Don't assume they are all the same length.

The length of time of ownership etc will come into play but may be worth checking out.

If you want to stay at arm's length, let me know, and I'll see what I can do. 

However buying a rental property that you lease to  your mom as an arms length transaction might be fine if you actually set up a lease, collected rent and reported it (you can gift it back to her legally within the federal limits so it washes).There are some timelines you do have to follow. 

@Charlsi Kelley There are a couple of exceptions to the primary residence exclusion that would allow you to take an amount of the gain tax free based on length of time you actually lived there. - employment, health issues, something unforeseen that forced you to move.  

Is there any minimum length to do a 1031 exchange on a property?

Her property is vacant and I do my best to at least keep the lawn at a decent length since he daughters do nothing more than pay the property taxes to keep it current.

The obvious reality, of course, is that practically anyone without obvious physical handicaps and with the right motivation can become reasonably good at drawing or using a screwdriver.So, I would ask you to dare to believe that making conversation is much the same sort of thing, a skill to be learned, and your attitude toward any skill largely dictates how successful you'll be at learning it.On the other hand, if you find talking people up the most distasteful part of this business...well, just wait till you saw out a length of your first soilstack or you're forced to evict a tenant with a baby in the middle of winter.Read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.

So do you always use a termination clause no matter the length of time between lease signing and actual lease begin date?  

I agree with this. 203k requires the use of an arms length GC for everything.