$250k / $500k Capital Gain Exclusion from sale of primary

[Charles Ma]

Hello BP, 

I've been looking up the nuances of this gain exclusion but wondering if there any any people here who have managed innovative ways to meet this primary home capital gains exclusion rule while getting creative with it, legally.

So I closed on my current primary residence 4/26/18. My wife and I file jointly, and we currently would like to sell this primary, and ideally take advantage of the exclusion. However we claimed this exclusion on the last primary we sold, and that was just closed in July 11, 2018. As I understand it, this exclusion can not be used twice within a 2 year window. 

If I sold the current primary, and closed past July 11, 2020, I suppose we'd be ok here. But spring is the main marketing season while June is pushing close to summer slowdown (if not already in it). So Ideally I'd like to throw the house up on the market in April to gain the best exposure and in theory - a close in May / June is feasible given typical time frame to close (house is in SF proper). This would leave a 1-2 month gap from close to make it past July 11, 2020. 

Does anyone have any strategies on how to structure a sale so I could capture the best value for the house, while also meeting this 2 year rule? Would it be as simple as requesting a longer close time? What other nuances am I overlooking here?

Any insights greatly appreciated!