Ironically, I specialize in real estate law (mostly transactional) and I can't for the life of me think of any advantages this degree would bring me when it comes to BRRRing a property.

Big changes in soil moisture will absolutely cause movement.That said, I love buying properties with foundation issues; it limits the buyer pool drastically.Caveat, if the property has cast iron drain pipe, make sure you add into the contract that the house must be able to pass a hydrostatic test (a good idea even if there was no prior foundation repairs).  

I’m probably thinking it is more time-consuming than it is.

I removed cast iron and replaced with PVC.

If it's a steam boiler then you likely have cast iron pipes, which also corrode over time.

California, Nevada, and Idaho have statues that regulate intermediaries and protect consumers from theft who want to do a 1031 exchange.

Lenders structures are very compartmentalized, the departments that you and all other consumers have access to are completely oblivious to operations and more internal structures but i can assure you they know they own it, of course when i say "they know" i mean its within their "book, system  reports" Depending on who the lender is you might have a chance to contact the right person or department to buy the reo but the bigger the lender the less chance of that happening.  

But in residential it is assumed that the consumer should have the benefit of these protections. 

I love knowing I'm paying thousands of dollars less per month than my neighbors (and tenants) to live in an amazing area.Also, ironically, house hacking has been great during COVID.

I've yet to see a BPO (For consumer) done by an appraiser.