We still owe $38K on that.....but preserved our good credit.

I have actually seen a few of these cases happen.In banks for very high net worth people they have what are called "wealth preservation group" departments.

Your attorney should be guiding you on all of this and looking out for any and all ways in which you can lawfully preserve and protect the property.  

Curious if anyone has a property preservation company that services UT that they'd recommend?  

Well you farm it, share crop it, hold it for appreciation, build a house and rent it, turn it into a hunting preserve, Operate your business on it, store your business equipment on it, hold it until best and highest use appears, etc.In other words there could be many ways to demonstrate your intent to hold that property for productive use.  

I will first say that I am a conservative investor, so someone coming from a different risk tolerance will feel very differently.I believe that we are late in the cycle and as a conservative investor I care much more about preservation of principal than projected return.Sponsors that got their start after 2009, have only experienced the sunshine of economic expansion when it is very easy to make money if someone is only halfway competent.

Here is a more detailed overview: The deferred sales trust can help you defer your tax to preserve wealth by deferring 30-50% of your gain on the sale of a business, primary home, investment real estate( including carried interest) and giving you the potential to earn interest on this pre-taxed amount.

At the end of the day, I am building a brand and want to preserve as much of my time as possible to do deals #InRealLife. 

I am fairly new to the business and am actually starting a company on the side tackling the preservation side of the market.

And do the minimum maintenance to preserve the property.