Correct, the lender can be physically located in any state so long as they have an active license to originate loans in TX. 

As long as its in the budget I would strongly recommend paying yourself. 

However, as long as you calculate your NOI you can be confident to know how much you can pay and where the appraisal will come back at. 

Why so long a turnaround time?

I would rather have that $155,000 in my account for as long as possible just in case i find something to invest in and I could be $155,000 short of having the down payment.Eventually, I will get the new roofs.

Hiring the pros is worth the money as long as you spend your time doing higher $/hr activities.

Hiring the pros is worth the money as long as you spend your time doing higher $/hr activities.

If it's a single family, you can get into those pretty easily, and they aren't too difficult to manage as long as you are prepared.

I'm not sure on the specifics in North Carolina but as long as you give them proper notice you shouldn't run into any issues.

As long as you are buying for the same price or greater than what you are selling and you replace the same amount of debt that you have on it, you should be just fine to defer taxes.