Parents using a 1031 to help me buy a home.

[Samantha Piccone]

I am very new to this and would appreciate some advice about my situation. My parents had a couple investment properties, plus a primary residence they are selling, and want to use that money to buy me a home in the way that makes the most tax sense. I am a young software engineer in a pretty high cost of living area in CO (I make about $150k a year, no debt, excellent credit, but not much savings yet). We decided it was better not to do the 1031 on the first property, and they got around $200k from that (we sort of regret that now, because it was taxed more than they thought, something about it being taxed on the whole value, plus it was in NJ with an exit tax). They have an offer on the other property, and say with the 1031 they'd have $330k, without it $260k. They should get about $680k for their current residence, but we have no idea how long that will take to sell. 

We were thinking of doing a 1031 into a condo that I could live in and then rent out after buying with their house sale, but since not much exists were I live for under $500k, I was thinking it might be worth it to just get a home now and take advantage of the 1031 and I would get a mortgage (my parents are retired so wouldn't qualify), which my parents would help me repay faster once their house sold, if that made tax sense. We would just wait for the house sale and not do the 1031, but home values have been going up fast here, so I'm worried about waiting for an unknown amount of time. Single family homes mostly start around $1mil here, which would be a bit of a stretch for me, but might be worth it. I currently pay over 2300 a month for a 1 bedroom + storage unit, and with a home I'd have the option to get a roommate, I'd say for at least 1200, or more if I found a home with an adu, which is pretty common around here. Owning a home would also be a big deal to me - I'm pretty skilled in design and handiwork and would actually enjoy doing a lot of renovating myself.  

We aren't sure if it is possible for me to get a mortgage on a 1031 with my mom (currently everything is under her name). My parents are in their late 60's, and the plan was the properties would eventually go to me tax free, but they recently decided it doesn't make sense to wait until they die. I'm guessing if there is a way for us to have joint ownership now, that would complicate things? Also, if you end up doing a 1031 into a property that you only use as a residence, I assume that would be a problem with selling it later? What would that mean for taxes in the future if I sold the property? Would renting a room while living there for 2 years solve that?

I'd really appreciate any advice, or even just a point in the right direction to learn more about this. We are looking for a skilled accountant, but I figured it was worth asking here. I never expected to be in this situation, and I really don't want to mess up this opportunity. Thanks!