if so, was it longer than the 2 year rule to exclude capital gains?

Hello.I have very little capital liquid capital (3K) available, and have just purchased a home with a low down payment.I see a slam dunk investment opportunity in some houses.  

i'm in the process of exchanging out of an existing property, and into a large multi-family value-add syndication through a TIC structure. the syndication team is looking to refi their acquisition loan approximately 2 years after the acquisition to return investor capital. the business strategy calls for a sale in year 5. any one out there able to opine as to whether the cash-out refi would fall under the 'step transaction doctrine,' and thus be a taxable transaction for me?

There are many national companies, in addition to your loan servicers, that perform these types of actions.

I wouldn't sell any property that cash flows and is appreciating unless I absolutely needed the capital, had an opportunity to 1031 into a much better and more lucrative deal or if the property was in a location I no longer wanted to be in.

By spreading out the principal payments they spread out their tax burden and if they pass before the loan is paid off, there are no capital gains owed by the heirs (it's passed to them on the stepped up basis).

Many do not budget for capital expenditures.  

Edward, out of the medium/large cities in the nation how did you pick STL and which communities/areas in STL?

How about capital expenditures?

I assume it will be considered as capital gain and will be taxed accordingly.