But to me the best way to find a great successful commercial project is to build one.

Anyone have success/pain points in Compton that can share?

it works.. you put up 2500.00 deposit to bid.. if you are the successful bidder EM is usually 3 to 10k per property.. then its a normal escrow.although sales are as is.. so make sure before you put up your EM and bid deposit that your sure you want to buy it.I would say 95%of the deals are pretty much retail.. and about 5% are decent deals .. so you really have to watch it and scour the site to make a decent score.

I haven't been very successful finding good prospects, I even had to evict my recent tenant.We're not getting a lot of applicants, and the few who apply have really bad credit scores.

Again, I have done 3 of these deals before and repositioned successfully!

I've already gathered a list of regional banks and am ready to call their lending departments but I thought before I do I might as well see if anyone on BP has a reference that they have worked with before with success.

I would rather have the option to quit my job based on my success in RE, if that makes sense.

aren't the 1031 guidelines focused on intent vs hard timelines... and wouldn't he have to show he tried to make it a successful rental but for reasons it didn't work and then can convert to primary?

If you are going to sign contracts make sure YOU can close the deal if you cannot successfully unlicensed broker the deal.

Networking with agents and other investors in your area is a way that many people find success in this business so that's my suggestion.