you.J Scott probably has a great spread sheet to identify problems, functions and issues but as to a profit, it's get what you can depending on the market.There is no short cut to make RE a simple process to follow to success, each deal must stand on its own and they are all different.