A traditional refinance would likely be your best bet because even though the interest-rate would be higher there would be no mortgage insurance in your net cost would be slightly higher than what you’re paying  on the money now.  

Sometimes we have to make choices that take us out of our comfort zone.

@Angel De La Mora Ovies Hello.Being honest your questions sound more or personal choices that you might want to ask yourself deeper on.

You need to narrow it down to a few choices. 

As I understand it, you cannot 1031 into a traditional syndication because it violates the like-kind requirements, as your Relinquished Property is real property, and your new ownership interest in the syndication LLC is personal property.I've heard previously that the workaround here is to form a TIC or a DST to hold your 1031 interest, since this is treated as having an ownership in real estate interest in the eyes of the IRS.

My first choice was quit claiming the property then I perform needed repairs.

That way you have access to your current equity and can strike on a deal as soon as you find it but you aren't paying down a new mortgage in a traditional sense. 

I’ve been listening and reading about Tom Wheelwright’s suggestion on cashing out on 401k/IRA and taking the penalties and investing it in real estate since new tax laws would be in favor of investors.With new tax laws (2017) and the many deductions (bonus depreciation and doing a Cost Segregation), would passive investors benefit by cashing out their previous employer's 401k or traditional IRA to invest in real estate?

Often times, for one reason or another, they don't want to deal with the inspection process most traditional lenders will require.

@Steve Hall The seller financing appeals to us because it would allow us to purchase with less than the 20% down of a traditional mortgage.