The blog post is very informative, ill definitely be thinking about this approach in the future. 

I have a passion for real estate investing, and i am in the educational phase looking to start purchasing property in the near future.

Even if Uncle Ricky offers more money, the seller is still in your corner because you truly were there to help them and were professional and respectful of their situation" I just thought that right there is gold, and is exactly how it needs to be done.12.

I suggest checking the area in person and meeting potential future team members like property managers , contractors, lender, and etc is a good way to get into the right neighborhoods.

If your intent was to hold the property for productive use and you can demonstrate that wit past practice, documentation of conversations with your professionals, rental agreements, actual rent, etc then you could indeed do a 1031 because your intent was to hold and something external changed that intent.And the unsolicited offer is the gold standard of something that can change your intent. 

Since the first applicant in line was chosen, I wanted to let them know that the specific unit they applied for isn't available, but we may have another unit coming up in the near future.

Do I keep it and rent it out, and revisit in the future while prices keep escalating, or sell it now before they possibly drop?

Keep analyzing, love the house hack idea but definitely include that in your potential rent in case you decide to move out, have both scenarios and see what works for both now and in the future.

There is some great potential you can do with Wholeselling that educates you on future Real-Estate deals (especially on analyzing properties).

As a recommendation for the future, I would attend a private lending convention.