@James E.Seems like you are doing the work of your CPA...I hope you are getting a discount on his services by doing your own research.In short - there are time limits of being able to take advantage of section 121 exclusion...however there are exceptions to the time limits in which case you may be able to claim partial exclusion.Your situation is unique since you and your wife both appear to have separate houses that qualified for section 121.

But I will look into the mobile home lenders, that seems like to great avenue to explore.

I will start to explore those areas as well!

I do like exploring the deals that seem "good" at first glance, just to see if it seems legitimate or it was just neatly packaged into a pretty listing.

I also don’t want to exclude potentially the best contractor in the area and one who might go over the top to ensure that we get the best of everything since he has a unique relationship with our family (there are not a large number of recommended contractors in our area).

I did some research on bird dogging, and it is an option I'm going to further explore.

Everyone’s situation is unique.

It will also depend on your current employment situation, how much time you have available, where you live and what your short term and long term goals are financially and personal.You can't map it out step by step from the start because it's a journey and everyone's journey is unique to them. 

I am in a unique situation where one of my jobs provides an apartment, and utilities, for free.

I am exploring NPL as a funnel to source distressed properties for our rental portfolio.