Hey Anthony,I'm in the same boat, getting ready to start looking for one more property to pick by the end of the year.  

As a result, the trader will ask for you to sign a power of attorney (POA) to permit him to execute trades.

I suggest getting an authorization to release and a specific limited power of attorney from the seller/borrower.  

So finally got the detailed bid from contractor...Sending it off along with all that is needed...CMA, Repair Bid, Power Point presentation,  Deal breakdown...ANY TIPS????

My suggestion would be to use a more powerful project management tool like Microsoft Project for your tracking purposes and to then create a weekly task list from that which you can load up into something like Basecamp.  

The power of exposing a property through the MLS is either not understood, or intentionally down played by many. 

Codes don't make or break new technologies -- new products are tested and proven to meet code every day, but very few are breakthroughs -- and none are breakthroughs because of meeting the code.The other thing I'd mention carries some irony on a site like BP, and that's the power of the real estate market itself, and it's effect on new products. 

However, I just learned from my power company that the energy bills of the previous tenants went as high as $570 during the very cold winter months ($200/month average).

The 1031 exchange can be a powerful friend in a consolidation situation like this because you can both use the leverage of deferred tax and continue to shelter it plus you lessen the inherent risk of over leveraging debt.  

I was in the same boat 4 years ago.