Poor records, owner does all his own work and maintenance, and it's hard to get a true handle on expenses.From my understanding the 45 day period to identify properties to purchase on a 1031 exchange starts the day the property goes under contract. 

On the other side, I don't need it to close and haven't identified a property to use it on right now either so why bring on the higher debt.Any thoughts on this situation or just a general practice in regards to keeping equity in a place. 

It actually sounds like the buyer engaged an attorney... and if so, there is a written fee agreement that would apply.I agree that the title search (residential) would typically be waived in a no-close scenario... but this fact pattern seems to be a bit different than that.

I already know we need to make a few changes to our lease i.e. identify on the lease those that allowed to live in the house, add a visit term limit.Thanks,Ed

That means you'd have to have a tenant identified prior to the old one moving out (which means you'd probably have to be showing the property while the current tenants are living in it).

Probably going to be an open-ended fund to allow for continuous capital raising and a bit more investor liquidity, and pretty sure we have identified the securities lawyer for the job.  

(Drive for dollars, Cold Calling, Apartments.com - look for older buildings that you can identify that may need a cosmetic makeover.

To identify the best way would probably involve you talking things out with an experienced attorney.

@Lincoln Wu start with identifying the type of syndication you want to offer.

Will all these major areas be identified (normally?)