Longer guides to 1031 exchanges and Delaware Statutory Trusts: what to check, what it costs, and what to ask before you decide.
Talk to a 1031 specialistA document-level comparison of holding a DST interest versus a Section 721 contribution of the underlying property into a REIT operating partnership, and where each path is actually governed.
Newest first, with publication dates intact.
DST distributions and qualified dividends can look alike on a statement, but they come from different kinds of entities and are taxed under different rules.
A plain reading of Treas. Reg. 1. 1031(k)-1(k) and the checks that determine whether a candidate qualified intermediary is a disqualified person before the exchange agreement is signed.
How DST rental income is classified under IRC Section 469, and why a 1031 exchange into a DST does not by itself release suspended passive losses.
DST rental income, depreciation recapture, and gain recognized at a 721 UPREIT exit all flow into the MAGI figure that Medicare uses to set IRMAA surcharges two years later.
How the net income a Delaware Statutory Trust reports — not the cash it distributes — feeds the combined income formula that determines how much of a Social Security benefit is taxed.
DST distributions arrive without withholding, so the taxable portion reported on a K-1 or Schedule E — not the cash received — drives 2026 quarterly estimated tax payments.
Why most DST rental income falls outside the Section 199A deduction, and how a 721 UPREIT conversion moves the income into a category that qualifies.
How Delaware Statutory Trust income reaches a tax return: Schedule E while the trust holds grantor trust status, and Schedule K-1 once a 721 UPREIT conversion closes.
How depreciation recapture carries into a Delaware Statutory Trust interest, when boot causes it to be recognized early, and what happens at the Trust's eventual sale or 721 UPREIT conversion.
How the structural fields disclosed in DST filings — debt profile, income cadence, concentration, and exit path — line up against the profile of a debt-free farm or ranch sold into a 1031 exchange.
Business goodwill has been outside Section 1031 since the 2017 tax law, so only the real property portion of a business sale can move into a DST.
A document-level walkthrough of the fidelity bond, errors-and-omissions coverage, and fund-custody terms behind a 1031 exchange qualified intermediary, and how each one can be…
A walkthrough of how the same-taxpayer requirement applies when the replacement property is a Delaware Statutory Trust interest, from the relinquished sale closing through Form 8824.
How the 3. 8% net investment income tax reaches DST distributions, and why the taxable income a trust reports rarely matches the cash it pays out.
In-house property management in a DST is a master lease arrangement disclosed in the offering document, not a field on any comparison page — here is where to find it.
How a DST's projected cash-on-cash return in the PPM differs from the distributions a sponsor reports after closing, and how to line the two figures up.
A plain reading of how insurance and condemnation proceeds are handled inside a Delaware Statutory Trust, and where the trust agreement — not the ruling — supplies the answer.
How an owner-operator coming out of a sale-leaseback can read DST filings on lease structure, leverage type, the master lease layer, and sponsor record.
A look at what SEC filings do and do not disclose about a DST sponsor's own capital in an offering, and which document actually carries the terms.
A stated three-to-five-year target hold in a DST private placement memorandum is a sponsor's disclosed plan, and the filing language around it is what defines how firm that timeline is.
A step-by-step method for estimating what a Delaware Statutory Trust interest is worth on an early resale, using the trust's filings, current income, cap rates, and outstanding debt.
A step-by-step method for tracing a DST sponsor's tenant credit rating claim back to the rating agency, the guarantor entity, and the lease itself.
A walkthrough of how fixed, CPI-linked, and percentage rent escalation terms shape a DST's income over the hold period, and where those terms sit in the offering documents.
A screening framework for last mile logistics DST offerings, covering how the industrial asset-type tag works, what the PPM discloses about leases and leverage, and where the…
How grocery-anchored retail DST offerings differ from single-tenant net lease deals, and where anchor lease terms, co-tenancy clauses, and leverage actually appear in the filings.
How California's clawback rule under R&TC Section 18032 and FTB Form 3840 keeps tracking deferred gain after an exchange into an out-of-state Delaware Statutory Trust.
