Years ago when I was in tax practice, it was determined that investing in a real estate limited partnership was considered "like kind" for purposes of a 1031 exchange.  

If you keep it under the annual exclusion limit it will not go against you unified credit for estate tax purposes.

Let me make sure I have this right before  I comment; Your father; Settlor and Trustor, wants to give you, a beneficiary of the trust, trustee powers, for the purpose of creating an LLC that will manage the rents, profits, and acquisitions for the Trust?

Has anyone on this board actually moved to the out of state/out of town market either for a short term or a long term specifically for the purpose of building a rental portfolio?

Honestly, we don't sell much directly on the site and use it more for informational purposes and list building.  

So I understand that the number for safe harbor purposes does NOT include any other operating expenses like landscaping, utilities or insurance?

I'm not sure I would have created an LLC for this purpose.

@GrahmNashI am having trouble understanding the purpose of your post regarding our company but would like to be of assistance.

Do you database the people you market to in a specific area, for other purposes, such as repeat marketing after a certain duration of time?

Business entities can be useful for tax purposes.