Your desire to travel out of country.You cannot do a 1031 exchange from the US to non-US property. 

When you do a 1031 exchange, the property you purchase must be a like-kind investment, meaning you intend to hold it as a rental.

It was a 1031 exchange.   

This is a single family home and was originally a primary residence before turning it into an long-term rental.Some strategies I'm considering to grow my portfolio are using a HELOC/1039 tax exchange to purchase a second investment property/multi-family property or refinancing my current investment property into a conventional loan to utilize another FHA loan for a primary residence (with the idea of eventually turning that into another long-term rental).I currently have a 7% interest rate, and am considering refinancing in the coming months if/when the rates drop.

I have some questions regarding 1031 exchange in New Jersey.

If they did a 1031 exchange they will retaining a tax deferred status.

I'm looking to 1031 exchange that into an investment over here in Florida.

You could also partner with another agent who can drive, splitting commissions in exchange for helping with the logistics.On the job front, networking is key.

Can I use a 1031 exchange to sell property in "my name", put the funds with a QI who then purchases new property in the name of an LLC I form with someone else?

I have been doing a ton of research and just completed my first 1031 exchange into a DST-721 UPREIT.