How a vacancy reaches (or does not reach) a DST investor's distribution depends on the lease structure, the waterfall order, and whether the Trust carries debt.
A Delaware Statutory Trust generally cannot renegotiate its loan after the offering closes, and this guide shows where the narrow exception appears in the filing record.
Whether a DST's rent escalation clause reaches the investor's distribution depends on the master lease and debt terms disclosed in the filing.
How trust minimums, debt replacement, and sponsor concentration behave when the proceeds from several relinquished properties are consolidated into a smaller number of DST positions.
How a DST 721 UPREIT exit option is written into an offering's documents, who controls whether it is exercised, and what changes when an investor holds operating partnership units…
How triple net lease replacement property differs when an investor holds title directly versus when a Delaware Statutory Trust holds it.
How a DST's 721 UPREIT exit appears in Top1031's historical trust record, and how to read it against the record card's sold and reported lines and the Sponsor Grade.
A step-by-step look at how identification rules, minimum investments, and debt replacement work when one 1031 exchange is placed into several DSTs.
A step-by-step walkthrough of how a DST beneficial interest is reported on IRS Form 8824, from Part I descriptions through debt relief boot and basis carryforward.
A walk through the documented paths out of a Delaware Statutory Trust before the sponsor's target hold ends, and the PPM, lender, and tax constraints on each.
How title insurance is structured when a 1031 exchange funds into a Delaware Statutory Trust, including who is named as the insured and where the policy appears in the offering documents.
A step-by-step look at how an exchange accommodation titleholder takes, holds, and releases title during a reverse 1031 exchange parking period.
A clause-by-clause walkthrough of how a DST master lease structure works and where the rent, subordination, reserve, and springing LLC terms sit in the offering documents.
Revenue Ruling 2004-86 bars a Delaware Statutory Trust from accepting new investor capital, which shapes how underperformance is absorbed through reserves, distribution cuts, or an earlier sale.
A DST is where a 1031 exchange lands today, while a 721 UPREIT contribution is a later, sponsor-controlled exit that swaps real property for partnership units.
How DST offerings with Washington, Oregon, or Idaho property actually differ — by sponsor record, leverage, exemption type, and trust-level disclosure rather than by regional label.
A regional label on a DST is marketing copy, not a filed disclosure — here is which parts of the Form D and PPM actually establish where a Mid-Atlantic trust's property sits.
How the filed record on a Delaware Statutory Trust offering — sponsor grade, Form D exemption, debt-structure tag, outcome status — compares with what a sponsor's marketing deck shows.
How a DST's capital structure, transfer terms, and safe-harbor constraints shape basis step-up, division among heirs, and estate administration.
A document-by-document look at what a Delaware statutory trust lawyer reviews in a DST offering, and how that legal review differs from sponsor-level filing data.
A plain-language look at the Exchange Accommodation Titleholder role in a reverse 1031 exchange, the Rev. Proc. 2000-37 safe harbor, and the questions diligence on an accommodator usually covers.
How a DST's real property can be contributed to a REIT operating partnership under Section 721, what stays tax-deferred, and what triggers tax later.
A Form D is the only SEC filing most DST offerings make, and it covers issuer identity and offering size rather than the property, the fees, or the sponsor's history.
A seven-check method for reading a DST sponsor's tracked record — full-cycle exits, active trusts, grades, and disclosures — inside the 45-day identification window.
A step-by-step walkthrough of how a DST offering raise moves from Trust formation and PPM drafting through Form D, subscriptions, and final closing.
How Rule 506(c) general solicitation differs from 506(b) in DST marketing, from investor verification to the exemption box on Form D.
A field-by-field walk through a DST's Form D, what the Rule 506(b) and 506(c) checkbox in Item 6 signals, and which facts live only in the PPM.
How required PPM and Form D disclosure differs from sponsor marketing copy, and the passes that separate the two in a DST offering package.
A field-by-field look at what a DST's Form D discloses, what it never asks for, and how sponsor marketing fills the gap.
Remaining capital and raise stage are dated fields pulled from a sponsor's Form D filings, and neither one is a performance signal.
