In marketing.   

In my area sellers want "as is" but with the market not being insane you can negotiate with the seller.

Annual adjustments: These income thresholds and premium amounts are adjusted annually.It's important to note that various types of income can affect your MAGI, including wages, Social Security benefits, pension payments, and even tax-exempt interest from municipal bonds.

And why are you assuming that Dan is getting all these benefits?

laws in a way that may later be presented to only benefit you.

Look at other rentals in your market and see what they say.

A little patience and properties often hit the market with lots of hidden value opportunities 

There are definitely pros and cons to each so I figured I would just lay out a few benefits and personal thoughts: Small banks/brokerages:Pros:- Some regional knowledge of the market- Possibility of more creative lending guidelines with bank specific programs- Sometimes they have competitive rates for their areaCons: - weak balance sheet (more strict on some guidelines, no wiggle room, inability to be flexible or grant exceptions because they cannot afford to hold less than perfect loans)- Can't scale with clients to different markets- Usually limits exposure to individual investors (they don't want one investor to be too big of a portion of their balance sheet)- Lack of experience with multiple solutions (tend to have 2 or 3 loan products they sell and are too niche to provide tailored solutions)Large banks/brokerages:Pros:- Large compliance departments that understand individual market guidelines (typically each state has specific lending guidelines that augment the national baseline)- Ability to scale into multiple markets with same lender (licensed in many states)- Impossible for individual investors to "outgrow" a large bank's balance sheet (not concerned with one investor's concentration)- More lending solutions available for different scenarios- Often comparable or better rates given the game is volume basedCons:- Can be more difficult to get fast responses if the bank/brokerage does not have good follow up systems in place (or if the underwriting/processing staff gets overwhelmed)- Bad large banks can feel less like a relationship and more like a cog in a factory (less personal)Overall, I have worked from both and worked with both as a loan officer, branch manager, and as an investor/client myself. 

I am starting out in my real estate investing journey and was hoping to see if fellow investors recommend pursuing short sales, banked owned properties and foreclosures, versus pursuing typical MLS properties or off market properties with distressed properties or sellers.  

Now, property values have dropped—almost to the point where the capital gain tax I avoided through the exchange is offset by the decreased value.Has anyone found an effective 1031 exchange strategy that allows you to take advantage of the tax benefits while still buying the replacement property at a good price?"