1031 exchange strategies

[Scott MacIntyre]

Hi all, I currently own a duplex in Cleveland that is fully paid off and worth about $135,000. I'm considering a 1031 exchange and I would love to get as many folks suggestions and strategies as to how they think through that as are willing.

From what I can see there are more or less two options. Option one is to sell the property and use the 135,000 for a down payment for a roughly 550,000 property which will hopefully bring in more rent. Option two is to sell the property and split the 135,000 into multiple down payments and increase the size of my portfolio.

I'm sure there are a lot of other ways to go about it as well, but at least those are the ones that I'm considering at the moment. I am prioritizing cash flow over appreciation right now. Would love to hear how others have made similar decisions!

Thanks!

-Scott

[Allan Smith]

Generally, investing it as down payments into multiple properties will create more wealth in the next 10 years then if you buy just one. The trade-off is the additional transaction costs and hassle. And there's also more overhead maintain these properties over time for relatively lower cash flow than if it was one property. And of course above all, there's perceived to be more risk by leveraging more.