If they were looking to create some investment income and can afford to buy another home without using the proceeds from the sale of this one, however, a 1031 would be a great tool for down the road if they were looking to trade-up to a more lucrative property or move their portfolio into another market without paying taxes on the sale.It sounds like the tax exempt gain will be the best bet - it's called the Section 121 exclusion if you want to google it. $250k for a single person, $500k for a married couple filing jointly.Best of luck to you and your parents!

I am betting it is tougher to find good deals here in ca compared to va.

(Obviously, I wouldn't want you to go that route, it is unnecessary and slows your progress.) 

That's exciting progress Lee and all the best in your investing. 

.), or that they will just build a wall around our property and finish converting and developing the land around us into commercial entities.We said we were fine with them building around us (with the bet that we will be bought out at our price eventually (possibly even higher due to the fact that pretty much everything around us will be commercial property and generating revenue (restaurants/mall/stores/etc...))).Now I'm asking, if you were in our shoes, what would your game plan be?

I'm willing to bet we have a lot of IT people here.Good luck!

Your best bet is to make a trip to the Public Services Building downtown and speak to the Building Department Counter.

You need cooling for 8-9 months of the year I bet. 

I've looked at some CoStar reports and they seem to anticipate this year being the year, but with how the markets have progressed, I take everything with a grain of salt. 

Once you give yourself a good foundation, you literally have to fight the momentum if you want to stop progressing.