I’m assuming minimal interior repairs (full paint, re-carpeting plus a good cleaning) at about $15k.

Invest based on these that you establish for yourself. 

And, BTW, when the investor attempts to refinance, if they  ever  do, the lender may impute interest to establish the equity held, so that's another hitch. 

Are the businesses well established names that everyone in town knows (Gibbie's, Casa, etc.) or are they in those known locations that change owners/names every other year?

Technically that is not correct, and could bite us in the butt, but I haven't had to fight it yet....After they vacate the property, within 45 days, you need to send them a final accounting of the damages, cleaning, etc and how their security deposit was applied..

Its more like, imagine you can use a well established RECF platform of your choice as a template, replace the logo and company info with your own, and wala you have a RECF platform. 

Now months later, I've built my buyers list, established way better relationships and really got myself in line with well, myself.

It seems that figuring out how to finance a BRRRR (purchase plus repairs) via a 1031 would be more complex than simply working with an established Turn Key or two in attractive markets, but would it be worth it in the end?

Let them leave asap so you can clean up and move on.

The same day they moved out, my property manager e-mailed me pictures of the now-vacant property, and said the bid for any "Make-Ready" items (paint, cleaning, yard, etc), would be coming soon.