Qualified Intermediary, Section 1031 Exchanges, Iowa, Midwest, and across the US

"What could possibly go wrong" should not be the thinking of someone entering into a Section 1031 exchange! An individual who contemplates a Section 1031 exchange should question and understand what is going to happen to his or her money during the exchange. In my opinion, the foremost obligation...

Have you ever thought about trying a Section 1031 as a DIY (Do It Yourself) project? If so, you might want to think again. Read on. A couple in Arizona tried to do it themselves and paid a steep price as a result. They sold a piece of Arizona property for $76,000, took $10,000 of that as earnest ...

With the US tax code comprising so many thousands of pages and only getting larger, it's getting more and more difficult to keep up on what's happening. This article is intended to be a short overview of some of the latest actions and inactions by our lawmakers. It is also intended to be strictly...

David had sold the farm that he had owned for many, many years and realized a capital gain of $800,000. With that money, he entered into a Section 1031 tax-deferred exchange with us and went out to find his new property. His intention was to find an apartment building that would provide a nice in...

Mary and Michael had an unusual situation. They had a firm contract to sell their farm that was set to close on September 17 (we'll call this transaction "S17"), but they were also under contract to buy a farm with that closing set for July 26 ("J26"). A pretty clear-cut reverse exchange situatio...

Look out ahead, folks! Regardless of what you think of the health care "reform" that passed the House of Representatives yesterday (and I guess the quotes make it clear what I think of it), it will have a huge impact on those of us who call ourselves investors. Within the thousands of pages of le...

This is the first in a planned series of case studies, where we take a look at specific exchange issues relative to a specific client. No real names, no real locations, no real property descriptions, but some good general knowledge. Hope you enjoy this new feature. Joe called in the late fall of...

When it comes to related party issues, Section 1031 exchanges are no different than most of tax law - fraught with peril and rather confusing. Let's try to make some sense of it, shall we? The crux of the matter when it comes to related party matter and 1031 exchanges is that the IRS is not a big...

According to the Associated Press, the best way to avoid an IRS audit is to earn less than $200,000. Tax returns showing less than $200,000 go unaudited 99 percent of the time, according to the AP report. For those with income above $200,000, there is a 3 percent chance of audit. Earnings of $1 m...

Iowa State University economist Michael Duffy reports that average farmland prices dipped 2% over the course of 2009, the first decline since 1999. The primary culprit for the decrease was a drop in corn, soybean and livestock prices, according to Duffy. The average value of an acre of Iowa farml...