Strategy, markets & tax-deferral thinking.
Clear, practical perspective on 1031 exchanges, DSTs, and building durable real estate wealth — written for owners and investors, not specialists.
Turn a 1031 rental into your home: how deferred tax can become partly tax-free
Exchange into a rental, live in it years later, and you can layer the home-sale exclusion on top of your deferral. It's one of the most powerful moves in the code, and one of the easiest to get wrong.
How long do you have to hold a 1031 property? The honest answer to the most-asked question
There is no number in the tax code. Not one year, not two. What actually governs whether your exchange survives is something softer and, once you understand it, more reassuring.
The three identification rules: how many replacement properties can a 1031 name?
The most repeated 1031 myth is that you can only name three properties. You can name a hundred. There are three ways to identify, and choosing the wrong one can quietly void the whole exchange.
Seller financing in a 1031 exchange: what happens to the carryback note
A buyer asks you to carry part of the price as a note. It's a great way to close a deal and a quiet way to blow up your exchange, because a note is not cash the intermediary can reinvest.
The same-taxpayer rule: the small title change that quietly kills a 1031 exchange
Whoever sells the old property has to be whoever buys the new one. Add a spouse, form the wrong entity, or switch how you hold title mid-exchange, and a perfectly good deferral can vanish.
Triple-net lease or DST? Two ways to own real estate without being a hands-on landlord
Both let a tired owner keep the income and shed the 2 a.m. calls. One hands you a single building and a single tenant; the other, a slice of a whole portfolio. The difference is control versus true passivity.
The 1031 isn't your last tax move: how cost segregation supercharges the replacement property
You deferred the gain. Now the building itself can hand you a wave of deductions. Cost segregation and a 1031 exchange are two of the best real estate tax tools, and they stack.
The 1033 exchange: the tax break for when the choice to sell wasn't yours
A wildfire, a flood, or a letter from the state exercising eminent domain. When property is taken from you, Section 1033 lets you defer the gain, and it's far more forgiving than a 1031.
The 180-day clock, week by week: a closing playbook for your 1031 exchange
The day your sale closes, two clocks start and they do not stop for anything. Here is how a disciplined investor spends those 180 days, so the deadline becomes a structure to work inside instead of a cliff to fall off.
Can you 1031 exchange a vacation home? Yes, but only if you clear this safe harbor
The beach house feels like an investment, especially at tax time. Whether the IRS agrees comes down to a specific rental-and-use test most owners have never heard of. Here is the line, and which side you need to be on.
What "like-kind" actually means, and five things people get wrong about it
No, your replacement property does not have to be the same type as what you sold. "Like-kind" is the most misunderstood phrase in the 1031 world, and the misunderstandings quietly cost people good deals.
Building your replacement property with exchange dollars: the improvement 1031, explained
What if the perfect replacement property doesn't exist yet, but the land for it does? An improvement exchange lets you build it with your deferred gain. The catch is a 180-day construction clock that humbles ambitious plans.
Want cash out of your real estate without the tax? Refinance after the exchange, not before
Borrowing against a property isn't taxable, which makes a cash-out refinance the cleanest way to free up equity. Do it on the eve of your exchange, though, and the IRS may call that cash boot.
Keeping it in the family: the two-year rule that can unwind a related-party 1031 exchange
Exchanging property with a family member or an entity you control is allowed, and it's a minefield. The two-year holding rule, the basis-shifting trap, and the one arrangement the IRS reliably respects.
When a 1031 exchange is the wrong move: five times we've told clients to just pay the tax
We run 1031 exchanges for a living, which is exactly why we'll tell you when to skip one. Deferring tax isn't free, and sometimes paying it is the smarter play. Five times we've said so out loud.
Drop and swap: what happens when the partners want out in different directions
Two partners, one building, and no longer the same plan. One wants cash, one wants to keep deferring. The 1031 rule that blocks them both, and the maneuver that sets them free.
Buy first, sell later: how a reverse 1031 exchange actually works
You found the right building before you sold the old one. A reverse exchange flips the usual order and keeps your gain deferred, if you can clear two hurdles most people never see coming.
Opportunity zones or a 1031 exchange? How to actually choose
They both defer capital gains tax, and that is roughly where the similarity ends. A straight comparison of two tools that get pitched as interchangeable and almost never are.
The 721 exchange: trading your DST for REIT units, and the door that only opens one way
For the investor who is truly finished making real estate decisions, a 721 UPREIT can be the last move: diversification, liquidity, no more deadlines. It also closes a door behind you. Walk through it with your eyes open.
California's clawback: how the state keeps taxing a property you already exchanged away
You exchanged out of California and into a property two states away. You did everything right. California still expects a form from you every year, and a check when you finally sell. Here's the rule nobody mentions at closing.
Choosing a Qualified Intermediary: the decision that happens before your exchange even starts
Qualified Intermediaries hold your exchange proceeds and aren't federally regulated. The wrong choice has cost investors their entire exchange. What to ask before you sign the agreement.
DST due diligence: 7 questions to ask any sponsor
DST volume is up sharply as more investors choose passive replacement property. More inventory means more sponsors, and not all of them belong on your 45-day list. Seven questions that separate them.
Swap 'til you drop: how 1031 deferral becomes permanent savings
Deferred taxes don't have to come due. How serial exchanges plus the step-up in basis can pass a lifetime of real estate gains to your heirs with the tax bill erased.
Depreciation recapture: the tax nobody budgets for
Every year of depreciation you deducted comes back at sale, taxed at up to 25% before capital gains even start. Why long-hold owners get surprised, and how an exchange defers it all.
Boot in a 1031 exchange: what it is, how it's taxed, and how to avoid it
Leftover cash or reduced mortgage debt can make part of your "fully deferred" exchange taxable. What boot is, how the IRS taxes it, and the planning discipline that eliminates it.
Inside the 45-day clock: how to identify with confidence
The three identification rules, why DSTs make powerful backups, and how to avoid the most common (and costly) mistakes inside your 1031 window.
The tired landlord's guide to stepping back.
How owners are trading 2 a.m. maintenance calls for passive, professionally managed real estate — without triggering a tax bill.
What will selling really cost you in taxes?
Use our free calculator to estimate capital gains, depreciation recapture, and NIIT, then see what an exchange could defer.
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