I have heard that having a home business is great since you have great tax benefits.

That setup overall benefits the syndicator.  

My question is:What are the benefits/drawbacks of selling to the HRA vs selling it via traditional routes?

Goals are:1.) take a loan that someone else pays off, get tax benefit, build wealth through appreciation2.) get practice/become proficient in property management3.)

There can be no direct or indirect benefit or transactions between a disqualified party and a plan.  

It's also supposed to be a lawsuit preventer as a lawyer would do a cost benefit analysis before filing suit I am hoping they'd see only the 1 property the tenant is in and an out of state trustee and LIOT and decide costs are higher to file and less likely to collect. 

And the fact that your equity if protected from bankruptcy (amounts very from State to State) is an added benefit. 

The option component gives you the option to buy or sell the option to a buyer.The biggest downside to this arrangement is that you would not retain any of the benefits of ownership (loan paydown, depreciation, etc.).

What benefits come from becoming a RE agent if I only plan to invest? 

As you mention financing purposes, are you stating that because there's a benefit to one over the other, or just that there is a difference?