Similar Stories to A Part-time Real Estate Investor Shares His 'failed' 1031 Exchange — And What He Wishes He Knew Before Trying The Tax-savi on Bing News

Real estate investor Steve Lewis and his wife Belkis reside in New Jersey.Courtesy of Steve LewisA 1031 exchange allows investors to defer capital gains taxes by reinvesting in like-kind properties.Steve Lewis, a part-time real estate investor, ran into a lot of red tape when attempting to do one.Ultimately, he felt rushed during the 1031 exchange process, which involves two strict deadlines.A 1031 exchange sounds great on paper: It allows an investor to sell a property without paying capital-gains taxes on the sale if they replace it with another property of equal or greater value.You could theoretically defer capital gains taxes indefinitely if you continued exchanging for what the IRS calls "like-kind properties."In practice, however, it can be challenging to execute a 1031 exchange.That's what part-time real estate investor Steve Lewis, who bought his first property in 2000 and expanded to three rentals before selling in 2024, found when he attempted a 1031 exchange.His first step was finding a qualified intermediary (QI) that specializes in 1031 exchanges.