I'm nearer to Seattle, myself, but the market around here seems to work only for developers, and I'm not ready to play that game. 

The intent of the tax is to level the playing field for tax-paying businesses when a tax-exempt substantially acting like a commercial business.  

I'm a romance novelist who also plays cello in the state orchestra, and my husband doesn't like romance novels or classical music.

Instead, it is much better to roll up your sleeves, and diligently hunt for the right deal, be highly selective to make sure you buy a great deal, force appreciation if at all possible, and get in such that you can stay in through thick and thin if you need or choose to ... this will open up multiple exits and tilt the odds in your favor ... heads you win big, tails you win a little, but the house always wins and you're the house ... if you are unable to stack the deck in your favor then the best thing to do is not play the game until you learn enough to from those that do ... people sometimes say that going for appreciation is speculation and if you get it it is only because you are lucky ...

Kevin Hunter Well played, that's what my wife and I agreed we would do too.

As for playing your cards closer to your chest, hopefully that's a lesson learned.

The legalities come into play when you don't own the property, but you're trying to find someone to buy it.

I am debating whether to wait a few weeks to see how it plays out and possible save myself some lawyer fees and possibly get payed.

I want to avoid getting taxed on everything, but don't know what I can do since the LLC idea didn't quite play out as planned.

I think the best way to answer your question is to know the rules and know how to play by them.