Property  held for investment is any property that produces portfolio income such as  interest, dividends, annuities, or royalties not derived in the ordinary course  of a trade or business.

I read up on it for months before finally spending most of my savings (left a big chunk for an emergency fund) on 2 single family homes in town about 2 months ago.

You're trading the risk of missing a rent payment, for the risk of a zillion dollar law suit. 

Yes it is true that you cannot use the 1031 on the properties you are dealing with right now because your intent must be to hold for productive use in business trade or investment.  

I do have emergency contacts and you have given me a thought that maybe I should ask the emergency contacts to do the welfare check.

A few hours later, the agent from my MC called to tell me he had a family emergency and would contact me later.

I am perfectly willing to trade a few dollars here and there to improve my quality of life.

I used to get the name, address of phone number of nearest living relative, "in case of emergency" but I never bothered contacting them unless something that I thought "might" have value was left behind.

PROS: - The note is an 80% loan-to-value - there is a 10% interest rate on the note - I have excellent credit - a sum of cash would be offered to the new owner of the note as an incentive - an early payoff penalty would be in place on the note CONS: - there is no payment history since the note creation and trade will take place almost simultaneously - there was no down payment paid to the seller of the house Are there any firms that would accept a note like this?

Since I'm out of state - it isn't like I can go to the house and verify that the problem is an emergency - so I'm going to be paying to send someone out there either way.