Great being able to connect with other Real Estate Professionals within my greater Tampa Bay Area, and also around the country!

The authority of a tax professional would be valued over a real estate agent like myself. 

Most likely you can form the LLC after getting the property under contract, but again, consult your professionals in that area (realtor, attorney, lender). 

Couple that with the fact that you're getting hit with recapture when you sell whether you take the depreciation or not and it should be clear that you should take it.Alternatively you could not take it and file Form 3115 in the future to catch up on missed depreciation, but that'll cost you a pretty penny to have a professional fill it out for you and likely not be worth the difference from jumping a bracket unless it's a high value property and you'd pair that with accelerated depreciation which doesn't seem to be the case here. 

Keep it short and professional.

A professional contractor isnt cheap , but will pay off in the long run . 

He mentioned real estate note funds but the only ones I find are for accredited investors. 

Readers are directed to seek professional advice.

Completing a 1031 Exchange allows you to defer that tax and depreciation liability and invest in another rental property or something like a DST (Delaware Statutory Trust), if you're an accredited investor.

You must keep the ownership percentage the same at all times and all income/expenses must be split according to your ownership percentage.Be sure to seek help of a professional who can guide you and structure this correctly so you can avoid violating prohibited transactions rules:https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-particip...