First and foremost I will also let you know, that I am a licensed attorney in Florida and have designed my program to alleviate some of your "concerns".  

I've managed the design and construction of commercial projects ranging from $40-750M.

If you move a sewer stack you'll have roof repairs to factor in as well. 

You might find someone/institution willing to lend, if the ARV is high enough, with an escrow designed specifically for rehabbing work that needs to be done for the house to be marketable. 

As long as you factor the higher interest rates (they are short term of course) into your initial calcs before you close the house.

I've spoken to my CPA and -- cutting to the chase and factoring in passive losses, etc -- if I were to 1031 it into different investments, I'd need to spend about $100K of equity against about $300K of debit (for a total of $400K) in order to qualify for a "like" property and avoid capital gains.What I'm looking for are thoughts on the best strategies moving forward. 

offstreet parking is a critical factor in the neighborhood.

With lower income tenants with kids, I'm sure they also want their kids to go to good schools, but that is not always the most important factor.  

I love to design things and see a beautiful finished project.  

Back then I was an interior designer who branched out into RE investment.