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

Are Farmland Exchanges occurring in the Midwest in states such as Iowa the cause of high land values or merely an effect? The answer depends upon who you ask, but my personal opinion is that high Midwest farmland values are a lot more likely the result of the increased need for corn to be used in...

I hope you're hanging in there with me on this subject. It seems like there's a new development every day or so now. Yesterday I posted on the fact that Congress is back in session and the Farm Bill is something that they will be working on putting together as soon as possible, given that the spr...

As part of a continuing effort to keep you up to date on the implications that the Farm Bill currently being considered in Washington, DC. may have on Section 1031 tax-deferred exchanges, here's the latest: As you know if you have read my two previous blogs on this subject (the original and the u...

Part of a successful Section 1031 tax-deferred exchange is meeting the requirement that potential replacement properties be properly identified within forty-five calendar days after the closing of the relinquished property. Time out for definitions:  Replacement property = the properties that an ...

The acquisition of land in West Des Moines for the United States headquarters of London-based Aviva was finalized recently. Aviva is the fifth-largest insurance group in the world based on gross worldwide premiums as of 12/31/06. Aviva US is ranked #1 in sales of "indexed life insurance," which a...

As an Iowan, I think I owe it to the rest of you to try to give you some idea of what's happening in this state with everybody and his brother (or sister) trying to become the presidential nominee for their particular party. Let me give you a summary of the situation - IT'S NUTS!!The caucus is th...

The headline in the Des Moines Register Business section today says, "Home prices fall by a record 6.7%." That's in October year-over-year terms, according to the article. The story also notes that October was the 23rd consecutive month during which prices either fell or grew more slowly than the...

I feel like I'm just getting started here at activerain, but I wanted to wish anyone who reads this a very Merry Christmas (a day late), a Happy New Year, and happy holidays regardless of what you happen to celebrate. Special wishes to anyone who is spending the holidays away from home serving in...

According to the Des Moines Register, Iowa farmland prices set a record this year for the fifth year in a row. The average price of farmland in Iowa is now $3,908 per acre. This is based upon an annual survey conducted and released by the Iowa State University Extension. Here’s the big news - $3,...

A little over a month ago, I wrote a blog about Section 12504 of the Farm Bill that was under consideration by the Senate at the time. (You can read it here.) The focus of the blog was the general impact on Section 1031 that a particular subsection of the bill might have. The gist of the whole th...