If I have docs in Alabama that have to be signed by the seller who lives in Oklahoma, and their motivated to sale their house in my current state; Alabama.

Collect the remaining payments on the mortgage tax free till the loan is paid off in its entirety. 

I'm told remaining mortgage is about $140k so plenty of equity. 

Sure there is some affect but that doesn't change a motivated seller's motivation. 

You will find that either your anticipated tax situation will likely not require as much help from a depreciation write off, or that your exposure now is not so bad that you can absorb the 140K or so in tax from a sale foregoing the 1031.If paying the tax now is too painful and you anticipate needing more depreciation write off in the future then 1031 and use the gain to purchase more property than you sold and take both the remaining 12 or so years on your current property basis and the additional depreciation you gain through purchasing up.

It depends on what your investment strategy and motivations are.

When dealing with individual sellers, the most important thing is their motivation. 

Favorite places remain SF, LA and NYC but we see much more interest for other cities now.

Down payment of $10k can remain unchanged.

Since I grew up in the Antelope Valley I market in that area, as well as Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys.I'm curious to hear more about your effective marketing strategies to find motivated sellers.