1031 Exchanges by Property Type
What selling a particular kind of property means for an exchange: recapture, personal property, safe harbors, financing and the replacement options that fit.
The property you are selling shapes the exchange: a vacation rental has a safe harbor to meet, farmland comes with equipment and water rights that are not like-kind, a hotel carries goodwill and furniture, and a low-basis rental house is mostly recapture. These pages start from the asset on the settlement statement.
Each one covers what qualifies, what does not, the recapture and financing math, and the replacement structures that fit sellers of that property.
Property-specific playbooks
1031 Exchange for a Car Wash
Selling a car wash in a 1031: the 15-year building exchanges, the 5-year tunnel equipment and memberships do not, and bonus depreciation inflates recapture.
Read1031 Exchange for a Cell-Tower or Billboard Ground Lease
A cell-tower or billboard lease buyout is usually a perpetual or long-term easement, real property under Reg. 1.1031(a)-3, so the price can be exchanged.
Read1031 Exchange for a Condo Rental
A $600,000 condo with doubled dues and a $70,000 assessment can exchange into non-HOA property; the assessment raises basis and buyer loans hinge on reserves.
Read1031 Exchange for a Duplex, Triplex or Fourplex
An $800,000 fourplex with $300,000 of gain owes $66,000 to $76,000 in federal tax; a 1031 defers it, but a five-unit replacement means commercial lending.
Read1031 Exchange for a Gas Station
Selling a gas station in a 1031: land, store, canopy and paving are like-kind; pumps and the fuel contract are not; UST rules and a Phase I set the buyer pool.
Read1031 Exchange for a Hotel or Motel
A hotel sale is a business sale: land and building exchange; FF&E, franchise, liquor license and goodwill are taxed, with FF&E recaptured as ordinary income.
Read1031 Exchange for a Marina
A marina's upland, buildings, stationary docks and submerged-land lease are real property for a 1031; fuel, boats and the service business are not.
Read1031 Exchange for a Mixed-Use Building
Living above your storefront? Rev. Proc. 2005-14 lets you take the §121 exclusion on your unit and exchange the shops and rental units, split by square footage.
Read1031 Exchange for a Mobile Home Park
Mobile home park sale: land, pads, utilities and roads exchange; park-owned homes only if real property under state law on closing day; chattel notes never do.
Read1031 Exchange for a Parking Lot or Garage
Paved lots, garages, air rights and ground leases are real property under Reg. 1.1031(a)-3 and exchange into any real estate or DST; operator contracts do not.
Read1031 Exchange for a Rental House
A $500,000 rental house with $100,000 of depreciation can owe about $150,000 of tax on a cash sale in a high-tax state; a 1031 exchange defers all of it.
Read1031 Exchange for a Restaurant Building
Selling a restaurant building in a 1031: the real estate exchanges, kitchen equipment, franchise and goodwill are taxed, and expensed build-outs recapture.
Read1031 Exchange for a Self-Storage Facility
Self-storage facility sale: buildings, gates, fencing and paving exchange; the tenant-insurance program and brand do not, and cost-seg recapture is the trap.
Read1031 Exchange for a Single-Tenant NNN Property
Selling a single-tenant NNN building: buyers price the remaining lease term, depreciation is taxed at up to 25%, and a DST or another net lease can replace it.
Read1031 Exchange for an Apartment Building
A $4 million apartment sale with $800,000 of depreciation can owe about $780,000 federally; a 1031 defers it if deposits and prorations stay out of proceeds.
Read1031 Exchange for an Auto Shop or Service Property
Only the land and building of an auto shop can be exchanged; lifts, tools, inventory and goodwill are taxed at sale. Form 8594 sets the split.
Read1031 Exchange for an RV Park or Campground
An RV park's land, pads, roads and hookups exchange as real property; park models, rental RVs and the permit do not, and bonus depreciation is recaptured.
Read1031 Exchange for Senior Housing
Selling senior housing in a 1031: the real estate exchanges, but the license, resident agreements and goodwill are a §1060 business sale reported on Form 8594.
