1031 of single family homes to acquire multifamily?
So here's my issue: I have not done a 1031, but we have buy and hold property (single family) that we would like to sell, thanks to solid appreciation, a bit down the line. The goal would be to use those proceeds to buy a multifamily, hopefully something in the range of a 10 unit building (We'd be financing the deal, but these sales would allow us to put 25 to 30% down without a problem).
Now, I know that 1031 is for a "like kind" exchange. Would I run into trouble because a single family is in a different category from a multifamily of that size, such that it would not count towards a 1031? Am I required to do another single family purchase, for 1031 purposes?
Also, if I were selling two buy and hold houses to fund this one acquisition, is that an issue? Since the proceeds of each property, from sale, are both going into acquiring the same property? Obviously, I would list and hopefully sell both houses around the same time, and in my market (LA County), both would sell pretty quickly. But would love to defer those taxes! Any feedback appreciated.