For value add, its a choose your own adventure to see what improvements you can make at what cost and compare them to the current value to see if paying a premium over asking makes sense with the returns you want.

If the sponsor increases the value of the property by 25%, it can absorb a pretty significant market correction...or the sponsor can just hang on with long-term debt and cash flow the property until market conditions improve for an exit. 

They are now proposing a new buyer that raises rents by improving a property may have to pay up to $4500.00 per tenant....absolutely crazy....of course every tenant and attorney is going to jump all over this and likely other cities will adopt a similar policy.

There are, however, costs for licensing, continuing education, access fees, etc., so just weigh the pros and cons and see if it's right for you. 

We're entering year 11 and $270K depreciation has already been takenand the original basis of the 1031 plus improvements might be $50K.The property has always been held and managed by one individualso Is there anyway to bring in a partner into a LLC or other vehiclethat can avoid triggering the capital gains due to the IRS and Utah?

Depending on the county...some counties have very easily accessible tax records.Google “(county name) property tax records” and go from there.

There are already statutes and regulations regarding fraud and deception in real estate transactions.Educating people who want to be educated is fine, but if a governing body restricts the pool of ready and willing buyers, more properties will go to foreclosure and sit on the market longer.Real estate investors perform a vital function in every jurisdiction: putting properties back on the market, in good condition.Many of the properties they buy could never pass conventional lender's inspection because they typically require tens of thousands of dollars in repairs that most homeowners do not have or cannot do themselves.Additionally, many real estate investors near metropolitan centers can access almost an unlimited pool of funding to buy and remodel properties if the numbers work.From contract to close, the time can be in as little as 3-4 business days.The delay is mostly waiting on title companies.So when flippers mail letters and post cards to owners saying they can "close quick" and "all cash", that is a fact, not fraud.Of course, realtors will recommend you list your property – that's how they make money – so they are self-interested, which makes the report biased.Maybe next time you can have a "flipper" on you show for balanced reporting.The idea of anyone feeling "pressured" by getting a post card or flyer is ludicrous.If the homeowner doesn't want to sell, the solution is to throw them away.But the idea of "there ought to be a law" is equally ludicrous.If there are bad actors committing fraud, the answer is to enforce the laws already on the books.Out of all the properties posted for sale every 1st Tuesday of the month at the trustee's sale, a very large percentage never make it because they are bought by the very flippers you disparaged.If not for the real estate investing community, cities around the country would look much, much worse.My biggest complaint with your report is that you completely failed to get the rest of the story.Your editor needs address this."

@Pandu ChimataYou and your partner need to calculate the gain that you will have on the sale of the property.Gain will be calculated as selling price less adjusted basis(purchase price + improvements - depreciation) less selling expenses.You should reach out to your accountant to discuss whether or not you will be required to make an estimated tax payment.You should also be mindful that you may want to look to making estimated tax payments to California and the state the property is located in(if it is not california).

I BELIEVE you have to make massive improvements, like 300% of purchase price, to qualify. 

Maybe to improve its value, just bring it back to "land" only, then start?