I have a friend who owns 40 doors in Cleveland, but an exchange there would give him 75 or 100 more because they are worth less and he doesn't have the time or expertise to manage it.

It depends on the market and what you are comparing, and you can get nice properties with higher cap rates, but for the most part if you see a very high cap rate you are likely to be taking on much higher risk to get there.If you think about it-- in exchange for the high returns your friend is seeing, he has to deal with a lot of headaches and is at constant risk with bad tenants (I'll argue all day long that bad tenants are the most costly thing of a rental property investment).

I'm about to have a house on the market for $450k with $175k in equity and plan on doing a 1031 exchange.

If you lived in the house for at least 2 of the last 5 years, do not 1031 exchange.

During the course of the 7 years, a caretaker will live in the basement and will maintain the property and perform other duties in exchange for a reduced monthly charge.  

But depending on the area, ads at laundrymats, currency exchanges and train stations work great.

I know you're trying to build the community, not to just ignore problems.That being said, I certainly do agree that building others up is the best strategy, and that's precisely what this site is about!

FCI Exchange, Note trader and the BP marketplace all have what look like some ok-ish deals.

Again, I am unclear who has an equitable interest now and whether a solution might be reached by offering the attorney representing the owners to drop a foreclosure lawsuit in exchange for a Deed from the heirs affidavits of heirship.

That is precisely what I was looking for.