@Brendan Miller I'm aware of the advantages of selling with the house vacant :-).  

It's understandable, since one can gain property tax advantages by living in one of those as a non-permanent structure, yet can't 'double dip' by having tax-free land gains just by parking a trailer on a plot of land for 2 years at a time.If the state was offering to buy the land with the structures on it and perform the demolitions itself, I think it would be excludable.

Also wondering if I should throw this sucker into an LLC or take advantage of homestead benefits first of the year?

After that I'm planning on looking for houses in as little as 2 months, in the mean time I'll be looking into financing, FHA and bank financing is what I was told will be advantageous to me since I still have a job. 

It's understandable, since one can gain property tax advantages by living in one of those as a non-permanent structure, yet can't 'double dip' by having tax-free land gains just by parking a trailer on a plot of land for 2 years at a time.If the state was offering to buy the land with the structures on it and perform the demolitions itself, I think it would be excludable.

Would be nice to put 40-50% down, enjoy minimal cash flow + equity + appreciation - and with the leftover money, maybe dabble in  fixer-uppers, or take advantage of stock market dips.

I had to purchase in my personal name to take advantage of FHA financing. 

Only potential candidates that meet the criteria should be selected for a background check.

TaxesI am not an expert here, but I believe there are some small advantages to owning the real estate in an LLC vs Personally (filing as a Sole Proprietor), especially if you are making active income (flipping, wholesaling, etc) through any of the entities by filing as an S Corp.

The advantage to hardiboard is that fiber cement board is more thermally stable.