Forty-five days after you close, anything you have not named in writing is not in the exchange. That is not a shortage of buildings. That is a like kind exchange running on a clock that does not care what is still in diligence.
A like kind exchange under IRC §1031 can defer tax when titled real property replaces titled real property. You generally have 45 days from the close of the relinquished property to identify replacements, and 180 days (or your tax-return due date, if earlier) to acquire them. Miss the identification window and the deferred tax is usually no longer deferred. This is not tax advice. Ask your CPA and your qualified intermediary.
the clock, not the catalog
The farm, the timber, the ranch, the wet meadow — the living place under title — exists whether or not anyone exchanges into it. A like-kind exchange is how investment capital can buy that title without an immediate tax bill. Ensurance funds the living condition after the deed. It is not the replacement property.
The market is full of replacement product. Credit-tenant NNN. Delaware Statutory Trust shares. Another multifamily. Another pad. Brokers will send lists. Sponsors will send more lists. None of that changes the dates.
| day | what happens | what you can lose |
|---|---|---|
| day 0 | You close the relinquished property | The exchange period starts. Proceeds go to a qualified intermediary, not to you |
| day 45 | Identification window ends | Property not named in a signed writing is generally out of the exchange |
| day 180 | Acquisition window ends — or your tax-return due date, if that comes first | Identified property you have not acquired is generally out of the exchange |
Those are public IRS rules for a delayed like-kind exchange, not a strategy memo. The identification period begins when you transfer the relinquished property and ends at midnight of the 45th day thereafter. The exchange period ends on the earlier of 180 days after that transfer or the due date — including extensions — of your tax return for the year of the transfer. A calendar-year seller who closes in December and files without extending can have a shorter acquisition window than the 180-day number on the flyer.
Get the identification deadline and the acquisition deadline from your QI in writing before you close. Day 0 is the relinquished transfer. Day 45 and day 180 are industry shorthand. Your actual midnights are the ones on that letter.
The clock does not pause for a survey, a water-rights memo, a lender, or a family meeting. It does not pause because the DST booklet arrived first. What you fail to identify, you generally fail to exchange.
what a like kind exchange spends the window on
A like kind exchange is how investment real estate rolls into other real estate without an immediate tax bill. After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, IRC §1031 applies to real property. U.S. real property is not like-kind to foreign real property. Personal property and intangibles dropped out of the statute. The replacement has to be real property held for investment or productive use in a trade or business — the same use test as the property you sold.
That door is wider than the product menu implies. Farm, timber, ranch, vacant land, and conservation property held for investment can sit on an identification list. The living place under title is the replacement. A certificate is not. A coin is not. Ensurance can fund the living condition after the deed. It is not what you identify, and it is not like-kind property.
Read what a 1031 exchange actually is for the definition, boot, and the like-kind test. This post is the clock.
The industry default is another credit-tenant NNN or a Delaware Statutory Trust share because those arrive as a ready list. Useful products. They are still not the only like-kind door, and they are not a living place. The NNN paycheck psychology lives in the triple-net lease has a nature-shaped hole. This series is the dates and the object you spend them on.
the qualified intermediary holds the money
In a delayed exchange, the taxpayer generally cannot touch the sale proceeds. A qualified intermediary (QI) holds them and uses them to acquire the replacement. If you actually or constructively receive the funds — they hit your account, you control them, you spend them — the exchange typically fails before the 45-day question even matters.
We are not the QI. We do not hold exchange proceeds. We do not substitute for your tax counsel. Andrus & Morgan is the licensed brokerage. 1031 Navigator is the advisory function inside that desk: timeline, identification, sourcing titled land that can be named. We coordinate with the QI you already have, or we can introduce you to one. We do not become one.
