Sell your investment property. Defer the tax. Keep your equity working.
Bridgepoint Exchange is a CPA-led Qualified Intermediary for like-kind exchanges under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. We prepare the exchange documents, hold your proceeds in a dedicated exchange escrow account, and work directly with your closing agents so your exchange is done right the first time.
What your fee covers
- All exchange documents, prepared and coordinated for signature
- Set-up of your exchange account record and safekeeping of your proceeds in our exchange escrow account
- Direct coordination with both closing agents
- Receipt and disbursement of your exchange funds
- A closing summary for your tax preparer (Form 8824)
What is a 1031 exchange?
When you sell real estate held for investment or for use in a trade or business, the gain is normally taxable in the year of sale. Section 1031 lets you defer that tax when you reinvest the proceeds in other “like-kind” real property — which, for real estate, means almost any other real property in the United States held for investment or business use.
The catch is that you cannot touch the money in between. From the moment your sale closes until your purchase closes, the proceeds must be held by an independent Qualified Intermediary under a written exchange agreement. If the funds pass through your hands — or your attorney’s, your agent’s, or your CPA’s — even briefly, the exchange fails and the gain becomes taxable.
That is the role we fill. Bridgepoint Exchange steps into your sale and purchase contracts as the Qualified Intermediary, receives the proceeds directly from your closing agent, holds them in our exchange escrow account at a federally insured bank, and wires them to the closing agent for your replacement property when you are ready to buy.
- Landlords selling a rental house, duplex, or apartment building
- Owners of commercial, retail, office, or industrial property
- Farmers and owners of land held for investment
- Investors consolidating several properties into one, or trading one for several
- LLCs, partnerships, and trusts that hold investment real estate
A forward exchange in four steps
Most exchanges are “delayed” or “forward” exchanges: you sell first, then buy. Here is what happens and when.
Before you close
You sign our Exchange Agreement and assign your sale contract to us. We notify the buyer and give your closing agent wire instructions for the proceeds.
Your sale closes
Title passes directly to your buyer. The net proceeds are wired to our exchange escrow account — never to you. Your 45- and 180-day clocks start today.
Identify by Day 45
You deliver a signed written identification of the replacement property (or properties) you may buy. We provide the form and confirm receipt.
Close by Day 180
You assign the purchase contract to us, we wire the exchange funds to the closing agent, and title passes directly to you. We send a closing summary for Form 8824.
Know your dates
Identify your replacement property
By midnight on the 45th day after your sale closes, you must identify potential replacement property in a signed writing delivered to us. You may identify up to three properties of any value, or more than three if their combined value does not exceed 200% of what you sold.
Close on your replacement property
You must acquire the replacement property by the 180th day after your sale closes — or by the due date of your tax return for that year, including extensions, if that comes first. Weekends and holidays count.
These deadlines are set by federal regulation. Neither we, nor you, nor the IRS can extend them, except in a federally declared disaster.
Built the way we would want our own exchange handled
Your Exchange Coordinator is a licensed CPA who understands what your tax preparer will need at year-end and what your closing agent needs at the table — and who answers the phone.
One flat fee, disclosed up front
A standard forward exchange — one property sold, one property purchased — is $890, paid on your closing statement. No retainer, nothing due before closing. Additional properties and outgoing wire fees are listed on our written fee schedule before you sign.
Your funds, held in trust
Exchange proceeds are deposited in our exchange escrow account at a federally insured bank, held by Bridgepoint Exchange as escrow agent for our clients and kept entirely separate from our operating funds. Your funds are tracked under your name and exchange number, are never invested, loaned, or pledged, and are released only with your signed written authorization plus a verbal confirmation call to the phone number you gave us at intake.
Wire-fraud safeguards
Our wire instructions never change mid-exchange, and we never send or accept a change by email. Every wire is confirmed by telephone at a published number.
Closing-agent friendly
We work directly with title companies and closing attorneys on both sides of the transaction so the assignment, notices, settlement statement, and wires are handled correctly — with no extra work for the closer.
Serving investors across the Southeast and Midwest
Section 1031 is federal law, so the same rules apply wherever your property sits. Our primary service area follows the closing practices we know best:
Selling or buying somewhere else? We can generally accommodate exchanges in other states — ask us.
For real estate agents, title companies & closing attorneys
Have a seller who mentioned “1031” or a buyer using exchange funds? Send them our way, or call us with the closing details. We will get the exchange agreement and assignment to the table before closing and provide you with our wire instructions for verbal verification.
- Exchange documents prepared promptly once we have the signed contract and closing-agent contact
- Assignment and Notice of Assignment for the buyer or seller to acknowledge
- Closing-statement guidance so the exchange is reflected correctly
- Verbal wire verification on every incoming and outgoing wire