The buyer pays taxes on the crypto gain and the seller pays taxes on the property value gain.

Or sell using the 1031 exchange along with a partial 121 primary residence exemption There is a way you could take advantage of the 121 primary residence exclusion allowing you to take the first $250k of the gain tax free ($500k if married) and qualify for a 1031 exchange.Say you purchase a property as your primary residence (house hack extra rooms for extra income) and lived there for two years while stationed there.

Since they are considering renting their properties out, sell them on the concept of getting consistent cashflow from you - without the hassles of being a landlord.You will then need to make sure you can make those monthly payments EVERY month in addition to do remodels.

My main goals with these initial projects are:1.Gaining valuable insights into the local market.2.Getting hands-on experience with out-of-state investing, particularly when it comes to remodels and managing from afar.3.Testing the entire BRRRR process to see if it’s the right strategy for me long-term.If all goes well, I’d love to scale up and explore multi-family projects.

So all of the gain and depreciation recapture are initially still tax deferred.However, like Joe said, the down side is later when sold  you lose the 1031 option. the client will pay tax on all gain and depreciation recaptured from before the 1031 also. 

Taxes: Be aware of potential transfer or capital gains taxes, depending on your state.4.

For the moment though, I am just trying to gain a more robust understanding of all things real estate that I could reasonably see in my future.  

Additionally, do you have any other ideas or strategies that might help achieve his goals without incurring a tax liability?

What would the capital gains be on the sale of each lot? 

You wont pay capital gains when you sell the house as long as it is in the SDIRA but you will have to pay normal income tax when you withdraw cash from the SDIRA after retirement but would you rather pay income tax on $90K or $300K?