And that's a mortgage broker I've used a few times and trust. 

Also seen the opposite where decent lot, decent price, looked clean, but when I got there must have been $100,000 in cleanup needed with all kind of trash and junk on that lot.I've never been to Harris county auction, but from what I understand they have multiple auctions and maybe even different locations depending on the precinct, so know where to go if you can.At one time there was a lady that would offer orientations at Harris county maybe 1 hour before the auction starts.When you are ready to bid, know how to pay. 

The second tenant stopped paying and it took me 4 months to get them evicted and more turnaround cost. 

I’ve never done a 1031 before and every Google search along the lines of “retroactive 1031 exchange” is about reversing the sale of a house you just bought, via a 1031.I’m talking about buying a house weeks before your old rental sells, and somehow having that whole transaction fit under one 1031 exchange.Last thing I would want to do is pay pay the new property’s downpayment in cash, and then turn around and find out it doesn’t qualify for a 1031 since I bought it before selling the first house, and then also having to go buy another house with the 1031 funds, and never recoup my own cash I used on the new rental.Hope that makes sense, I will be happy to clarify if it doesn’t.

It would still appreciate overtime and build equity all while someone else is paying the mortgage.

That situation caused me to lose trust in the seller.

@Brittany MageeDo they have a mortgage on it, as typically the lender will require it to be repaired or they take proceeds to pay off loanUnfortunately not much you can do

I am not sure how you plan to handle rent collections but if you think there may be times that a tenant will need to pay via some non online option then having a bank in the area of the property can be good.

@Thomas Jacobson how much are you paying PMCs to come out and do a bunch of work?

You are going to pay top dollar for new construction, but it has several anomalies that will restrict your future value.