This strategy has worked well for me personally. 

Above just the assumption that it'd be far more of a corporate environment, I just don't think that would happen at a larger shop, at least not for quite awhile, and I do think I would generally be more at home with a smaller office of people (smaller being relative to multi-national, or coast-to-coast, I suppose).Personally speaking, do you find that you're in that type of environment with a boutique brokerage?

.- You both report your share on your personal tax returns and pay taxes based on your own tax rates.3.

Saw an ad on Craig's List, I negotiated the deal personally on the first meeting.

Or can you still run everything through your personal return (just want to make sure that I can deduct things such as HOA fees which I can do if it is a rental).2) If I do decide to run everything thru my personal tax return (save on LLC fees), should I at the least set up a separate bank account to track costs separately?

It's about path's custom tailored to the persons. 

Intangible assets like goodwill or tangible personal property (e.g., equipment) are excluded from 1031 treatment and are taxed separately—goodwill is typically taxed as a capital gain, while equipment may be subject to depreciation recapture taxed as ordinary income.To minimize taxes on the sale of the business, consider strategies such as Opportunity Zone investments, which defer gains until 2026 if proceeds are reinvested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), or structuring the sale as an installment agreement to spread taxable income over multiple years.

Buy a few things on credit that you would just usually pay cash for.I personally would not rush into a Heloc or such.

From what I have researched they seem legitimate but the person I am working with is flakey, takes forever to answer questions so I thought I would see if anyone else had experience with this lender.  

Hi Bruce, i'll start by saying i'm a mortgage person, so please understand the context in which my response is coming from. you'd need to create CC&Rs/bylaws and establish an HOA in order to do this.