I apologize in advance if this question seems rather “foolish”.

I have a considerable gain from my CA flip, if it sells/ My choices are 1) Just pay the cap gains tax and get to freely do what I want with the liquid funds. 2) 1031 Out of state and file the FTB 3840 forever.I'm just getting started and made sacrifices to get this deal going.

Does anyone have any actual data on this? 

And how do you weigh these against interest rates or terms?

This would be my first investment property.

@Kyle Fitch I know this might seem like a good idea... but it's not. 

I'm particularly interested in the Ford Lauderdale/ South Florida area.

Love this!

Has anyone else gone through this exercise and can shed some light on the positive and negative aspects of the different approaches?

(I wrote about it in this thread.)The New York Times has indirectly addressed your question a few times -- in this 2019 story and this 2023 article -- where they discuss areas that will fare better in an era of extreme weather and climate change.