Five Critical Things To Remember When Deciding to Do a 1031 Exchange

This article is contributed by Dwight Kay, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kay Properties & Investments

If you’ve picked up a financial publication recently, chances are you've seen references to 1031 Exchanges. A 1031 exchange is a legal way for investors to defer their capital gains taxes on the sale of real estate held for investment or business purposes. It allows one to defer taxes on a property sale as long as they follow specific 1031 rules and guidelines. In other words, you have the potential to keep all your profits working for you with the purchase of your next investment property, without the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) coming after you are looking for their “share of the pie.” Here are five things to remember when considering a 1031 exchange transaction.

1. Taxes are Applicable in a Non-1031 Exchange

When an investor sells a property that has gone up in value this results in several types of taxes. These include capital gains taxes, which the investor must pay if they sell the asset at a price higher than they initially paid for it. Federal capital gains are taxed at 15%-20% of the increase in value, while state capital gains are taxed between 0%-13.3% of the increase in value. Additionally, depreciation recapture taxes are taxes due when the seller had claimed depreciation expenses on the sold property. Depreciation recapture is currently taxed at 25% of the amount you have depreciated over the years. Other taxes incurred on property sales include the 3.8% Medicare surtax.

The beauty of a 1031 Exchange is that you can defer all of these taxes. But if you choose to sell your property without a 1031 exchange, ensure you consult a reputable attorney and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) so you can know what your full tax bill will be when adding up federal capital gains, state capital gains, depreciation recapture and the Medicare surtax.

2. You Will Need a Qualified Intermediary

A 1031 exchange isn’t as simple as selling and reinvesting in another property. You must first transfer the relinquished property to an intermediary or an accommodator so they can execute the sale on your behalf. This is a process whereby your sale contract is assigned to the qualified intermediary and when the property closes your funds are then wired to your account at the qualified intermediary. From there you will instruct which properties you would like the qualified intermediary to purchase on your behalf. Kay Properties is not a qualified intermediary however we at Kay Properties & Investments work with many throughout the country so if you would like a referral please let us know.

3. You Can Only Purchase a Like-Kind Asset

In order for you to defer taxes via a 1031 Exchange, you must reinvest the profits from the sale in like-kind property. In other words, if you sell a property held for investment or business purposes in a 1031 exchange, the replacement property must be of the same character. For example, you could sell an apartment building and purchase a commercial building or you could sell a rental home and purchase a DST 1031 investment.

4. Remember Deadlines

1031 Exchanges are subject to strict deadlines. If you sell a property today, you’re expected to have identified the replacement property within the next 45 days and reinvested the proceeds within 180 days. But if you’d already identified the replacement property, you can reinvest immediately.

5. Understand Your 1031 Exchange Options

Once investors have decided to do a 1031 Exchange, they should consider their options. First, they could purchase another type of investment property that they would manage on their own. Second, they could purchase a “triple net” lease property whereby a national tenant such as Walgreens or FedEx has leased the property for typically 10-15 years. The problem with the “triple net” leased properties is that it causes investors to place a large portion of their net worth into a single property which could be disastrous (think Blockbuster Video).

Third, if the investor is wanting to get out of active management and the day-to-day issues of dealing with the “3-T’s” of “tenants, toilets and trash” as well as they are wanting to diversify their investments into multiple properties then a DST 1031 exchange may be a solution. The DST (or Delaware Statutory Trust) is a type of property whereby the management is handled by a third party trustee and since the typical minimum investment of a 1031 DST offering is $100,000 investors are able to purchase a diversified portfolio of Delaware statutory trust properties that may include investment made in a piece of Walgreens for $100,000, a piece of a FedEx distribution warehouse for $100,000, and a piece of an 800 unit portfolio of multifamily properties located throughout the south east and Texas.

If you are interested in learning more about your 1031 Exchange options, please get in touch with us today to learn more.  For more information, simply go to www.KayAAGLA.com.

Kay Properties is a national Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) investment firm. The www.kpi1031.com platform provides access to the marketplace of DSTs from over 25 different sponsor companies, custom DSTs only available to Kay’s clients, independent advice on DST sponsor companies, full due diligence and vetting on each DST.  Kay Properties team members collectively have over 115 years of real estate experience, are licensed in all 50 states, and have participated in over $21 Billion of DST 1031 investments.  For a look at the types of DST properties investors are using for estate planning purposes please visit the Kay Properties marketplace at www.KayAAGLA.com.  This material does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any security.  Nothing herein constitutes tax, legal, insurance or investment advice, nor does it constitute a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument. Securities offered through FNEX Capital , member FINRA, SIPC.