Here is with 50% rule: Here is another screen shot. 

What I am being proposed now is to buy a 30 SFR portfolio in a great rental market and hold it for a year and sell them to 1031 for a Multi family, building credit an income in the process.The idea is that this will give us a higher cash on cash than a mid-sized multi family and thus, higher income to show for in a year when.

Here is a quick primer on the exposures to loss you face running any size apartment complex.  

They may even be trying to evade your non-smoking screening, and worse yet, they will be smoking inside in hiding, a fact you may not discover until move out.You may be better with a distant designated smoking area --to have it out of the house--or not getting a tenant with a smoking background altogether. 

I am getting ready to, hopefully), buy my first commercial sized apartment building this year.

- what amenities doe your comps have- what floor plans does your comps have (size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms)- do they offer concessions/move in specials- what term leases do they offer (just 12 months, shorter or longer)4.

You are right in line with the definition.I am going to suggest professional advice on two counts: (1) a good landlord tenant lawyer (or a general small business practitioner that maybe works for small landlords, has rentals, or has experience in the area)....(2) maybe try professional property management for now as you learn more about the rules and get some more ideas and tools to screen tenants.

@Jesse Richardson tenants will be tenants, just have to screen for good ones.

It all depends on the size/scope/area of the deal. 

Private Money comes in all shapes, sizes, flavors and at every imaginable costs/fees structure.