Example: buy-here-pay-here car lots as mentioned in post from a CPA in this thread.Here is a tax court case involving mobile homes (with parceled land) in which the sellers used the installment method: Tax Court Decides Reporting Methods for Mobile Home, Land SalesThe outcome does not seem to be a slam-dunk to me, but maybe I'm just interpreting it wrong.There is no absolute, black-and-white answer and each case in unique and must be handled on a case-by-case basis, but my thinking in these areas of grey is to err on the side of caution (at the end of the day, whatever tax liability assessed has to be paid sooner or later anyway).

Unfortunately, any cash you take from the sale will be interpreted by the IRS as dollars representing your gain or recaptured depreciation.

Her response was "Rent prices are subject to interpretation, and we can agree to disagree".

It seems from what you wrote and I could be interpreting it wrong, but seems like you don’t like the prices on a bid after the work has already been done?

It sounds like the OZ option might be safe since there isn't a lot of "precedent" set yet, and it's relatively flexible in its interpretation of capital gains.  

What qualifies as intent and circumstances to fulfill that intent seems to me to be up for interpretation.

My case was postponed for lack of an interpreter. 

@Andrew Nieto  If you're trying to time the market, any market, it will always be too easy to find a reason that you interpret as "not yet". 

It has to be move-in ready and pass a fairly strict inspection that's done to the same standards as FHA or VA loans.The property must be in an eligible area, but they interpret "rural" pretty loosely. 

Different underwriters interpret that differently so keep that in mind too.