Not too much luck at all unfortunately,  so I wanted to hear what recommendations people have on the best way to find motivated leads.

Ordering some cards and handwriting to specific (motivated) sellers.

Accordingly, a parking transaction where both the relinquished property and the replacement property are owned by the same person, or by a person and his single-member LLC (SMLLC), will not qualify for like-kind exchange treatment.As with the installment sale rules, disqualification of a like-kind exchange between related parties does not occur if the parties can establish that neither the original exchange nor the subsequent disposition had a tax avoidance motive [IRC Sec. 1031(f)(2)(C)].

Plus, there’s nothing more motivating to hustle than a baby!

It took you over 40 hours per year to achieve this. 

That's going to impact the likelyhood of achieving what you're looking for.

And let’s presume the location is ‘mid-tier’ and we can achieve a monthly rent of $1,500.

I believe the property was appraised at $650k but the owner is motivated to sell and after 2 sales falling through he wants out.Youre thinking hard money might be the only way without bringing on another investor with more capital?

And I am always refining it, a continuous work in action striving to achieve the mirage on the horizon called "perfection". 10% for PM is a nuts figure, FYI.

At this point, I don't know if I should continue looking or go for a conventional loan and buy a cheap SFH live there for a year, move out and rent it, but that would mean that I have to pay the mortgage for a whole year and that would prevent me from saving as much as possible for the next investment.Basically, my plan is to create a new source of additional income and I believe real estate is a good way to achieve that.