Selling land, $1M to invest via 1031, limited time to manage

[Nate Wiger]

Hi all,

First post, but have lurked for years. Amazing community.

I am selling a vacant parcel of land that will yield roughly $1M in proceeds. I am planning to do a 1031 to avoid capital gains.

I have developed several parcels and sold them, rookie land developer, but I know how that all works. I have never had a rental property.

My gut is to find another vacant parcel to improve, but I have coworkers and BP saying that multifamily is bread and butter, and I feel like $1M down could get a quality unit in a good area that would be a good long term play. I’m in San Diego and would be looking locally.

I’m not worried about short term cash flow as luckily I have a stable W-2 job. But this also means I have limited time to deal with tenant problems etc. (I would definitely hire a property manager regardless).

My options:

1. Get another piece of vacant land

2. Get a single large multifamily unit

3. Get multiple smaller units (1031 timelines add complexity)

4. Cash out and do a QOZ for the gains and take my time to find a property

Open to any thoughts. I can make spreadsheets work for any of them, but my question is more about the qualitative aspects, given that I have a day job. Thank you!