I have two well trained bulldog mixes, no other pets.

;]Like Nick stated, even if your cashflow zeroes out in the balance, don't forget about the other return on investment quadrants from appreciation, depreciation, & tax benefits (more on this below), as well as amortization (velocity banking/rapid debt reduction strategies).If you don't have one already, I would strongly recommend finding a CPA/tax attorney (whom also invests in real estate) to help create an entity for liability protection (different schools of thought on this -- find what works best for you).With the 4-plex, one potential strategy I see would be to rent out the units to your entity which, in turn, rents out to your tenants (regardless of whether you decide to rent long term, short term, or mixed).In any case, conduct your due diligence, *negotiate*, and congratulations on a big step you've taken already!

Like kind" is a bit more restrictive than the 1031 rules as I understand for rental property it is residential for residential and commercial for commercial and the two can not be mixed.   

My solution, my happy mix, is doing 75% LTV deals.

I have two mixed use properties here in Galveston that have airbnbs running as one component of them.

I'd also throw @Joe Mueller w Tanis realty into the mix depending on how far northwest you are.

Also hard stuff mixed drinks much more prevalent in some areas.. but CA was more like France or Italy you had wine with every meal every day of the year and sometimes to much wine.

I'm getting mixed feedback on VA underwriting rules for using STR rental income on AirBNB properties held for less than 2 years.

Not a fan of mixed use buildings that have a vacant commercial space, because those can be a pain to get a stable operating business in there that you're not consistently having issues with.

I’m currently looking to purchase a small/medium portfolio of 4 multis totaling 20 units: 6, 6, 5 & 3 with a mix of 1 and 2 bed units.