In a 1031 exchange, the replacement property must exceed the total sales price of the property sold ($700K in your example), not just your equity portion.

doesn't make sense to treat the house then throw all the stuff away, and replacing the carpet and repainting the entire house2.

@Kyle Carter You cannot directly use a 1031 exchange to purchase a primary residence, as the IRS mandates that the replacement property must be used for investment or business purposes.

Don't split the work between multiple contractors if possible, finding one to do all or most of the work will keep prices down.Challenges were finding replacement pieces for certain items as manufactured homes were very different than stick built as well as going through state guidelines for affixing the house to the land Hey @David Jesperson, welcome to the BP Forum and congrats on completing your first solo deal AND making a nice profit!

I would not expect to replace your W2 income in the first year and would project it to take 2-5 years before you were able to replace it, unless you are sitting on around 3-5M right now.

I'd personally say pulling your water heater out and replacing with a wall mount on demand one, would be worth the cost to have in unit washer dryer if you are staying there or renting it, it would be worth it.its always worth doing the big stuff well and correct even if you are cleaning up after someone, the long term hold always prevails, its just a little frustrating front sometimes, but hang in there!

So I would caution everyone to make sure the replacement cost for your improvements will realistically cover your actual replacement cost in the event of a total loss.

Assuming that's true, I would recommend looking for a replacement property (or properties - you can purchase multiple in the exchange) with value of at least $725K (selling price).  

The AC is old, but I’m planning on holding off on replacing it.

Insurance-  replacement costs.