1031 Newbie Questions

[Peter Lu]

I have been reviewing a lot of videos and content on 1031 since I am interested in doing one sometime next year.  With a lot of experts here, I am hoping to ask some questions that I have not been able to have a concrete answers for:

1) if I want to transfer from 2 properties to 1, 1 property is currently under my name only (acquired before marriage) and the other 1 property is currently under a revocable living trust with both my wife and I are the trustees, is this allowed to transfer to a single property that is with the title also with the trust?  or do I need to first make the title for the property under my name only to move under trust before doing 1031 to minimize any issues?

2) I have seen conflicting information about doing 1031, then after a while, turning that investment property into primary residence, and then sell that primary residence under the capital gain exemption (2 years out of 5 years rule).  Some people say this is allowed while other say it is not.  Which one is correct and what's the duration of each one of these stages?

3) I have seen a lot of online Qualified Intermediary, but it's hard to know which ones are credible vs not.  Can someone here who have experiences with using QIs recommend one?  I am in the Camas, WA area.

4) I have read that some closing costs and commissions can be part of the 1031 consideration.  I just want to anticipate how much free cash I need in preparation for the 1031 exchange.  for example, let's assume that I am doing a simple 1 to 1 exchange.  And let's say that my current property is worth $500k (with no mortgage).  There are likely fees associated with selling of that property such as commissions, filings, legals, etc.  I know the new property typically have to be equal or greater to that amount, but is it equal or greater to the amount minus these other fees?  so let's say if all other fees add up to $50k, do I just need to find a property that is $450k or higher?  Also, there are fees required when buying the new property so will that further lower that requirement?  what's a good rule of thumb on the new property value if I want to minimize overall out of pocket costs (some are ok, but just not a whole lot).  And do Qualified Intermediary help you sort these out?

Thank you so much - I am learning quite a bit here!