Trading Down 1031 and Boot

[Nicole Driscoll]

We are considering trading down with 1031 exchange. Can you ever pay more taxes with 1031 than if you just paid the capital gains from the start? Our replacement property will have a lower mortgage and we will have some cash on hand. Will we pay tax on both? Relinquished property will be sold for 500k and our replacement will be 350k. We will also have cash boot, but it seems that our boot would still be less by doing the exchange.