For a good tenant, I might either offer assistance with their alternate accommodation (hotel), or prorate rent.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out, specifically within Maricopa County?

I had my eye on this specific neighborhood for about 6 months before I found this property.

Another thing too if your looking specifically for a mentor I'm certain Dallas has a few Real estate groups see about joining one and looking for someone in person there.

The alternative that @David M. mentioned is a Partial 1031 Exchange ...

Yeah I was planing on visiting myself, and yes one of the complaints I hear many people make is about their unresponsiveness, I've been looking for alternatives as well like you have but ultimately when it comes to quicker steel modular builds it seems they are reigning in that department locally.

I attempted to update my original post with more specifics, but the updates never showed up, so I created a new post here:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/1167489-seek...Thanks,Sean

I'm with Wezt Capital, an alternative asset management firm, and we've had the pleasure of working with physicians who share a similar interest in real estate.

Regardless of where you go, with $40,000 typically would best be used as either soft cost (due diligence) money on a new construction for sale project, or alternatively you can buy a $200,000 property, putting 20% down. 

And without looking at these specific emails you mentioned (and the amount that the lawyer billed you), it's hard to say if you got overbilled or not.