Of course, there's more to evaluate there (credit, income, etc.), but in general that should be the case. 

Good afternoon Marcus,Great to hear how quickly you've made this kind of progress. 

@Thomas Fawole I would re-evaluate your classification of the building/area.

I was wondering if there is anyone in the South Florida area that may be interested in doing an advanced rehab project, and would not mind showing me the ropes as we progress through the deal.

After running numbers and consulting with AirDNA, which I would Highly Recommend when evaluating short term rental revenues in your area, we found that over a 12 month span we should average over $3,000/month going this route, putting our out of pocket around $1,400/month before expenses.Our long term plans, depending on how the market goes, are to live in the property for around 2 years, refinance out of FHA to drop the MIP, and rent both units out as short term rentals.  

We always evaluate with I need to buy at a discount & then how can we add value to it & make a profit.

I do noe have a bunch of experience but I have gained progress in real estate because that was what my business degree was emphasized in real estate eventhough I never did that full time.  

Are there alternative low-risk ways to fulfill the 1031 exchange requirements with so little time left to evaluate properties normally?

If the current owner has awful tenants and a property in disarray, who knows if he has skimped on routine maintenance, leading to a lot of deferred maintenance (which you need to underwrite into your financial modeling).Keep this thread informed as to your progress!

Please keep us updated on your progress!