Now if all of this rigmarole leads you to believe that a land trust is a device to mask the identity of the property owner that is exactly the intention of land trusts.  

“We never do.”But after meeting with Gastonia Planning Director Jason Thompson and other city staff last spring, they jointly decided the westernmost property didn’t need to retain its industrial identity to thrive.

Extra bonus, the nearly identical house on the same street had just gone under contract for more than I was planning for my sale price with a "rental grade" rehab, so my plans for nicer finish-out were looking good (even though I wasn't counting it in my numbers).Due to limited cash funds, I did a 50% cash down payment, short option, 30-day close... and lost it to a lower all-cash offer.Lesson #1 - I'm going to need "cash" in the Austin market.  

However, I would double check the rules with your loan officer because if you break the rules and are caught its considered mortgage fraud and thats not good !

Took the faucet off, went to Home Depot, found an identical replacement.

Since you were a seller, in essence, you'd have little to say about keeping the sale contract in play to show fraud or misrepresentations, so the contract died at closing

As Wayne mentioned already, you need AT LEAST two characters from the user's "identity".

I have at least 4 couples who (at least in pre-screening) score almost identically high.

There are litigious people, scammers, bad contractors, fair housing claims, discrimination claims, strict liability, fraud.

Again assuming for simplicity that each of your duplexes were identical and sold for the same amount say 200K then you would take 100K as the primary residence exemption and 1031 the other 100K  If you want to combine it with your partner then you would buy a property or properties worth at least $200K (your 100 and his 100).