Really Trying to understand Depreciation and Recapture upon sale

[Chris Armstrong]

Hey BP 

I have been thinking a lot about the issue of depreciation on rental properties and what happens when you sell one after a long time without use of a 1031. 

I guess I have been thinking about a property that is owned outright and has no mortgage on it. Lets say you bought with cash ($100K) and held for a long time (28 yrs). Would you actually lose some of the original money used to buy the property  if the market didn't experience and significant appreciation over the 27.5 (life of depreciation) years and sold for $100K? I know you can 1031 exchange and avoid it all. It just makes me think there is an optimal amount of time to hold a property for and sometimes that might not be forever. 

I have not really read many posts about depreciation recapture and what that looks like on the selling end of the investment. So, any words of wisdom or good references for this type of thing would be appreciated. Also if you have experience in doing this, it would be beneficial to hear how it played out for you. 

Conversely, How would this look different if the property appreciated from $100K up to $200K over the lifetime of the investment? I assume cap gains would be another chunk taken from you at the end alongside the depreciation recap.  

Thanks