You have a few options, 1) be patient 2) Give in and join them and pay up or 3) Find other asset classes to invest in.I am not patient and am too scared to pay the prices they are trading for these days so I have gone to number 3 for my personal active investments.

Could the seller put the assets into an LLC and then allow the buyer to purchase the LLC over an X year period work? 

Yes, you can expense the equipment under sec 179, but remember that you need to have taxable income (Not just cashflow but the income ) to take this deduction.And you are right, you have to recapture the sec179 depreciation not just when you sell it but also if the use of the asset goes below the 50% business use.

Another thing I'm observing is that people have been resistant to pricing down and getting an under performing asset off their books.

Join the Rarebird organization.. run by two very experienced folks in the space 30 to 50 members come every month guest speakers..no pitching..and you can make some nice contacts.the market is Oregon you will find to be quite different than most of GA.. there simply is not the amount of distressed assets.

Why don't you go to a portfolio lender and get a bank statement loan or asset depletion loan.

I know the point of a LLC is to protect your personal assets and therefore it is usually recommended not to include your name, use a PO box, etc., when creating the entity.

Also, diversification, such as buying in 2 or 3 markets, or across several different asset classes, can also be of help.I really like Jason Hartman's ideas on this. 

For commercial, you'll actually have to call local banks and establish a relationship and explain who you are and what you're doing, etc.The final point i'll make about your strategy is about recourse: typically, residential loans are "non-recourse" which means that they are collateralized against the one property, but not  your other personal assets.

Commercial due diligence varies by asset type.