Exchange guides and answers
Help Center
Find answers about the exchange workflow, records to gather, calculator assumptions, and the tools available in 1031Assist.
Last reviewed: October 18, 2026
1. Understand the timeline first
For a standard delayed exchange, identify replacement property within 45 days after the relinquished sale closes. Receive it by the earlier of day 180 or the due date of your sale-year tax return, including extensions.
2. Keep the record together
The practical work is not only legal structure. It is sale date, exchange support, identified properties, debt/equity replacement, closing statements, and tax-support documents all staying coherent in one record.
3. Know the tax numbers you are carrying
Investors often know the headline sale price but not the adjusted basis, depreciation-related gain, deferred gain, or current tax stack that would be recognized on a taxable sale.
4. Use licensed professionals for actual advice
1031Assist is software for operations, coordination, and tax-support visibility. It does not replace your CPA, attorney, broker, or Qualified Intermediary.
Calculator assumptions that should be explicit
Public tools are useful only if their assumptions are inspectable. These are the framing notes users should understand before trusting the output.
Tax deferral calculator defaults
Public tax examples are illustrative. They are not personal tax advice. State rates, NIIT exposure, and the depreciation-related gain amount depend on the investor and the actual records.
Open tax deferral calculatorDeadline calculator counting convention
The deadline tool counts calendar days from today to the displayed date. Zero means today is the last day; the period ends at midnight on that date. Completion is capped by an earlier sale-year return due date, including extensions.
Open deadline calculatorIdentification rules planning vs closing
The 95% Rule is not a planning-stage pass/fail test unless you know what was actually acquired. A planning tool should distinguish identified-property limits from closing-stage acquisition tests.
Open rules calculatorNet proceeds and QI terminology
Public tools should explain terms plainly. “QI” means Qualified Intermediary, and net proceeds are a planning estimate that should later be reconciled to actual settlement and exchange funding records.
Open proceeds calculatorCore glossary
First-time exchangers should not be blocked by jargon. These are the terms that matter most early.
Relinquished Property
The property being sold as part of the exchange.
Replacement Property
The property acquired to continue the exchange and defer tax.
Adjusted Basis
Your tax basis after prior adjustments such as depreciation and capital improvements.
Boot
Cash or other non-like-kind value received in the exchange that can create taxable gain.
Qualified Intermediary
The intermediary who holds proceeds and helps maintain 1031 exchange structure.
45-Day Identification Deadline
The deadline to identify potential replacement property after the relinquished sale closes.
1031 Exchange Basics
A delayed 1031 exchange is a tax-deferral structure for investment or business real property. Instead of selling, paying current tax, and reinvesting what is left, the investor exchanges into other qualifying real property and defers current recognition of gain when the exchange is structured correctly.
Identify replacement property within 45 days after the relinquished sale closing. Receive it by the earlier of day 180 or the due date of your sale-year tax return, including extensions. Confirm the applicable dates with your Qualified Intermediary and tax advisor.
Yes, for a standard delayed exchange you generally need a Qualified Intermediary to help preserve the structure and hold the exchange proceeds. If the investor controls the cash directly, the exchange usually fails.
The public rule of thumb is investment or business real property for investment or business real property. Primary residences and personal-use property are not the normal 1031 use case. Exact qualification still depends on the actual facts and legal/tax guidance.
The most dangerous failure points are missing the 45-day identification deadline, missing the applicable completion deadline (day 180 or an earlier sale-year return due date, including extensions), or not having the exchange structured correctly at the relinquished closing. Those are failure-state problems, not minor paperwork issues.
First-Time Investor Guidance
Get the exchange structure and Qualified Intermediary engagement in place before or in connection with the relinquished closing. Do not assume you can close first and “fix it later.” Also start collecting the documents and numbers you will need: adjusted basis support, payoff information, estimated selling costs, and replacement criteria.
Start with the prior purchase file, major capital-improvement support, depreciation or tax-basis records, current debt information, and the expected sale-side settlement documents. The goal is to know what you are selling, what basis you are carrying, and what proceeds and deadlines will actually matter.
