@Eugene Lubman Selling the property to your parents allows them to generate passive income while enabling you to perform a 1031 exchange to defer capital gains taxes.

@Brad Herb Investing in a syndication via a Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA) offers tax advantages but comes with fees and limitations:Advantages:Tax Benefits: Gains grow tax-deferred (Traditional SDIRA) or tax-free (Roth SDIRA).Avoid Penalties: Keeps funds in the IRA, avoiding early withdrawal penalties.Diversification: Adds real estate syndications to your retirement portfolio.Disadvantages:Fees: Setup, custodian, and administrative fees can reduce returns.UBIT: If the syndication uses debt, income may be subject to Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT).Complexity: Strict rules; all income/expenses must flow through the SDIRA.Illiquidity: Syndications are long-term, locking up funds.Use an SDIRA if the investment is significant and the UBIT impact is minimal, especially with a Roth SDIRA for tax-free growth.Remember that RE, outside of retirement accounts, provides the biggest tax benefits.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.

If you do not close on enough of your properties to defer all tax you will simply pay the same tax you would have at the same time you would have.

Yes, depreciation is generally meant to defer taxes but that can have a LOT of value and here is why:1.

I would also add that if you have any upcoming capital gains from a passive activity (i.e. you plan to sell a rental property) then the depreciation losses from a different property can help offset/defer the gains from the sale on the other 

Could that bite our REP in year 5 when a big pile of ordinary earnings income is realized (if they don’t 1031 and defer it)?

Benefits: This strategy is particularly useful for high-income years, as it allows you to defer taxes and increase cash flow by reducing your immediate tax burden.A cost segregation study can be especially beneficial if you plan to hold the property for several years and want to maximize deductions early, but just doing cost seg is not helpful.

No and you need to put this on hold and research the condo nuke that's about to hit Florida in the form of new legislation that no longer allows condo boards to defer necessary repairs. 

As long as you use all of your proceeds in the purchase or purchases you'll defer all tax.  

Also, expect deferred maintenance.Your #1 concern should be, can you fix the problems the seller has or will you eventually have to dump the property also?