1031 Exchanges, Capital Gains, Personal Residence Questions!

[John Carr]

Hello everyone! I have a couple questions that I was hoping to get some feedback for, and any help/input from you guys would be much appreciated!

My situation: I own a SFH that was my primary residence from the time I purchased it in 2010 through November of 2013, at which point my wife & I moved and turned it into a rental. My understanding is that because this property was originally my primary residence, and because we lived in it for two years out of the previous five (Dec. 1, 2016 would be the deadline for the two out of five years) I can sell this property and not pay capital gains tax on the appreciation - however, I would owe the IRS recaptured depreciation for those years as a rental... so far, so good? Is my understanding regarding the above correct?

If so, moving on... Now - I understand the general concepts of a 1031 exchange (like-kind, 45-day ID window, 180-day closing window, etc.), but with my situation above would my property then be eligible for a 1031 exchange into another investment property? Would the IRS consider my SFH as an investment property, therefore allowing the "like-kind" exchange, or do I actually have to pass that two-out-of-five year mark before they would consider my current property purely an "investment" property?

(Perhaps) Relevant Info: This SFH has appreciated about $100K since I bought it, there is no mortgage on it, and my plan is to sell the property and take ALL of the money from that sale to put into a larger fourplex - whether I can 1031 it or not. I'm just trying to maintain the most amount of money from the sale as possible, and was hoping that this property is indeed eligible for the 1031 exchange.

ANY help at all would be greatly appreciated, and if anything that I *think* I already understand I am mistaken on, please feel free to point this out too! Thanks folks!!!