The obvious thought is to not claim any as it is my first property and there will be only around $4k in revenue this year anyway but my thought is that I can potentially claim and increase my taxable income which will raise my Debt/Equity ratio in order to purchase another SFH or small MFH next year.

I know this isn't quite applicable for you yet, but you can also speak to your CPA (the biggest impact route I've taken) about how to increase your reported taxable income. 

As long as your income is less than 150k -for example if you make 50k at work and 50 k from rental income 100k gross earnings from the year you could subtract 1/27.5 years of depreciation let’s call it 50k and 30k of interest and tax so your tax able income would be 100k-80k=20k taxable income-how would being a real estate professional help me making under 150k Would appreciate any help or resources you could refer me to

First you earn on some interest rate,   Re the cash sale: Your cap gains on a cash sale bumps your taxable income into next higher or 2 tax brackets.   

Anything less than $875k (less selling/closing costs) becomes “boot” and is taxable up to your total cap gains and depreciation recapture.To avoid tax, 2 rules.1) replacement property price must equal/exceed the sold property2) you must reinvest All the cash proceeds from the sale

Also, if you do decide to sell, be sure to consult with your tax adviser to avoid/delay taxable gains. 

The -ve rental loss with offset your taxable 1099s income if you make between 100k-150k a year. 

If the LLC could take the property at a stepped up basis then way down the road when I sell the property I’d have a lower taxable income.Is my understanding of the situation correct?  

In most cases you don't receive title until the loan is paid off.A gift can only be up to $15,000 (in 2018) before it is considered a taxable gift for you. 

Obviously this would be beneficial in that I'm skirting some tax money until later in life and thus reducing my taxable income.However, here's the rub.I'm not rich.