The house needed a good amount of repairs and he was originally considering wholesaling the property, but I saw an opportunity for both of us to make some money and because of my experience he decided to trust me with the house.

I trust the workers to go when they they will but also tenants say they don’t and I just don’t have time to go and make sure they go.Any ideas on how to handle this or anyone know of someone who can help?

The one area that does target 1031 Exchange clients is the Delaware Statutory Trust or DST. 

@David CozziIf you set up a self-directed IRA, there must be a registered bank or trust company called a custodian that holds the IRA assets.

And from there, build a team that I can trust before deciding to jump on a deal or not.

I need to move the property to an LLC for the lenders and want to consider all the factors in play including what type of corporation, setting up the units as condos and possibly using a trust as I think ahead to my son's inheritance.Too much info? 

Trust me because I spent 15 years in the analysis-paralysis between 2005 and 2020.

That said, I still wonder whether there are "better" practice out there that will help "trust but verify", and could help me scale up as the portfolio grows.  

Without any experience and a track record there's few lenders that will loan a person money, let alone release funds upfront and trust you, unless you have something to put up of equal value for security. 

You have to find a team that you can work with and trust.