Do not take the wire "just until we find something." The clock is unforgiving. Constructive receipt is worse. The money sits with the intermediary until it buys real property you identified.
identification is a written list, not a feeling
Identification is not a verbal shortlist and it is not a letter of intent in a folder. In a delayed exchange it is typically a signed writing, delivered to the qualified intermediary before the identification period ends, that unambiguously describes the replacement property — a legal description or a specific street address, not "a ranch in the valley." Your QI will tell you the form they require. Ask them before you close the sale, not on day 40.
Most delayed exchanges identify replacements under what practitioners call the three-property rule: name up to three properties, without regard to fair market value. That is common practice in the identification letter — not a ruling from us, and not the only identification method in use. Other methods exist. Your QI and CPA will tell you which one they are running.
Specificity is the whole job. A DST share can be described because the sponsor already described it. A living place can be described if someone is sourcing it now: the parcel, the county, the acres, the interest you intend to take. You cannot identify a vibe. You cannot identify "whatever land comes up." You identify real property.
If the living place is not on the list by midnight of day 45, it is not in the exchange. You can still buy it later with taxed money. That is a different transaction, and a different tax bill.
why the default is a dst list
The 45-day window is why people default to a DST. The sponsor has inventory on paper. The QI has seen the form. The identification letter writes itself. A Delaware Statutory Trust interest can be a like-kind replacement in the right facts. It is also a paycheck product: passive, pre-packaged, built for the clock. That can be the correct hold when the job is income. It is not the only replacement, and it is not a living place. A DST is not the only replacement is the argument. This post is why the default wins when nobody is sourcing land.
Living land can still be named. Farm, timber, ranch, vacant, conservation property — if it is real property held for investment, it can sit on the list. It will not sit there by accident. Someone has to be on title work, water, access, and the identification form while the 45 days run. That is the commercial fact. The identification window is the product. The land is what you spend it on.
We do not keep a public replacement catalog on this page. We start a conversation, source, and structure. If you need three named properties before day 45, say so on the first call. The desk either can work the clock or it will tell you it cannot. That answer is worth more than a brochure.
frequently asked questions
how long do you have to identify 1031 replacement property?
Generally 45 days from the day you close the relinquished property. Identification is typically a signed writing delivered to the qualified intermediary before midnight of day 45. The later acquisition window is generally 180 days, or the due date of your tax return for that year (including extensions) if that date comes first. Confirm both dates with your QI and CPA. This is not tax advice.
what is a like kind exchange?
A like kind exchange is a tax-deferred roll of investment or business real property into other real property under IRC §1031. Like-kind, after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, means real property for real property — including, in ordinary practice, land held for investment. It does not mean a certificate, a coin, or cash you held yourself. The land under title is the replacement. The instrument that may later fund its condition is not.
what happens if you miss the 45-day deadline?
Property you did not identify in time is generally not replacement property in that exchange. Miss the identification window and the sale is typically just a sale: the gain you meant to defer is recognized in the year of the transfer, subject to your facts and your return. There is no informal extension because the right parcel was "almost ready." Ask your CPA what recognition looks like on your return. Do not ask the internet for a ruling.
spend the window on land
If you are already on the clock, the next step is not another DST PDF. It is a named list. Start with what a 1031 exchange actually is if you still need the statute in one sitting. Read living land can be the replacement for what can sit on the identification list. Then start the identification conversation with a licensed desk that sources titled land — Andrus & Morgan, with 1031 Navigator inside it — while your QI holds the money.
Bring the close date, the QI's identification form, and the kind of place you actually want to hold. We will not tell you it qualifies. We will tell you whether we can help you name and close real property before the window shuts.
If you want the investor door without a call first, start at /solutions/investors.
the series
1031 into living land — the buyer clock, the replacement object, and the land under title:
- what a 1031 exchange actually is — deferred tax on a real-property roll
- you don't have a property problem. you have a 45-day clock — you are here
- living land can be the replacement — farm, timber, ranch, vacant, conservation property
- a certificate is not like-kind — the instrument can fund the place; it cannot finish the exchange
- a dst is not the only replacement — the paycheck is one door
- how to 1031 into living land — name the clock, name the place, start the conversation