Sell the property. Keep the equity working.
Selling investment real estate without an exchange can send a third of your gain to taxes. A 1031 exchange defers it. With Keep 1031 you don't wait for updates — you log in and see your balance, your deadlines and every document, from the day your sale closes to the day your replacement closes.
The QI where you watch your own money
Most intermediaries go quiet once your proceeds land. We built the opposite: your exchange has its own portal, open from the day you sign.
Both clocks, counting.
Day 45 and day 180 are on your screen from the moment you close, with reminders well before anything comes due.
Documents and signatures in one place.
See what's been signed, what's still owed and who it's waiting on. Sign electronically from your phone or desk.
Identify your property right in the portal.
Enter your replacement properties and the portal checks them against the identification rules as you go. On day 45 your list locks, exactly as the IRS requires.
Rather not log in? You don't have to.
We email you a confirmation when your funds arrive, with the reference numbers and your exact 45- and 180-day dates. The portal is always there when you want it.
On your phone, like an app.
Add the portal to your home screen in two taps.
Two deadlines decide everything
Set it up.
We're engaged before your sale escrow closes. Proceeds come to us, never to you; once they touch your hands, the exchange is gone.
Identify.
Name your replacement property in writing within 45 days. Our portal checks your list against the rules as you build it.
Close.
Close on your replacement within 180 days. We wire your funds straight into the purchase.
The trap most sellers miss: your 180 days can be cut short by your tax-return due date. Sell late in the year and your return may be due before day 180 — unless you file an extension. We flag it and tell you before it costs you.
⚠ Your tax return is due — before day 180. File an extension to keep the full 180 days.
Dates are estimates for planning. Your exchange agreement sets the official deadlines.
What selling without an exchange would cost
Below is a typical rental: purchased for $350,000, held twenty years, selling at $1.2 million. Adjust any figure to match your property — the statement recalculates as you type.
Have a closing date? Get your 45- and 180-day deadlines →
This is an estimate for planning purposes only, not tax or legal advice. It assumes an investment property held over one year by an individual, straight-line depreciation, and no prior exchanges, passive-loss carryovers, or installment terms. Income and growth figures are illustrations at the rate you select, not projections or guarantees. Your actual liability depends on your full tax picture — confirm the numbers with your CPA before you act. Keep 1031 provides qualified intermediary services and does not provide tax, legal, or investment advice.
Whatever shape your exchange takes
The standard exchange
Sell first, buy within the window. We hold the proceeds; you identify by day 45 and close by day 180.
Buy first, sell after
Found the replacement before your sale closes? We hold title to it for you while your sale completes — up to 180 days under the IRS safe harbor — so you never lose the property to the timing.
Build the replacement
Use exchange funds to improve the replacement property before it's yours. Ask us how we'd structure yours.
Partial, consolidation, diversification
Take some cash out, trade several properties into one, or one into several. Each has its own rules — we'll walk you through yours.
Keep your clients moving
Your client's exchange is your deal too. If the 45-day list slips or the funds sit unexplained, it lands on you. We built Keep 1031 so it doesn't.
Set up before escrow closes — fast.
Send us the contract and the escrow number; we handle the exchange agreement and send closing instructions to escrow, then confirm with them.
Your client sees everything, so you get fewer 9 p.m. calls.
Balance, deadlines and documents are in their portal, not in an inbox.
Deadlines nobody forgets.
Both clocks are tracked to the day, with reminders to your client well ahead of each one.
"Is this a 1031?" — ask us anytime.
A two-minute call before the listing appointment beats a lost exchange after closing.
Think 1031 before you sell.
Built by people who run the same clock
Real estate operators, not processors.
The people behind Keep 1031 develop, buy and manage investment property. We know what a 45-day window feels like from the buyer's side.
The full exchange, not just the escrow.
Agreement, deadlines, identification, funds and coordination with your agent, escrow officer and CPA.
Straight answers first.
The first conversation carries no obligation. If an exchange doesn't fit your situation, we'll tell you.
What sellers ask us
What actually qualifies for a 1031 exchange?
Real property held for investment or business use — rentals, land, commercial buildings, even a property used in your business. Your primary residence doesn't qualify, but a former residence converted to a rental may. Like-kind is broad: you can sell a rental house and buy an apartment building, land, or a commercial property.
When do I need to set this up?
Before your sale closes — that's the hard rule. If escrow closes and the proceeds reach you, the opportunity is gone for that sale. The best time to call is when you're thinking about listing; the last workable time is before closing day.
Is the tax eliminated or just delayed?
Deferred — the gain carries into your next property. But deferral compounds: your full equity keeps working instead of a taxed-down remainder, you can exchange again and again, and under current law heirs receive a stepped-up basis. Many investors defer for decades and the tax is never paid.
How does depreciation work on the new property?
Your old basis carries over and keeps depreciating on its existing schedule — and the additional value you buy above the old property starts a fresh schedule of its own. Trading up creates new deductions that shelter the bigger property's income. Your CPA structures the schedules; we make sure the exchange qualifies.
Do you handle exchanges outside California?
Yes. The 1031 exchange is federal law and works in all fifty states. You can sell in one state and buy in another. One catch: California still tracks the deferred gain on California property exchanged for out-of-state property, and the seller files a California form every year (Form 3840).
Can I buy the replacement before I sell?
Yes — that's a reverse exchange. We hold title to the new property for you while your sale completes, for up to 180 days under the IRS safe harbor. It costs more than a standard exchange and takes real structuring, but it removes the biggest fear sellers have: the 45-day clock. Want to improve the replacement while it's held? Ask us how we'd structure yours.
What if I can't find a replacement property in 45 days?
Then the exchange fails and the tax is due. That's why the 45-day list matters so much: start looking before you sell, and talk to us early about how the identification rules let you name backups.
Ask about 1031 rules or your dates
Our assistant answers general questions about how exchanges work and does the 45/180 date math. For anything about your own property, it will point you to a short call.
Run your numbers with a person
Thirty minutes. Bring the property and rough figures.