I know the rules of a 1031 are pretty strict but I imagine that 20 grand left over just becomes taxable income/cash.

If folks are well off enough to pay 3 months rent up-front they can afford to live in a hotel for a weekend while they find somewhere that fits their needs.In this particular case (especially with mentioning "disabled veteran" which is very common in scams), I imagine they'll pay the 3 months, then just before move-in date will request a partial refund because work transferred them out of the country, and after you do so their check will bounce and you'll be out a ton of $$$.

I would imagine $45k would only cover a light remodel for each unit (new paint, new flooring, new light fixtures).To estimate costs accurately you should really be walking the property and creating a detailed list of the repairs and costs for each item.I would recommend getting The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs to help you learn the basics.I have a spreadsheet in my fileplace that may be helpful as well:https://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/drobertson/file/house-flipping-spreadsheet-6-lite

First putting your primary home in an LLC, as a trustee for you or someone else to avoid liability is a hugely bad idea in nearly every case I can imagine due to a slip and fall, or other liability on the property.First LLCs and anonymous trusts are more fiction than fact as to reliability. 

I imagine the only money to be made in the deal you've described is the wholesale fee brought in by the out-of-state investor who didn't know any better.

I have found myself sort of accidentally playing a management role for many of my clients, and it was much harder to do than I’d initially imagined. 

Imagine you had a 16 unit and, on the first, people just paid (online ideally). 

John,I would imagine that they don’t have a lease and are month to month.

Plus we're really great at imagining all sorts of awesome futures, but never actually making them happen.

I haven't begun to market this Summerville 1.5 acre property yet, but I imagine that the target market could be folks who want a solid and appreciating asset with all new electrical, plumbing, sheetrock, paint, and can deal with used appliances.