Hey BP,I hope I hit the right people with this one.I am currently an Electrical apprentice working residential construction F/T.

There are a couple of places in Northern (and Southern)  New Jersey (that with patience) you can easily buy a 3 family Under 300k!

@Tim Emery based on the purpose of the post, looks like @Travis Sperr hit the nail on the head.In this scenario, since 20% interest and 4 points "works", is the only option for a solid deal, and 10% down is less than $100k, you're making a better return on your money than if you were to put $200k in and $100k.

You'd need an ARV of ~$665k to hit the 70% rule.

Additionally, we were also interested in seeing if she could do a 1031 exchange for her investment property in order to avoid a capital gains hit, which would be quite significant given the cost basis in the home.Does this sound like a good strategy, or is there a better way we can go about this?

I have never heard of that happening but I guess I could understand why a lender might hit you with the debt. 

I'm late to the thread so this has probably been said already, but-- you're blaming missing cash flow on the PM because the property hits one of the 'rules' so in 'should' cash flow?

This is totally fine and I do see the power of it, it's just not for me (and my wife for that matter)It depends on how fast you want to achieve your goal and what you actually want to give up to get it.You can still hit your goal over the course of a few years by starting with just 1 property with a 20% down payment!!

I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn right there in the heart of all the action and down by the lake, did the syrup tour @ Bragg Farm Sugarhouse and even had a pretty big bird decide to take off as I was passing it and fly across my windshield and hit it with the sound of a big "THUNK" while driving to the Bragg Farm.

Silll, buying a home that you do not enjoy and that does not make sense as an investment will likely be a painful waste of money unless you hope to hit the appreciation jackpot, in which case you're gambling and not investing.