I've focused on less popular markets in middle America near hospitals, universities, and major employers that attract work-related travel.

As to your question about the mortgage, you'll want to research something called a "due on transfer" clause to determine if that is an issue for you.These are all things you will want to discuss with your attorney and CPA.

There are a lot of possible issues with seller financing while doing a 1031. 

I also don't know how long-term capital decisions will be made when the majority is essentially owned by a board of directors once my dad passes away.

The issue is if you do a judgement because you evicted someone you need the SSN so at some point you want to collect it.

I’ve never had big issues like this at all so maybe I got lucky.

I'm a Canadian investor and like you have been experiencing the same issues in Ontario, I've started investing in the US where the tax climate is better, borrowing is much easier and evicting non-paying tenants is much more fair.

Separately, there may be issues if the executor resides in a different state from the decedent depending on state laws.

If she sells the property before that date, she would not qualify for the full exclusion unless she meets certain exceptions such as unforeseen circumstances like job loss, health issues, or other qualifying reasons outlined in IRS Publication 523.Regarding prorating the exclusion, unfortunately, there's no provision in the tax code for prorating the exclusion based on partial years of ownership or residence.

The biggest issue was having far below market rents when I purchased.