And I get a notice from the bank if the money isn't in there on the 5th when it is time to transfer so I know immediately to ask what's going on but to be honest, I haven't ever got that notice because of the screening process my realtor does!   

We are considering transferring it into our VA based LLC - of which we are all equal partners.

or can I keep the entire plot, build the house, and then transfer it to the LLC without subdividing?

Where deed is transferred but existing financing stays in place.  

I have stellar credit and own my personal residence (valued approx $950k) free and clear, so it would be easy for me to get financing personally to purchase it and then transfer to LLC, but that sounds like that could be messy.

Although I understand that corporate real estate is so different from residential, I hope that some knowledge and skills are transferable and I can turbo charge and learn fast!

Nothing in Tampa, although I did consider investing there in recent years.One pain point is going to be doing a remote closing if you want to do that.For Florida you will need wet signed papers for part of the transaction (title transfer), so you'll need to get a US notarization from the embassy, and then physically mail stuff to the US (overnight air mail).

Apparently, in the distant past, sometimes people wouldn't actually transfer funds.

It's a legal question, and you possibly need to transfer the title to the LLC and transfer the mortgage to the LLC.

Person A did NOT file form 709 or pay any gift tax for the quit claim deed transfer.