Strategy that delays Sale Date to lower Capital Gains for seller?

[Henrik Frank]

I'm working a deal with friends of mine. They are in a "must sell soon" situation since they are having a hard time making their payments. At the same time, they are trying to stay as long as possible since they don't have the required 24 months of primary residency in order to qualify for the $250k Capital Gains exemption. They do qualify for the partial exemption (according to them), so every month they "own and stay" longer is beneficial for their Cap Gain situation. I'm going to buy, rehab and sell, so I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to structure the deal so the actual sale date (for Cap Gains purposes) will show up as the date I close on my sale after the rehab - or even just as a specific date 6 months or so in the future (it will take me at least that long to complete the project). That way, their exemption would grow from 15/24*$250k=$156,250 to 21/24*250k=$218,750, which would save them $10k-$15k in Cap Gains taxes

Deal facts:

Property is in CA and it was purchased in 2001 for $178k

They have used it mostly as a rental, but have lived there for the last 15 months

1st mortgage has $160k left

There is a recorded lien for $50k (to a friend of mine)

I have a non-recorded note with them for $19k

Sales Price to be $390k (ARV is $530k)

They are willing to do a Subject To deal (let's say for 100% of the price for simplicity) and I'll pay them interest on the delayed profits

The problem is that Subject To still establishes the sale date as the opening date of the project. I thought about doing a Lease Option where I pay the monthly "rent" directly to the lenders, but I'm worried about my risk if they declare bankruptcy, something happens to them, or any other imaginable scenario that would put my ownership at risk. 

Essentially, I would like a scenario where I'm guaranteed ownership. I'm happy to delay the ownership transfer until after I finish my rehab - as long as I'm guaranteed that it will happen.

I'm not too worried about any DoS clauses. I'm fairly certain the 1st lender would like to have someone make the payments with certainty, and if the loan is called due, I can cover it. The 2nd lender is happy to have me take over the loan as well.

I'm NOT looking to do anything illegal. If there is no solution that satisfies everything legally, then they'll just have to deal with the extra Cap Gains. I'm just trying to see if there is anything I can do to help them out and give them a better deal. 

Thanks,

Henrik