A walkthrough of where a DST private placement memorandum discloses each fee and what each one is calculated against.
A fixed field order for comparing Delaware Statutory Trust offering documents — capital structure, distributions, fees, and disclosure — pulled the same way from every Trust.
A sponsor grade describes a sponsor's tracked record, while leverage, tenant mix, lease term, and cash-flow structure are set trust by trust in each offering's own documents.
A walkthrough of what Top1031 layers on top of a Trust's raw SEC Form D filing, and where the filed fact ends and the researched field begins.
A field guide to which due diligence questions a DST's Form D and PPM answer directly, and which ones they structurally cannot.
A mechanical walkthrough of how qualified intermediary fee schedules are built and what belongs in writing before a relinquished property closes.
A filing-level checklist for accountants reviewing a client's DST replacement property in a 1031 exchange, covering grade scope, exemption language, capital structure, and boot math.
What the public record shows about DST sponsors and offerings, and where a real estate agent's role stops when a 1031 client asks about DSTs.
A structural read on student housing DST offerings, from by-the-bed leases and academic-calendar occupancy to how debt terms and Sponsor Grades actually work.
Retail DST offerings span single-tenant net lease buildings and multi-tenant centers, and the tenant roster, lease terms, and capital structure behind each one differ far more than…
How to read state exposure, asset type, leverage structure and sponsor record in DST offerings marketed as Mountain West.
A structural comparison of the routes available to a 1031 exchanger — DST, tenant-in-common, direct net lease, whole-property purchase, 721 UPREIT contribution, and reverse and improvement exchanges.
A neutral breakdown of the five roles the phrase "1031 exchange advisor" gets applied to in a DST transaction — who pays each one, and what each actually does.
A step-by-step look at how DST sponsor litigation and regulatory history is searched across SEC, FINRA, state, and court records, and why a search of the Trust name alone usually comes back empty.
The 1031 exchange 5 year rule is IRC Section 121(d)(10), a limit on the home-sale exclusion after a like-kind exchange, not a holding period for DST interests.
A step-by-step walkthrough of how cash boot and mortgage boot are calculated in a 1031 exchange, and how the one-way offset rule between them works.
Midwest DST offerings are a geographic filter on the same active cohort, and the variables that actually separate them are asset type, capital structure, and sponsor record.
A structural comparison of single-asset and diversified Delaware Statutory Trusts, and what the underlying filings disclose about each.
A structural comparison of monthly distribution DST offerings — all-cash, leveraged, and zero-coupon — and what each one's filing discloses about how cash actually moves.
A structural comparison of senior living DST offerings, from master lease mechanics and operator licensure to leverage treatment and what the filings actually disclose.
A DST marketed for the Northeast may or may not hold Northeast real estate, and the filings are where that distinction shows up.
DST fee terms are disclosed offering by offering in the private placement memorandum, so this guide maps the fee categories, how structure changes them, and where they appear in a filing.
Read DST offering documents for debt structure, distribution timing and payment priorities, alongside the Sponsor’s separate Record Card.
NR on a Top1031 sponsor page means the sponsor has fewer than three counted outcomes and fewer than three documented sales, not a poor result.
A Top1031 Sponsor Grade is a letter from two counts on a sponsor's record of DST programs, not a rating of any single Trust, and this guide explains what that grade covers and what it cannot say.
A field-by-field walkthrough of how a DST sponsor track record is recorded on Top1031 and what each line of the record card does and does not show.
A step-by-step method for checking whether a DST sponsor has actually sold a Trust and reported the result, using the sponsor's record card rather than its active offerings.
Sold and reported are different lines on a Top1031 sponsor record card, and the gap between them shows how much of a completed record the sponsor has documented.
A Top1031 Sponsor Grade is a letter on a sponsor's record, not the leverage, structure or outcome status of any single DST offering.
How Top1031 defines a Historical Trust, and why a tracked Trust, a Shown Trust, and a Trust sold with a reported result are three different things.
