I had no idea what a 1031 exchange was when I first heard of it, but have since learned some more about it. This article is intended to help others who have no idea what a 1031 exchange is, but would like to know. I will do my best to write this in a clear, easy to understand manner.
Before you can understand how a 1031 exchange works, you should first understand why they exist. They exist so that people can avoid losing money in form of capital gains tax when they sell one property with the intent to reinvest the proceeds immediately. A 1031 exchange makes it possible to defer the capital gains taxes. The term 1031 actually comes from the IRS code. The reason this was created was to encourage people to continue to reinvest their profits, thus helping the economy.
So now that you understand the purpose, you should understand a little bit about how it works. First, you are required by law to have what is called a QI. This is a 3rd party that is independent and serves as a Qualified Intermediary (hence QI). They are there to hold the profits from the sale of the first property that you sale until you invest it into another property(s).
Next, there are some guidelines about what qualifies for a 1031 exchange. 1031 exchanges involve property. Generally, this would refer to single family rental units, multi-family rental units, office buildings, storage facilities, raw land, retail shopping centers, and industrial facilities. There are some things that are excluded from 1031 exchanges and you can find those by asking a QI about them.
Second, the major qualifier is that the properties are of like kind. Like kind refers to the similar nature or characters of properties, not the grade or the quality. They (referring to all properties involved) also must also be held for productive use in trade or business. Another viable option is if they are held for investment purposes.
There are a lot of other specific rules that the IRS has for this kind of exchange and that is likely why they require anyone who does this to use a qualified professional trained in this. However, there are some general guidelines that you should be able to understand and may help guide you in your decisions on your plans for investments if you are looking into this.
1- The value of the new property must be of equal or greater value than the one you are selling. 2- The equity of the new property must also be of equal or greater value than the one you are selling. 3- The debt on the new property must be equal or greater to the debt on the property that you are selling. 4- ALL of the net profits from the property that you are selling must be used to acquire the new property.
There are also some timeline issues that you will want to be aware of. First, in order to successfully qualify for a 1031 exchange, you will need to identify a new property by the 45th calendar day from the time of the closing on the relinquished property. (There are guidelines about that too – see a professional) Second, you need to close on the new property by the 180th calendar day from the time of the closing on the relinquished property. Hopefully this helps. Please call a professional when you are getting ready to consider a 1031 exchange.
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