I sold my parents house  after they died 12 years ago and kept the paper a 6%. 

Title company is going to need this issue addressed in their file... either a paper trail with no response or a letter from the tenant declining to exercise the right.

Right now the best source that I have been able to get access to are the county news papers that are showing the foreclosure, divorce, and probate filings.

This person will be in second lien position with nothing but a piece of paper to hold you to.  

Highly variable, lots of trailers and vacant non - buildable lots on paper streets. 

Both Trane and Carrier have published papers on the problem and there are currently lawsuits against many of the manufacturers.

When you say - be motivated to close - should I start working on getting pre-approved so that I have papers in hand?

The IRS information is only as accurate as the words on the paper and most (99.9%) of the nuance of 1031 comes from case law adaptation that you'll never find on the IRS web site. 

It was a little less than a year ago for us, and I know how incredibly excited I was to be signing those papers, and handed the keys!! 

First review your landlord tenant laws for your state.I'd go over in depth the language, even if it's only on  notebook paper of thier rental lease / agreement... it has some terms that you should be able to really enforce,, if it's not stated on that paper that a sublease is permitted then "GOLDEN TICKET" .. you have cause (in my view) to file proper notice of lease violation and get them out.To have a attorney to review this is SMART money spent..