Its just one flip so your liability is limited.

There is also is very limited long term rental property inventory.  

I'm planning to do a 1031 because like the idea of deferring taxes, but given that I have limited REI experience I'm concerned about forcing a bad deal to avoid taxes.

It is subject to limitations as @Caleb Heimsoth mentions, but if it does get limited, the loss can be carried forward.

Unless this note is being held by a non-owner occupied investor, then you may also be faced with ursury exemption limit on the interest rate depending on the state its held.  

, would it be possible to use the remaining funds to perform capital improvements, and is there a maximum dollar amount limitation on this before it's considered "boot"?

Dane, I do not have a specific lender that I personally know in Orlando, Florida, that I can recommend to you however, the advise I would humbly give you is not to limit yourself to just lenders that are physically located in your area and definitely do not limit yourself to working only with banks and credit unions.Banks and credit unions offer real estate investors some major benefits (lowest rates and very good terms)  but their are a few major draw backs (limit on how many properties they will allow you to finance, lengthy times to close, a lot of documentation). 

(For #2) Does this mean I should limit my search to only homes with tenants in place?

Also, with hard money you’re able to get a gift with no limits.

I don't know enough about Opportunity Zones to speak intelligently about them, so I told him that they exist, and sent him on his researching way.Are OZ's an option for him or is it more like a 1031 where there is a limited time window?