@Pauline Misiak  Dividend payments made out by the REIT are taxed to the individual ordinary income, unless they are considered to be qualified dividends which are taxed as capital gains.  

For instance you can set up a fund that invests in real estate via syndications that offer tax benefits to investors where REIT produce purely ordinary income.

If you find a suitable abandoned building with property tax payments at least three years in arrears, the program could allow you to rehab the property and have the municipality lawyers clear and transfer you title.

Simple buying apartment buildings 5+ units,  "semi distressed", class B neighborhoods,  using very ordinary traditional financing (20% down, 20 year, reset every 3-7 years, etc.) -- Why?

If your intent when you sell the old property is primarily to resell then no, you would not qualify for a 1031 exchange and quite frankly it would not be good for you since you'll be trading the long term gain of the old property for ordinary income on a flip in a short period of time and paying exchange fees on top of that.You're working backwards to look at options and that's good but when doing a 1031 its important to start at the beginning with your intent and then let the situation as it unfolds determine whether your intent stays the same or changes.

The profit on your flip will be taxed as ordinary business income at your ordinary income tax bracket rate.  

It going to see an influx of jobs, and eventually tax payer dollars will be used to vamp up some of the older infrastructure.

'@Brian Christensen, Changing tax paying entities for the real estate you are selling right before a sale is a recipe to invite scrutiny and have your exchange disallowed upon audit.The IRS is extremely skeptical of transfers such as this immediately prior to a sale and the beginning of a 1031 exchange.  

But now there is a lifetime exemption in 2017 of 5.5 million dollars, 11 million for a couple, so for most ordinary folks, that should be sufficient to avoid the hassles of annual gifting.

Your profile mentions that you are a real estate agent - You want to have a conversation to see if you potentially are eligible to claim real estate professional status which would allow you to treat your rental losses as active instead of passive.Also have a conversation if you are required to make estimated tax payments since there is no withholding on your commissions.Lastly, your profile mentions you are in Florida which does not have a state income tax which opens you up to more options for choosing an accountant.