Do you honestly believe they took $40 from you just because you're a foreigner and they saw the opportunity to take advantage of you?

My plan from the beginning of this purchase is to sell this home in 2 years time with a 1031 exchange.

@Kathleen McCabe I believe the reason you don't see as much about investing abroad is the added complications foreign investment brings.  

It feels like we're stuck and just have to ride out another decade or so to realize gains from the property.So here's the plan: Sell our CA propertyDo a 1031 exchange and buy 2 SFRs in North Carolina as rentals for all cash. 

The issue you would run into if forming the LLC in New York and having properties from NJ in it would be the additional costs of the foreign filing fees.

I have bought property in foreign countries.. this was before block chain but its the same basic process other than a notary is more like an attorney than our versions. 

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p537Also, you could have your parents look into doing a 1031 exchange, if they are open to reinvesting their money in another real estate venture (this basically just defers the tax on the gains to a future date, when/if the new property is sold... unless they do a 1031 again, which could allow them to defer the taxes basically forever if done over and over).

I had to do a 1031 exchange and this was really the best option out there with the knowledge I had at that time How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Hi Account Closed,I'm also in OC and have been reseraching out of state investing (exchanging my CA properties).

You can purchase less than you sell and you can take cash out - this is what is called a partial exchange.