I am in South Florida and think the best plan of attack is to manage one locally while this covid situation dies down and learn the systems while developing my plan to scale to other locations that can be even more lucrative.  

.#1 Will result in MASSIVE homelessness, on a scale likely never seen before. 

We need to redo our operating agreement once I'm stateside again (whenever the COVID situation subsides) as we look to scale, but I'm comfortable at the moment.

An attorney will generally not have the scale of practice to focus solely on 1031s.  

I envision adding 1 to 2 SFR properties a year for the next couple of years before hopefully scaling up, and I am considering out of state properties.If you were starting new and had my circumstances, would you create an LLC immediately or what approach would you take?

We have one STR now with plans to scale.

Partner with someone who has a solid track record and you can mitigate that risk in order to achieve the best risk-adjusted returns in real estate -- not to mention the economies of scale and superior tax advantages. 

While I anticipate more work will need to be committed to rehabbing any house under a $50k valuation, is it often that full-scale gut-jobs or highly expensive renovations should be expected?

After going over options and my goals, I would find it better to flip this property to accurate the equity to go out and scale off this sale.

Buildium and Rent Manager costs scale with portfolio size.