Our mortgage is $95,000, and our renovation costs are spread over several different 0% interest credit cards.

I just sold my condo in San Diego and the agent was required by law to explain this in the sgining agreemnts somewhere.It did not effect the resale and sold right away.

Owning a house with a view in NY already cost ten percent of my current income in taxes.  

I know the cost of the conversion, and the ARV increase to me seems several times higher than this cost. 

One of the main drivers of this dilemma is the low 1bd/1ba garage conversion and $30k seems like a large cost for one element of a 350 sq ft conversion. 

Talk to your realtor and ask about renos factoring in time and cost.

The only cost the deal needs to absorb that's relevant is the interest, and even that is really just the delta between the actual interest paid and the tax savings on that interest on your federal return. 

But if you think appreciation has stalled or capital expense might be lurking then a 1031 is better than just a sale because you get the compounding effect of the deferred tax working for you not the government.

That negotiation with cost participation, or their funding of the project should begin with them.    

Collin County seems to be over price, the same than Denton County, though you could find some deals there is always a challenge to find the right one.One thing to take in mind is the maintenance cost, Fort Worth has older houses that will cause issues on the maintenance, if you are looking low maintenance you will need to look a few and identify how you fell comfortable.