Of course circumstances (retirement, medical expenses, divorce, etc.) may cause you to sell sooner than you want but let's face it, how much can you *really* lose on an investment property of let's say $150k.

He told me to be on the safe side and truly avoid red flags I should wait closer to 2 years.1031 exchanges are based on INVESTMENT property that is bought with the intent of an renting or for business or commercial use, in other words not flipping (dealing), so in an audit situation you must be able to show that you intended to purhcase the property for investment purposes but for some unforseen circumstance (job moved, bad spot financially you had to sell).

Yes, you can exclude a partial amount or percentage of the exclusion IF you qualify for one of the exemptions, which are usually something that is called an unforseen circumstance.

Three years ago we really wanted to buy this property when it was being sold under normal circumstances and someone bought it out from under us.

If the owner doesn't make the request they are creating a possible problem for themselves on the Civil level and are breaking a legal contract, which under certain circumstances is a fraudulent act.

.) -- including a lien on the stock of a cooperative housing corporation (a “co-op”) -- no lender can enforce its due-on-sale clause due to any of the following prevalent circumstances:(1) The creation of a lien (or other encumbrance subordinate to the lender's security instrument) that does not relate to a transfer of rights of occupancy in the property;(2) The creation of a purchase money security interest for household appliances;(3) A transfer by devise, descent, or operation of law on the death of a joint tenant or tenant by the entirety;(4) The granting of a leasehold interest of three years or less* not containing an option to purchase(5) A transfer to a relative resulting from the death of a borrower;(6) A transfer where the spouse or children of the borrower would become owners of the property;(7) A transfer resulting from a decree of dissolution of marriage, legal separation agreement, or from an incidental property settlement agreement, by which the spouse of the borrower becomes an owner of the property(8) A transfer of the borrower’s property into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary and which [trust agreement] does not relate to a transfer of rights of occupancy in the property; or(9) Any other transfer or disposition described in regulations prescribed by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board.

Seems that everyone wants all of the above & it can be done under the right circumstances, but it’s not the norm.Happy Hunting & All the best,Roz

So right now I'm trying to research and find my best approach; however, it seems in some circumstances that deals aren't always planned... find a deal, you take it.

The advantage really depends on your specific circumstance.

And you'll find all these circumstances and situations arising that are coming out of nowhere, almost to the point where you'll wonder "whats going on".What's going on is.....Your brain is simply starting to make you take the actions and behave as a multi millionaire real estate investor would behave.