A step-by-step method for reading a DST sponsor's tracked record on Top1031 without confusing active offerings, closed offerings, and total filing history.
Top1031 grades DST sponsors at the firm level, not individual Trusts, and the two answer different questions.
How Top1031 labels a DST sponsor record as Active or Historical, and what each state does and does not tell you about that sponsor's tracked history.
How Top1031 Sponsor Grades work, why they attach to the sponsor entity rather than an individual DST, and what NR signals about the underlying record.
How a DST's capital structure and ownership form interact with the step-up in basis at death and with what heirs actually inherit.
A framework for comparing two DST sponsors' track records from filing data: trusts sold and reported versus trusts still held, capital-structure categories, and what a Sponsor Grade actually covers.
A look at how DST sponsors arrive at a minimum investment figure, what that number reveals about an offering, and where it can be verified in the filings.
Institutional scale and a Top1031 Sponsor Grade measure two different things, and this guide separates the balance-sheet claim from the filed DST record.
A structural comparison of DST and NNN ground lease 1031 replacement property, read from what each one's filing or closing package actually discloses.
How a DST and an improvement exchange handle the same 45-day and 180-day 1031 deadlines differently, on title, debt, construction risk, and basis.
How the debt posture of a DST — all-cash versus zero-coupon — changes acquisition basis, distributions, and debt-relief boot exposure at exit.
How a DST's all-cash or leveraged capital structure answers a debt-replacement question in your exchange, not a performance question.
A document-by-document comparison of DST replacement property and direct ownership across control, debt structure, minimums, and basis at exit.
How to read Top1031's current DST offerings directory, from active-versus-historical cohorts to capital structure and sponsor grades.
A step-by-step look at what retiring landlords give up and gain when they exchange a rental property into a Delaware statutory trust.
A plain-language walkthrough of how to read the capital structure section of a DST offering filing, from debt terms to trustee limits.
A structural comparison of DST, TIC, and NNN ownership for 1031 exchange replacement property, covering title, debt, investor limits, and basis at exit.
A walkthrough of what a leveraged DST's offering documents actually disclose about debt, recourse terms, and how loan relief affects exchange basis.
Where DST leverage disclosures actually sit in the filings, and how to read them across all-cash, leveraged, and zero-coupon structures.
A newly filed DST has no track record of its own, so evaluating one in 2026 depends on the sponsor's grade and what the filing discloses.
A plain-language look at how the zero-coupon DST structure differs from a cash-flowing DST, read from the offering documents rather than the marketing summary.
A step-by-step guide to reading the distribution schedule and cash-application waterfall in a DST offering's filings.
A clause-by-clause comparison of how DST and TIC ownership structures divide control over refinancing, leasing, and selling replacement property in a 1031 exchange.
How DST and TIC minimum investments are calculated differently, and how the 35-investor TIC cap and fixed DST sponsor minimums shape what 1031 exchange proceeds can fund.
A tenant-in-common exchange caps out at 35 co-owners under a 2002 IRS safe harbor, while a Delaware Statutory Trust carries no investor-count ceiling under 2004 guidance.
A structural comparison of holding a DST beneficial interest versus buying replacement property directly in a 1031 exchange.
A neutral comparison of DST trade-offs for 1031 exchange investors, organized by debt structure, distribution timing, and exit mechanism.
How the DST decision framework shifts for accredited cash investors who buy in without a 1031 exchange behind the capital.
A plain-language explanation of what a debt-free, all-cash DST offering means and how to verify zero leverage in the filing before a 1031 exchange.
How debt on a leveraged DST affects an investor's basis at purchase, through the hold, and at the Trust's disposition.
Top1031 doesn't rank the best DST 1031 exchange companies it grades sponsors A-F on their tracked record instead, and this guide explains what that grade covers.
How asset type, sponsor, leverage, and ownership form vary when a 1031 exchange is spread across more than one DST offering.
How to confirm whether a DST holds its property free of mortgage debt, and how that leverage classification factors into the debt-replacement math of a 1031 exchange.
229 active 1031 DST offerings in one table, built from SEC filings and public records.