If you don't go all the way up the wall with the fireplace stone you could stage it with a big clock, piece of art or TV mounted above it.

My goal is to essentially build an annuity and slowly piece together a portfolio with stable cashflow.  

If this was an income producing property, I'd say to just close on it yourself then tack on any extra transaction costs to your indecisive/incompetent/scammy  buyer if they ever do come through.Because it's just a piece of ground, I'd be more hesitant to buy it, but your buyer sounds shady, Chris.

People lie, people leave out important pieces of information, but documentation tells you a lot.  

For my area that would be high unless the property was real low priced (A piece of land for 15K, a low end mobile home, a house falling down that will require a cash buyer who wants to demo it).

Because a 1031 exchange is the sale of a piece of investment property followed by the purchase of a piece of investment property within the regulatory timelines and process.  

As I'm getting closer, I'm getting really nervous about that piece. 

My first piece of advice is just checking in on how conservatively you're calculating cash flow.

Draw (on a piece of paper) a process for accomplishing this. 

Getting a lender that just issued a Clear To Close to switch up and sign a piece of paper that is not a standard boiler plate piece but something drafted up at the last minute may just not be able to happen.