The MAJORITY of tax professionals I know far prefer utilizing this to the safe harbor as there are a number of drawbacks associated with it.

Only drawbacks to this property is that I would be buying it at the top of the market, meaning it probably wouldn't appreciate much more.  

The draw back to these loans is that they are more paperwork heavy than the other "portfolio" types of loans....but if you have ever received a loan on your primary home, it's likely that you will go through the same type of paperwork here with conventional lending.

The few drawbacks I see to using hard money is:1.

The major drawback is I have to deal with break-ins...a lot.

I was wondering are there any other drawbacks (asides from not having insurance for that lapse) of just waiting a month or until this blow over before renewing the insurance?

Each of these strategies have some excellent benefits and also drawbacks and a good real estate tax advisor should be able to show you what would be the most beneficial for you.

When you do it this way you are actually purchasing more than you sell because the barn and land purchase are now one piece of real estate.But reverse Improvement exchanges have drawbacks.1.

Please explain what was the intention and whether any drawbacks were discussed/considered.

The draw back to these loans is that they are more paperwork heavy than the other "portfolio" types of loans....but if you have ever received a loan on your primary home, it's likely that you will go through the same type of paperwork here with conventional lending.