In that short time my tiny little house house has more than doubled in value, and I'm trying to figure out if it would be best to hold it and keep renting or sell (maybe 1031?) 

During the course of the 7 years, a caretaker will live in the basement and will maintain the property and perform other duties in exchange for a reduced monthly charge.  

The technical requirement in order to integrate each property into the 1031 Exchange is that the Purchase and Sale Agreement or Sale Contract be assigned to the Qualified Intermediary. 

Again, I am unclear who has an equitable interest now and whether a solution might be reached by offering the attorney representing the owners to drop a foreclosure lawsuit in exchange for a Deed from the heirs affidavits of heirship.

But depending on the area, ads at laundrymats, currency exchanges and train stations work great.

FCI Exchange, Note trader and the BP marketplace all have what look like some ok-ish deals.

Colleen:We went through a similar exchange a year or so ago.  

Did you use a 1031 exchange to "trade up"?

In short, we work with our CPA and lawyer to hold everything in LLC's to lower personal tax liability, do the best we can within the boundary of the rules to have income qualify as passive, try to offset with book losses if we can, and 1031 when possible.I'm more than happy to share offline...

@Patrick Liska  lumber prices flucuate through out the year and the cycles... lumber futures are traded at the exchanges.