Do we have anyone that has personal experience with a 1031 strategy that is sponsored by an UPREIT?

Is your $15k even enough of an emergency fund for you personally?  

This was my first time buying a property solely for an investing purpose, and Melissa Justice was the person that I was connected with to help me pick out properties.

Personally, I love working with distressed properties, especially foreclosures.

Yea this is a long-term personal play more than a strict STR deal. 

Perhaps we "buy" the house from them for the $328K balance to satisfy the lender and don't need a large down payment and then have a separate contract with them to pay $x per month until we've paid the full $172K amount.

I would never own rental properties in my personal name.

When you’re flexible on the terms, you can often create a deal that satisfies both parties.Create a Sense of UrgencyIf you want the seller to move quickly, create urgency in a respectful way.

Hey all, I currently have a new home being built that I would like to keep in my personal portfolio.

There are a lot of websites that offer the course online, or if you have a college near you, they also typically offer a class that satisfies the pre-licensing requirement.