The only concern if doing quitclaim will trigger home reassessment, that will push property tax higher.Comments and suggestions are welcome. 

He said that transferring my properties from my name to an LLC would trigger the due on sale clause.

How did you get over that and pull the trigger - or know that it's best to walk away?

We only use CAP Rates when we are comparing one opportunity against another before pulling the trigger. 

Stocks are pretty liquid, BUT selling them triggers tax consequences and the timing of when you want the money for real estate purposes might not coincide with the best time to sell the stock.

Here are some of the types of “wanna be” investors who never seem to be able to “pull the trigger:”The Organizer – This individual can’t seem to ever get fully organized - and until they do they can’t possibly make a purchase transaction.

To trigger this exception, you must meet three criteria:You must sell your entire interest in the underlying passive activityYou must trigger a tax event, meaning that you must sell your interest for value in a fully taxable transactionAnd you must sell your interest to an unrelated third party, no family or close affiliates.Source Link

Yep, hands on local like you are doing is the way to go IMO ... if you are willing and able, have the funds, and have the discipline to NOT pull the trigger on anything that isn't a great deal.

Putting appreciated assets into an S corp can trigger gain. 

Find one you are comfortable with and pull the trigger.