One person mentioned “luxury items” that FHA would not allow.

You don’t have to have luxury finishes - just safe, dry, and warm.

I'm already set on Luxury Vinyl Plank, just a matter of floating or glued-down and if anyone has any specific suggestions. 

What’s everyone’s opinion on, in a recessionary environment, would buying one nice luxury unit be better or worse than two mid market units? 

So the tax payer which has to stay the same throughout the 1031 is you and your wife by virtue of the joint tax return you file. 

A luxury high rise/ class A building can be a riskier investment, since if there will be an economic shift, renters tend to move to less expensive apartments, and the owners have to lower rents to compete in the market.

I have owned SS  and it has its own set of challenges its not all wine and Roses LOL.My banker is of the opinion that when you hit a downturn SS is one of the first things to get hit.IE someone paying 100 to 150 bucks a month to store their junk just stops paying.and vacancy starts to out strip cash flow and the properties go underwater.what did with mine and it was a unique property being right across the st from 1000 floating homes on the Columbia river or should i say within 2 miles of all those.I put a condo plat on mine and went about sell each storage condo to those floating home folks so they could add value to their floating home.. this worked out well.I also like it when you have the bigger ones kind of like airplane hangers and you sell to the ultra motor coach crowd or those that like to wrench on their collection of cars.. end of he day people need a place to live  storage is a luxury.. but this is hardly a new concept or business its well established.. and your write the herd has put up thousands of units in our area 3 to 4 story buildings and every one of them has move in specials.

You can see black and white paint schemes all over the Austin metro area with new construction, luxury homes, and renovated flips.

The last year I was there it was a luxury apartment that paid me 150/month to live there.

If you have the luxury of making a bigger purchase, perhaps you can purchase a multifamily.