Unfortunately, I do have a property in an HOA, which often comes with their own set of rules that you'd have to follow of course. 

We actually have our main meeting coming up on January 14 and a county meetup in Clermont the following week .

The 1031 must be a sale of investment property followed by the purchase of investment property. 

I've told them exactly this, but they do not want to follow the standard procedure and instead pay me to "break" away.

Assuming your property is in Utah (like your profile indicates), here's the state law from a basic internet search:In Utah, a tenant who abandons a rental property without notice is liable for the lesser of the following: The rent remaining on the leaseThe rent plus the difference between the fair rental value and the agreed-upon rentThe cost to restore the property to its original conditionThe landlord can also remove the tenant's belongings and sell them if the tenant doesn't claim them within a reasonable time.

I plan on doing this model also so I would love to follow your journey on this investment and learn what obstacles you may deal with. 

This is a straightforward process that we’ve followed to consistently deliver high-performance properties, and it does not require secrets or gurus.

Also, I recommend someone follow a company/person/business on social media for a few months and see if they would be a good fit.   

We follow a similar model as @Bill B. and with similar results, except our properties are from the 60s, so we gut them and rehab from the studs up, basically resetting the clock. 

I asked our manager about reducing the rent but he said we are asking a fair amount and we are getting lots of interest but a lot of cancellations, no shows, or people who don’t follow through with applying or don’t meet minimum credit score.