I bought it anyway and now with forced appreciation it is worth $40k more in under 8 months and I have more then doubled my investment. 

They should have sold months ago if they were priced right (most of our listings go pending in under 10 days) Your REALTOR should be coming to you with new ways to market the 45 DOM home.

On the federal website, one can get an EIN number in under 2 minutes.

Both have their pros/cons.The journal Square area is good and you can get into NYC in under 25 minutes.I think the area has already experienced significant price increases over the past couple of years.Live-in-flip is good cause you are looking at a property that needs to be fixed up which can translate to a cheaper cost compared to a house in excellent shape.You are also eligible to exclude a portion of all of the capital gain if you live in it for 2 years and then sell.You would need to keep track of all the repairs/improvements you make to the house.A con would be is that the house has to be in habitable condition prior to purchase otherwise a bank won't loan on it.

Flips = Ordinary Self Employed IncomeBuy and Hold Under 1 Year = Short term Capital GainsBuy and Hold Over 1 Year = Long Term Capital Gain.Expect on audit that a buy and hold sold in under 1 year to be heavily scrutinized, and if significant profit is made likely to be disallowed as a capital gain.

The house had 3 piers put in under the garage (opposite side of the house) in 2015, which has a lifetime transferable warranty.

I fixed a whole pile of issues from a new expansion tank, to replacing electrical breakers, to fixing slow drains, all in under an hour. 

They'd like to close in under a month.

I have seen a couple duplexes sell in under a week and after running the numbers (based on the 4 square method) with 5-7 cash on cash return with 20% dp.

@Scott Jensen- if you buy cash and underwrite the cost of repairs into the HUD then you can refi for 75% ARV or HUD price (whichever is lower) in under 6 months.