I have an employee that has experience and is interested in on site management in exchange for a room which would not be in the six apartments remodeled.

I have been renting out a duplex to foreign national students from China who have been nothing but phenomenal over the past year and a half. 

@Ben Morris, A 1031 exchange requires you to purchase at least as much as you sell if you want to defer all tax.  

There's a wealth of vehicles out there from essentially no payment in exchange for total security (bank savings accounts, treasury bonds) to high yields but significant risk to principle (aggressive emerging market growth mutual funds, i.e.).

I am looking forward to meeting others in this area with whom I can exchange conversations and ideas.  

And thats not even calculating the exchange rates banks will charge you on top of this.Now thats comparing spring last year with summer this year.Suppose, we try to look forward a few years.

All the legalities of renting out a place is all foreign to me.

A lot of new construction is driven by interest rates and the lure to foreign investors for an avenue to park their money in.  

He reluctantly gave us a social security number in exchange for a check; but I understand we should have asked him to complete a W-9.  

How would the owner do an exchange?