Do you think there is currently a high increase in the MF syndication investing sphere, more than we’ve ever had before, a saturation these days (due to social media outreach with so many courses teaching both active and passive MF syndication compounded by the pandemic effect) that we’ve reached or are reaching a point where there is less supply of the type of properties with the criteria that MF investors specifically look for?

Either way you do not need to perform a 1031 exchange to invest in an OZ. 

I am still new to REI with only a house hack behind me, but I plan to continue to invest in Northern OZ county.

OZ Capital is fickle if you haven't tried to recruit it already so you really need to be "in it", IMO, for the long haul.

I’ve been trying to get some info on investing in OZ also.

Can the OZ benefit be applied to an investor that's just using cash to create the fund vs. rolling over/deferring capital gains tax from some other REI sale?

This kind of gains is simply a variation of capital gains, and it can be deferred with OZ, with 1031 exchanges and with installment sales.The second one is true depreciation recapture.

Tell everyone you know that you’re looking to buy a multi-family, you’ll be surprised how many people in your sphere invest in real estate of we’re investors at some point. 

An OZ Fund couldn’t buy the property unless it can substantially improve them, but you could retain an interest and sell 99% of the LLC interest to an OZ investor (assuming you satisfied all of the OZ Fund requirements to begin with). 

Are you focusing your fund on OZs in the Tampa market?