I am wondering if I need to sell the house and do a 1031 exchange to capture all the equity that has been built up over the past 7 years, and perhaps invest in a different market that I might be able to get a long term tenant into a property quicker for cash flow.

We set up WordPress investor sites with SEO and lead capture plugins and email auto responders.This does everything investor carrot does without the monthly fee.  

The practical reason behind this question is because even if we start building a house right now, it will not be completed by January 1st and I’m hoping to capture the tax benefits (deferral) for 2026.  

Great options above --another option, sell/cash out refi--cycle money through whole life to capture interest--leverage cash value so you gain interest inside policy while funding your next purchases...added protection & tax benefits on top--happy to discuss how I've used this strategy 

Prepare for a long journey with a lot of properties - probably need ~50ish houses @ $500/month Might make more sense to go with a business/commercial property at that point SFH are essentially good for BRRRR/flip (equity capture at the buy), MFH is going to be where the cashflow is 

You can capture money in and send money out to owners and all.  

That’ll make the appraisal stronger and help you capture top dollar.Taxes: When you sell, you’ll likely face capital gains and possibly depreciation recapture.

I capture the receipts as soon as I leave a home improvement store and it has saved my butt because those receipts pile up fast when you're in active renovation on multiple properties. 

If you can ride the wave of appreciation while using the VA leverage, its truthfully one of the best ROI's an investor can capture. 

Realbricks is offering fractional shares of SFH rental properties, buying newly-constructed inventory from home builders (they have a new agreement with KB Homes), renting them out and then ultimately selling them to capture the appreciation.