If you just keep 1031 exchanging then that shouldn't be an issue until way down the road.Yes, the government takes some of it back when you sell, however, when we think about the velocity of money, allowing us to take depreciation as an expense, leaves more money in our pockets in the short term, allowing us to reinvest that money in the economy (e.g. more real estate, other investments).

The idea is that after verifying their identity, I could just provide the code to the lockbox and people can show themselves around the unit without my presence and lock up once they leave.

I dislike my job hence why I decided to leave and do something else.

BUT this also leaves it up to interpretation by the buyers as to if its really "Green" or even "Green enough". 

That is not the case in CT and the underwriters are concerned about the property going abandoned or the prior owners leaving the property during the redemption period and trashing the place. 

There is a ton of new construction on new homes right now (I will leave the commercial numbers to the commercial guys).

I have some past experience with real estate, and I've bought and sold one condo, and I'm in the process of selling my small business.Most days, I work as an analyst in the construction rental industry, but I'd like to one day leave the corporate life and have various income-producing investments.If you are in the Los Angeles area and have good experience, I'd love to meet up for a cup of coffee.

Any way you look at it, leaving that one unit as a one-bedroom is a total waste of space if there's a possibility of a cost efficient way to add another

This leaves less money in your pocket to set aside and save for another down payment of a 3rd place which would generate more (positive) income.Now, if you do not want to expand your holdings nor otherwise invest that money (e.g. stock market) then you may indeed want to pay off your mortgages more quickly as this will, ultimately, increase your cash flow afterwards significantly.

I'm currently stationed in Sasebo Japan for the next year but will invest once I leave here.