There's the additional benefits of the agents shielding you from Fair Housing liabilities where the tenants can accuse landlords of discriminating and declining their tenancy due to unfair housing practices.

@Josh Garner,If you do a 1031 there will be no difference other than the amount of gain and depreciation recapture you are deferring.The real question is whether it's better to hold the property for a full year to strengthen your argument that your intent was to hold for productive use and not to just fix n flip.There is no statutory holding period. 

This is a great forum with very knowledgeable members that will help to guide you in the right direction.I really like the alerts feature that can quickly guide you to current topics that may be of interest: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsThere are some pretty nice discounts on many products and services offered as Perks to BP members that you might want to check out: https://www.biggerpockets.com/perks/pro

If you lend in Texas could you send me some information on your products?

It takes less labor total, more efficient labor, and in better working conditions.It can also move most mass-production efficiencies and cost reductions to the factory rather than the main builder. 

He first declined because he wanted me to just trust him and my $1,100 isn't a lot of money to scam over.

Yes, absolutely always work with a broker so that they can shop the entire market without being married to any one product!

Look at any successful business and or business person, and 95% of them have done it by building an ethical and honest product or business.

Common projects are large multifamily apartment complexes focused on a value-add strategy to reduce risk, taking Class B products and improving them to Class B+ or A equivalent.

You can get into a multi-family FHA with as little as 3.5% down or into a single family with 3 to 5% down depending on the loan product.