Deferred maintenance in the property?

I'm not aware of any tax-deferred or tax-exclusion strategies once you have closed, except for perhaps investing in some type of asset class that would produce a tax credit such as certain types of oil and gas investments. 

The other side could be 1031d by itself but there is another option that would also defer the depreciation recapture on the former residence side.  

So maybe you want to do a 1031 to defer the tax?

I would simply take a look at your capex list above on a per property basis and try to defer as few costs as possible.  

There are older complexes where cashflow is reasonable but you may run into deferred maintenance issues.

Its insane how much your money can grow when using a tax deferred plan. 

Find a mis managed and deferred maintenance, low rent ridden building in a C or B neighborhood.

If it was your primary residence two of the last five years you can defer 250K if single or 500K if married.

That involves lining up simultaneously, another property to Buy and you get to Defer the Tax on that Sale.