Posted by Brent_IL on September 18, 2003 at 24:12:35:
If you close with the owner so that you have title, you have the right to a 1031 exchange of an investment property. However, two problems you’ll encounter are identifying a new property to purchase within 45 days (I?m assuming that you could close within 180 days.), and convincing the IRS that the property that you held for a few hours was for investment purposes. The majority of the literature recommends holding for two years. Some say one year is enough, but I haven’t read of anyone suggesting a shorter time would work. Since there is no set time in the Code, who knows, you may set precedence. But I wouldn?t bet the farm on it.