Hey Engelo I'm hearing that this person who reached out to you didn't convey to you what they'd give you in exchange.

Let’s say it appraises at $185,000 and I then want to pull my equity out of the house. 20% down would leave $37,000 in the house and in exchange only $2,000 out of my pocket ($185,000 appraisal value – $150,000 my previous equity value= $35,000 for the down payment with the $2,000 coming from my pocket).

If you have a “large” gain (say over $100k after selling costs) and don’t want to do a 1031 exchange you should not close on the sale until December 2024 to make the profit tax free.

They used different strategies: house hack in CA, STR, buy off market, buy OOS, SFH, multi-units, buy large apartment complex with other investors, etc.Thoughts on 1031 exchange to DSTs to try be more passive (no more dealing with PM, renovations, repairs,  tenant issues) but I've heard the money is trapped for 2 to 5 years depending on the operator, still researching DSTs. 

I would first suggest a 1031 exchange to where you pay no capital gains taxes as you buy into your next property.  

I have been researching the 1031 exchange process and have come across the DST.

It was not a 1031 exchange, so we are now calculating our taxes.

I think we exchanged a few notes about this a month or two ago  

Quote from @Glen Wiley: I suspect that once I retire from my W2 I will probably set up a direct booking channel since I'll have more time but for now I am accepting the risks of depending on the OTAs in exchange for the benefits. 

Now keep in mind I had already done my own title search and a date down so I knew the state of the title. 1.Cashiers Check to Seller in exchange for the Notarized deed  You do this at a notary and the amount of the check is the sellers equity and what you negotiated. 2.