If it's being talked about you're already late to the party. 

Notes are not secured by any collateral or guaranteed or insured by any third party"

You must use the services of an unrelated 3rd party called the qualified intermediary.

Our property in is New Orleans and even one party could make our neighbors angry enough to call the City and report us, resulting in a hefty fine. 

Let me explain that better, imagine your rehab is $100k, you would need to do part of the rehab, maybe $10k, and then you can get the funds for those first $10k reimbursed so you can keep progressing with the rehab.Given your experience, I would recommend you start with a moderate or light rehab, mostly cosmetic work so that you can do it yourself and won't get your profit decreased by hiring third parties.

The Labour Party now has control.

Third parties must handle everything, and any profits from renting or selling the property must go back into the SDIRA.

With that license you are now allowed to hire 3rd parties to work on houses you do not own. 

Even local title companies are turning down business for land sale without a very clear and open communication of all parties.  

The 'rule of thumb' that everyone should ALWAYS follow is... educate yourself and verify everything - Whenever you put money into any investment you need to research the rules that apply to that investment strategy from alternate sources and verify what you are being told - Never make an investment if you don't understand the issues and verify every claim made through county public records and other, 3rd party sources.