Sounds like a mess.

@Corby GoadeThanks for the input.Other than having a track record of  buying and holding multiple properties, how else can you convince a lender that you can deliver?

If you don't see a dry cleaner, liquor store , hair care or something else within 5 miles go after that aggressively by contacting businesses nearby in those areas.

If you are evicting them, you include a claim for property damage with proof of the cost of the repairs (in addition to whatever else you want from the tenant, like unpaid rent). 

Just wanted to see if anyone else had some good experiences with other auctions out there. 

I live in AK and we are so damn far away from every where else.

But if the loan is owned by someone else, especially an investor, they might well bid with the intention of getting possession. 

The most valuable takeaway for others though are probably the data sources that I found while putting this together :American Fact Finder - This was a great resource, you mix & match different demographic, economic and geographic data tablesCity Data - Pretty well known, contains a variety of information on different cities, used for crime statisticsHUD Fair Market RentsUnemployment StatisticsCensus Bureau Quick FactsAdditional Census Bureau ResourcesIt took me a while to figure out where I could find good, reliable data, so hopefully this list helps someone else who's unsure of where to look. 

I lived in and also had rental condos.The problem with asking the HOA for reimbursement is if they did it for you, they'll have to do it for someone else.

I think personally you would not be wise to change a very solid carefree investment for something you have no knowledge of.One thing you may consider if your itching to do this.. is find a syndicator that may have a TIC opportunity let them do the heavy lifting and you can still do your 1031.but man i would not mess with a great thing. to move down in asset classMulti is quite frothy good to stable properties are selling at 4 to 6 caps...