I am thinking of getting my license to gain more control and maximize my revenue.

You will be able to pay capital gains instead of regular income tax, and will also be able to have some cashflow for that time. 

If you live in one of the properties for 2 of the last 5 years you can avoid capital gains on 225k 500k if you are married- in income on the sale of that house. 

If so, then yes,  you will have a tax-free gain (up to $250k single, $500k married) if you were there more than 24 months.1031 exchange proceeds are to purchase like-kind investment property.  

It had a steep dirt driveway that I could not even get up with my truck (I was not in 4-wheel drive and had no traction.

I want to thank Brian Gibbons taking the time to walk me through the different options I have with a prospective seller.Not only did I gain a better understanding of executing a sub 2 and LO, Brian armed me with the concept of JV with the seller.

From 2008- early 2014 I made very nice gains but they haven't been doing much lately.  

This will allow you to sell the first property and defer the gain (and thus the taxes) into the second property.  

We usually internally escrow 25% of gain, which is pretty conservative.

I have see a few people generate some big gains (as a percent) in their IRA doing this... just make sure you don't do it too many times in that 12 month period.