I’ve periodically had tenants at the Multis offer to “help with the landscaping” in exchange for a discount on their rent.

Under IRS rules (see IRS Publication 925 on Passive Activity and At-Risk Rules), when you sell a rental property, all suspended passive losses from that property and the rest of your portfolio become deductible in the year of the sale, provided you fully dispose of the activity and it is not exchanged for another property (like in a 1031 exchange).If you have $100K in losses from your entire portfolio, those should be applied to the capital gain from the sale of the property—not just the $50K from the specific property being sold. 

I would try and do a 1031 exchange.   

Is there a way to put this into a 1031 if its considered my Primary residence?

If the property is bleeding money every year from repairs, maintenance, or turn over you'll never get ahead.You can tap equity with a HELOC (challenging right now), cash-out refinance into a new loan (much higher rates), 1031 exchange, or sell (tax hit) but the numbers and property condition need to guide this decision.

I've heard from several people who thought they had an owner finance agreement signed at the kitchen table, assumed they were paying down equity only to have the house sold right out from under them.Ben,  How common is this that a seller is willing to give up their deed upfront in exchange for seller financing.  

I sold a business and took that money and bought houses back around 2011 and a few years ago 1031'd those into small multi unit properties with big value add that we have completed and out portfolio value has grown significantly.

 Flic and Flips don’t typically qualify for 1031 exchange tax benefits. 

I don't remember what it was called or what it contained exactly but basically she admitted to trespassing and gave up all her tenant rights in exchange for $2500 which I sent via venmo immediatly after she signed.

I've sold properties in the past but this is my first 1031 exchange.