When do we transfer the title to the LLC so that we protect the liability of our assets?

They will collect an application fee and perform their due diligence They protect you and themselves.

Feeding it when it's renting for $2400/m ... in a naturally supply constrained coastal area ... with Prop13 tax protections ... and a growing market ... is, different.In that situation, it doesn't take much for rents to rise 10%. 

You've traded 'asset protection' for limited financing options.If you don't care about getting spam e-mail the rest of your life, try lending tree or quicken/rocket mortgage maybe just to see.

So I am stuck with being limited to just any publicly traded stock, reit, bond, mutual funds, ETFs.I could just buy Berkshire Hathaway stock or something which is likely to hold up and perform well over the long term.

Of course many lawyers would tell you otherwise.Of course, one possible advantage (if this is important to you) is that an LLC provides a layer of obfuscation if for some reason you are looking to make it harder for someone to find out you are a landlord through public records. 

In illinois they are public notice.

My question comes in while reading IRS Publication 527 Page 7 there is a section that says "The following are settlement fees and closing costs you can’t include in your basis in the property."

Funny thing is in these cases, the public utility is the first to notice and often come by to take a look at the meter thinking something is wrong with their equipment.

If you have access to those non public documents, you are ahead of everyone else.