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.
Tenants in common: owning a real deed to a piece of a bigger building
A TIC lets several 1031 investors pool capital and each hold direct, deeded title to a fraction of a larger property. It's the more hands-on cousin of the DST, with more control and more friction.
The partial 1031 exchange: when taking some cash out is the right call
The tax code treats a 1031 as all-or-nothing only if you want it to. You can reinvest most of your proceeds, keep some as cash, and pay tax on just that slice. Sometimes that's the smarter move.
Can you 1031 exchange raw land? The dirt qualifies, the intent decides
Vacant land, farmland, a ranch: all can be traded tax-deferred, and you can swap a field for an apartment building. The one thing that disqualifies land isn't what it is, but why you hold it.
Can you 1031 exchange an Airbnb? Yes, if it's a business and not a getaway
Short-term rentals can absolutely qualify for a 1031. The catch isn't the nightly-rental part, it's proving the property was held for investment and not quietly serving as your personal vacation home.
What a 1031 exchange actually costs, and which fees quietly create a tax bill
Everyone asks what the intermediary charges. That's the small number. The one that matters is which closing costs you can pay from exchange proceeds without accidentally triggering boot.
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.
Get our market insights by email.
Occasional, substantive notes on tax-deferral strategy and replacement-property trends. No noise.