I am relocating to California from the mid-west, where we are used to living in newer, bigger homes and we cannot live comfortably in the small, older, expensive homes in the peninsula, SFO city or near Silicon Valley.

We are in a extremely competitive market, but if you take the time to learn and put in the work you will find deals!

I would also use the DSCR as the reasoning...the bank won't finance the deal if there is not a 1.25% variance and based on current income we are too far off.  

We have a flip that we are hoping to close on within the next week.

John Underwood I agree and would love to do that, but here we are a tax lien state, so the probability of me ending up with a property from a tax lien is around 1-4% from my research.

Is it okay to enter the house to continue other work if I wear one of those expensive $40 ventilation masks?

We have one small 2 bed 1 bath rental house that used to be our primary residence, but now we are renting it out.

The lease would have a provision that says the tenant is responsible for any repairs not caused by normal wear and tear.

Price the property you are going to sell for the exchange correctly for your market and you have a great shot of completing the transaction without issue.As for your original question, yes we are planning or doing 1031 exchanges forever.

It has been proven to me over many years that is a dark and dangerous road.In our leases, it states that if the maintenance issue (lets use clogged toilet or sewer main) is a result of normal wear/tear or lack of owner maintenance, the charge rightfully belongs to the owner.However, if the tech pulls out a toothbrush or Barney the Dinosaur out of the drain, the full charge belongs to the tenant.