Read1031 Exchange for Student Housing
Selling student housing in a 1031: furniture is taxed as §1245 property, the re-lease cycle sets your closing date, and enrollment data shapes the replacement.
ReadSpecialized interests
1031 Exchange for a DST Interest
When a DST sells, each investor is treated as selling an undivided interest in the real estate: 45/180 days run from the trust's closing; loan payoff is boot.
Read1031 Exchange for a Leasehold Interest
A leasehold with 30 or more years left, counting renewal options you hold, is like-kind to a fee under Reg. §1.1031(a)-1(c); a shorter lease sells taxably.
Read1031 Exchange for a Syndication or LP Interest
LP and LLC interests are never real property for §1031 (Form 8824 instructions); the entity exchanges, or you drop to a TIC first, or use a QOF within 180 days.
Read1031 Exchange for a TIC (Tenancy-in-Common) Interest
An undivided TIC interest is exchangeable real property if the co-owners aren't a partnership; Rev. Proc. 2002-22's 35-owner, unanimous-vote rules set the line.
ReadCommercial property exits
1031 Exchange for a Medical Office Building
Selling a medical office building: only land, shell and structural components are like-kind, physician leases must pass Stark, and build-outs recapture.
Read1031 Exchange for a Retail Strip Center
A depreciated strip center owes up to 25% on recapture, 15-20% on gain and 3.8% NIIT; a full 1031 defers all three. Replacements, boot, mixed use, FTB 3840.
Read1031 Exchange for an Industrial Warehouse
Warehouses are listed buildings under Reg. §1.1031(a)-3: structure, docks and wiring exchange, racking and cranes do not, and cost-seg recapture is the trap.
Read1031 Exchange for an Office Building
Owner-occupied offices qualify as business-use real estate; only the real-estate share of a practice sale is exchangeable. Furniture and goodwill are taxed.
ReadFarms and land
1031 Exchange for a Ranch Property
Deeded land, fences, corrals and perpetual water rights exchange as real property; BLM permits, cattle and equipment do not. How families split cash and 1031.
Read1031 Exchange for Farmland
Cropland, barns and grain bins are like-kind to any U.S. real estate; the farmhouse takes §121, equipment is taxed, and new §1062 spreads tax over 4 years.
Read1031 Exchange for Mineral Rights and Royalties
Perpetual royalty, working and fee mineral interests are like-kind real property if state law agrees; production payments and equipment are not; §1254 bites.
Read1031 Exchange for Raw Land and Lots
Investment land qualifies; land held primarily for sale does not. Sales frequency, improvements and marketing decide; §1237 taxes 5% per lot after the fifth.
Read1031 Exchange for Timberland
Standing timber exchanges with the land as real property in a 1031; cut logs and fixed-term cutting contracts do not. Section 631(b) covers timber sold alone.
Read1031 Exchange for Water Rights and Easements
Perpetual water rights, permanent easements, qualifying ditch shares and development rights exchange like a fee; 50-year or quantity-limited rights do not.
ReadVacation and STRs
1031 Exchange for a Short-Term Rental (Airbnb/VRBO)
An Airbnb qualifies for a 1031 even when the 7-day rule makes it a §469 business; only the land and building exchange, and the furnishings are taxed at sale.
Read1031 Exchange for a Vacation Rental
A vacation rental qualifies for a 1031 if, in each of the two years before sale, it is rented 14+ days and personal use stays inside the 14-day or 10% cap.
ReadHave a sale in motion?
Tell us what you are selling and when it closes. An advisor will send a free proposal with replacement options that fit your deadlines and your state's rules.
Free 1031 proposal
Access Investment Offerings Other Brokers Can’t Provide
Breakwater Exchange’s expert guidance helps you maximize returns while minimizing tax exposure, so you can invest with clarity and confidence.
- years of experience
- 20+
- in DST transactions
- $1B+
- states licensed
- 50
- vetted national sponsors
- 8