Sounds like you lived there, so don't think a 1031 exchange will help you.If you lived there two of two last five years then you can take the exemption, $250,000 with no taxes.I'd be worried about getting the paperwork straightened out.

Life is truly weird sometimes, cards get dealt, and you gotta play the hand you are dealt.I'm a big fan of Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad" books, and within' the philosophy, Robert teaches that there are 4 quarters to the "game of life".Age 25-35: 1st quarterAge 35-45: 2nd quarterAge 45-55: 3rd quarterAge 55-65: 4th quarterAge 65+: OvertimeAge 70: out of time...The goal of the this "game" (in order to win) your passive income is greater than your expenses - putting you what Robert calls "out of the rat race".If you think about it - many great sporting events are won in the last quarter - and given that you are still in YOUR FIRST quarter, it may give you some solace and encouragement to realize that you still have time to completely rebuild and succeed!

That means that for every DOLLAR that I've PAID, or LOST (either in interest, or excess of expense over income), I'm allowed to deduct TWENTY FIVE CENTS from my tax bill.In other words I'm buying quarters for a dollar apiece.

Or, even off credit cards, though I'm not sure I'd recommend that approach.

We had very little in the bank, but we did have good credit scores( over 800 at the time), two unsecured lines of credit (10K each) and several credit cards without balances.

I may be totally wrong, but I predict this will be worth $200K at some point in the next five years.Jon

I have NO idea what kind of terms you can get for a hard money loan, but let's say it'll be 12% for five years with interest-only payments for all 60 months and balance due on month 60.YOUR DEAL:FMV: $250,000Purchase Price: $200,000 ($190k + $10k)Equity: $50,000Mortgage APR: 7%Mortgage Term: 480Mortgage PMT: $1180.72Hard Money APR: 12%HM Term: 60HM PMT (Interest-Only): $100.00Total Monthly PMT: $1280.72So, in this example, you obtained a house for 20% below FMV, have $50,000 of instant equity and monthly payment savings of almost $400, and the previous owner walks away with $10,000 cash to compensate them for some of the equity.

(By contrast, if you buy clothes with VISA, the credit card company can’t repossess your sweater when you fail to pay your credit card bill.

-Getting business cards.

I knew they had a Sears credit card (keep ALL of your application documents, LOL) so I said, I don't have any money now due to you guys.