do 1031 exchange into a passive income investment.

[Account Closed]

We have a property in southern California that we lived in for 9 years, but was a rental for the past 7. We want to sell it and would like to buy a primary residence in the next 2 to 3 years where we live now (orange county or somewhere else in case we move). Should we just pay capital gains and invest the money from the equity? do we have to pay capital  again if we sell the investment in 2 or 3 years? I read about the 1031 exchange, but we don't want to buy property now. We just want passive income without any hassle or stress. I saw the DTS, but how does that work if we still have a mortgage for half the purchase price and can we sell the DTS whenever we want (2 to 3 years). Can someone explain like you would to a child. I read the posts about DTS and didn't understand how that works.