The highest-value terms for a first-time exchanger are relinquished property, replacement property, adjusted basis, boot, Qualified Intermediary, 45-day identification deadline, and completion deadline. Those terms drive most of the practical workflow.
Because the investor usually needs the same information repeatedly: during the live exchange, for future exchanges, for tax reporting, and later for basis continuity and estate planning decisions. A clean operating record compounds in value over time.
Calculator Assumptions
No. They are planning tools and educational surfaces. Public defaults are illustrative only and should not be treated as if they automatically apply to a specific investor, state, filing status, or exchange structure.
No. The public estimator uses a user-supplied depreciation-related gain amount from records or schedules. It does not derive that amount from dates, building allocations, or prior returns.
It means the simplified comparison assumes a fully deferred exchange with no current boot recognized. That is useful for showing directional strategy math, but it is not the same as saying every real exchange will achieve full deferral.
This Help Center was last reviewed on October 18, 2026. Each calculator explains its supported inputs and assumptions. The deadline tool covers calendar-year filers, uses conservative weekend/holiday treatment, and does not model disaster postponements. Confirm case-specific deadlines with your advisors.
Using 1031Assist
The live product is centered on exchange operations, documents, deadlines, continuity, tax-support outputs, and the investor’s long-term property/exchange record. It is intentionally narrower than a general-purpose real estate platform.
Go to Properties and open a property you own in your private portfolio. Select Export Tax History. Choose whether to Include supporting files for authorized current originals and whether to Add planning calculations for separate scenario assumptions. Select Prepare package, review the gaps, then download. Both Download ZIP and Download available files (incomplete) produce a ZIP. Exporting does not change your records or automatically share them.
Complete means no detected retrieval gaps within the stated export scope; it does not certify lifetime history. Partial flags known or unresolved gaps, such as an unavailable category or an original that could not be included. It does not prove that missing information never existed. Package status covers the selected export. Check category coverage and supporting-file outcomes together: a complete supporting-file result does not by itself mean the property history is complete. The README and workbook’s Start here sheet list originals actually included and their paths. Missing values do not mean zero.
Start with the README, then Start here in the workbook. Retrieved records appear in Excel, CSV and JSON. Saved annual versions and supporting originals appear only when retrieved and included. Optional planning calculations remain separate from recorded history. Older document versions, unlinked paperwork and records outside your access are excluded. This is a portable copy: it cannot restore your app or account, prove complete lifetime history, or certify filed returns or professional approval.
You can create a Historical / Completed Workpaper from New Exchange and enter supported prior-exchange facts manually. Archive upload is a separate feature: use it only when your Archive Center shows it is enabled. Uploaded drafts still need explicit fact review; they do not automatically become completed exchanges.
Yes. The product is structured around investor-plus-professional workflows rather than assuming the investor works alone. Access should still match the actual professionals who need to participate in the exchange record.
The Model Library includes sell-versus-exchange comparisons, family wealth scenarios, and asset underwriting with annual cash flow and optional monthly detail. Supported models include editable Excel exports. Review the inputs and scope shown in each model; broader development, refinancing, partnership waterfalls, and REIT analysis are not complete modeling suites today.
Trust, Security, and Diligence
No public SOC 2 claim is made today. The site now includes a dedicated Security Practices page so the current posture is explicit rather than implied.
Yes. The public Product Preview page exists specifically so investors and professionals can evaluate the dashboard shape, exchange-room structure, and document workflow before signup.
No. The Help Center is meant to improve clarity, reduce confusion, and explain the software and basic exchange mechanics. It does not replace fact-specific legal, tax, brokerage, or Qualified Intermediary advice.
Check whether the public math is internally coherent, whether assumptions are stated clearly, whether the workflow matches actual exchange operations, whether the company is transparent about live versus planned features, and whether the product avoids inflated or unverifiable claims.
Still need help?
For product support or account help, contact the team directly. For fact-specific tax or legal advice, use your CPA, attorney, or Qualified Intermediary.