Nothing to do with the value of the future property.. the value of the future property is only useful in determining how much of the gain you are able to defer if you properly executed a 1031 exchange.Just make sure you look into this and OZ opportunities "before" you sell your next property!!!!

@Javen Bowman your determination is admirable.

., creating a criteria, studying a market, making connections in market (realtors, lenders, etc) and I've determined I still need about six months of saving/paying off debt before we are really to purchasein the meantime I do not want to just sit on my hands. is there anything i can do to provide value to any experienced investors (bird dog, etc)?

Determine your needs 2.

I currently am a mechanic/commercial truck driver that is determined to be financially free!

My Grandpa did not have a will, so it had to go through that whole process of determining if he owed any debts to anyone, etc and that took a long while.

And how do I determine the cause of the mold?

(Hard part) determine value adjustments for each difference (1 more bedroom adds $5000 to value, 300 less square feet subtracts $15,000, etc).  4.

Aside from the obvious of looking at Facebook marketplace for rental rates, does anyone have suggestions on the best way to determine what I should expect this home to rent for?

Based on what I determined during due diligence:The annual vacancy cost was >$3,500/Yr.Maintenance was >$300/Mo. or $3,600/Yr.The cost to make each of the units livable was about $15,000 each.There was no way to raise the rent even if the units were beautiful.