The bnb arbitrage so is so interesting to me, glad to see it's brought you some success and allowed you to scale. 

But pricing is so dynamic these days it's hard to know what's right.

I personally would not worry too much about the taxes, it is what it is, so just do what makes sense for you. 

Real Estate investing is so different, you deal with people, not numbers.

And I know what you mean as far as repairs, I know they exist, I'm simply referring to basic repairs such as AC/Interior Plumbing/Etc. 

If you are doing much of anything else you are effectively brokering the sale of real property which is regulated in the US, i.e. you need a real estate license.As far as a real estate transaction goes, in brief:  get an offer accepted, enter and finish attorney review, now the property is "under contract" to sell, complete any due diligenence (e.g. inspections), get to closing...Since you are selling the Right to Purchase, you need to have a contract first. 

All activity of the property is reported on the schedule E of your tax return.If that's the case then you and your LLC are interchangeable as far as the 1031 goes. 

I know how to find the homes but as far as contacting owners and my profit on the deal is where I need help at.

This type of a question is so specific to you I would encourage you to speak with a local lender to get the answer 100% correct. 

I wish my city would support projects like that but Indiana is so stuck on cars it's crazy.