If I was trying to break into the industry, I would approach a few small- to mid-level sponsors and ask if you could provide help to their organization in exchange for a mentorship.

Many real estate professionals pay little to no taxes by using these strategies in combination with 1031 exchanges, creating a snowball effect of tax-deferred wealth.

Or any other options you prefer such as a 1031 exchange?

Also, I can 1031 exchange some of my rentals that I have had for 25+ years and defer the taxes. 

(If curious, my residential real estate investor clients from 10 years ago [you can find my 10 year old bigger pockets dot com posts :], at the time buying up 2-4 unit properties, a lot of them are now done with the 'human' tenants and want to 1031 into something that is ACTUALLY passive, so yes Starbucks comes up, thus I watch it).In my case I zoomed all the way into a specific brand (which then allows me to make very sweeping generalizations across an entire state -- but still not the entire country), I'm not suggesting you do that, but SOME of the variables need to be narrowed down, before you can gain any useful insights. 

Use a 1031 exchange to defer taxes and reinvest in more lucrative, cash flow-positive properties or diversify into passive investments like syndications.Pay Down Debt: With limited cash flow, focus on paying off the HELOC or smaller mortgages.

I am a new investor so I'm willing to put in time equity in exchange for knowledge and experience.

Plus if any of the materials are damaged, wrong, or of low quality you're going to be the one who has to deal with returns or exchanges. 

The dollar-peso exchange rate benefited us with respect to fees, so we have some extra class A shares we can use as collateral. 

Regarding a 1031 exchange, it is important to have a conversation with your accountant prior to getting it done.