There is no tax savings from an LLC.2.

As others noted, you are likely limited in what you can legally do anyways, so you won't be saving a ton, and depending on how you value your time, it will likely be cheaper to higher professionals to do it anyways.

I’m at the very beginning of my REI journey and I would love some guidance on how I can best optimize my planning, research and saving phase (which I’m dedicating 2025 to).

I am in contract on a duplex in Grandview where I plan to live in one side and rent out the other.  

I would just make sure to call the city and let them know your plans in full detail to make sure that you can do it.  

A good real estate accountant can save you thousands of dollars by leveraging entity selection and formation, tax deductions, cost segregations, bonus depreciation and tax planning.I recommend finding an accountant specializing in real estate taxation, business taxation, financial planning and tax planning.Consider working with your accountant remotely to expand your options.I would also recommend looking for an accountant willing to work with you throughout the year.

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?

Literally to save their lives.

But he did take a loss that set his family back quite a bit, caused a lot of stress in his marriage, prevented them from being able to buy the new home his wife wanted with the right number of bedrooms for his kids, set him back years in saving for retirement and buying investment properties that could have made him money instead of losing money, etc.

If I do 1031 exchange can I  save on  taxes ?