I’m not personally in a place where I can send out 50k indefinitely and still continue investing.

Now I am no where near 20 units today, but the selling point for Cozy for me was that it would scale indefinitely for free.

And if you sell the 1031 exchange will also let you indefinitely defer those same taxes as @Brian Ellwood, said.Which way to go is a function of your proformas. 

The quick move-in definitely can make an impact. 

@Ryan Kelly, Yeah, the zip codes I'm looking in definitely are more pricey.

If you follow those recommendations and execute your plan for the property, your concerns over "red tape" for a rehab will be a small obstacle when you realize you have acquired an income producing asset that you can own indefinitely.  

Will you keep it indefinitely? 

Experts say that to survive downturns and mitigate inflation, you should only withdraw 4% from an index fund if you want it to provide income indefinitely.

Let the tenant you can't hold it indefinitely, so if they want it to have them pay the deposit (this will eventually be their security deposit) When collecting the deposit, sign 2 copies of a “deposit to hold agreement” that states what the deposit is for and what the terms are.

A lot of people neglect property management (assuming they want to manage it themselves indefinitely), cap ex, maintenance, vacancy, etc.