You are trading time or money.

I'm really burning out on dealing with trades people, and looking to hire a GC for my fix and flip business.

I understand the worry at first so maybe swing by on a weekend or something at first.

If not, and the risk of it does seem non-negligible - though not huge, go with the reverse design.It sounds like you understand the trade-offs correctly.  

I suppose someone could try and work the system by going through an interested party and obtaining either a payoff statement or a redemption balance or maybe math based on a credit report trade line but again somewhere there has to be a party with interest in the property with a right to redeem cooperating.  

You'll still have to hire licensed subs for the required trades (typically HVAC, electrical and plumbing), but you can pull permits yourself.  

The homes flippers buy and sell are considered to be the inventory of their trade or business rather than simply an investment, so the ordinary income rules rather than the capital gains rules apply.

And when you move, you'd also have the option of trading property for property where you're going (I don't completely understand that but I know it's doable as I have a friend who did it).

Oh my...HAHAHAMoses is shaking his head right about now, sayin - I lead these schmucks out of the freakin desert and this is how they behave...trading pigs...it ain't kosher...should have left them in the freakin desert!

Flipping PropertiesIf the primary objective of your real estate business, or one of your real estate businesses, is to buy, potentially fix up an existing property and resell it within one year, the Internal Revenue Service can consider that to be an active trade or business.