A 1031 exchange candidate is a property whose current ownership profile — hold period, equity position, depreciation status, entity structure — suggests the owner is likely to sell via a 1031 exchange within the next 12 to 24 months.
For retail real estate brokers, these are among the highest-value leads that exist. A 1031 exchange seller is not casually thinking about selling. They are financially motivated to complete a transaction within a strict timeline. They need to find replacement property. They are, by definition, looking to buy again.
The Basics of a 1031 Exchange
Under IRC Section 1031, a real estate investor can defer capital gains taxes on the sale of a property by reinvesting the proceeds into a "like-kind" replacement property within a strict timeline: 45 days to identify the replacement, 180 days to close.
The tax deferral can be substantial. An investor who bought a building for $2M in 2012 and sells for $8M in 2026 faces capital gains on $6M of appreciation plus depreciation recapture. A 1031 exchange defers that entire tax liability as long as they buy replacement property of equal or greater value.
The result: 1031 exchange sellers are highly motivated buyers. They must deploy their capital or pay a large tax bill. That urgency is valuable to brokers on both sides of the transaction.
What Makes a Property a Candidate
Not every property is a likely 1031 exchange candidate. The signals that increase probability:
Hold period of 5–12 years. Properties held for under 5 years haven't accumulated enough appreciation to make the exchange economics compelling. Properties held over 15 years are often in estate planning mode — different dynamics. The 5-to-12-year window is the sweet spot where appreciation is substantial, depreciation is exhausted, and the tax burden of a straight sale is high enough to motivate an exchange.
Significant equity accumulation. The exchange only makes sense when the capital gains are large enough that the tax deferral is worth the complexity. A property with minimal appreciation since purchase is not a strong candidate. Estimating equity from public records — purchase price, mortgage history, current market value — gives a probability signal.
Depreciation exhaustion. Commercial real estate is depreciated over 39 years (or 15 years for qualified improvement property). Owners deep into the depreciation schedule are subject to depreciation recapture on sale, which is taxed at 25% — a significant additional motivation to exchange rather than sell outright.
Entity structure signals. Certain entity structures — DST interests, tenancy-in-common arrangements, partnership interests — are more commonly associated with exchange activity. A sole LLC holding a single asset acquired 8 years ago is a different profile than a large portfolio entity.
Geographic migration patterns. Owners of high-tax-state properties increasingly exchange into lower-tax markets. NYC retail owners exchanging into Sun Belt replacement property is a documented pattern. The replacement property can be commercial real estate anywhere, so NYC sellers are not necessarily NYC buyers.
How This Shows Up in Public Data
New York City maintains among the most detailed public real estate records of any market in the country. The Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS) records every transfer of interest in real property, including date, price, grantor, grantee, and mortgage information.
From ACRIS, a systematic analysis can:
- Calculate hold period from the deed date of the most recent transfer
- Estimate acquisition price from the transfer amount
- Identify mortgage origination and paydown history
- Flag entity structure from grantor/grantee names
- Cross-reference with current tax assessment data to estimate current value
Combined with PLUTO (the city's property database), this creates a picture of each property's financial profile that surfaces likely exchange candidates before the owner has talked to a broker.
Why Most Brokers Find Them Too Late
The traditional way to work with 1031 exchange sellers is through qualified intermediaries (QIs) — the entities that hold the sale proceeds during the exchange. A QI might introduce a broker to a seller who just closed and has 45 days to identify replacement property.
By the time a broker gets that introduction, there are already two or three other brokers in the conversation. The urgency that makes 1031 sellers valuable also makes them competitive. Everyone who knows a QI is calling the same sellers.
Working backward from property data flips this: you identify the likely candidates months before they sell, build a relationship, and position yourself before the process starts. The broker who calls six months before the exchange is competing with no one.
How Station CRM Handles This
Station CRM's 1031 Candidates feed identifies NYC retail properties matching exchange candidate profiles weekly. Each candidate is scored 0–100 based on hold period, estimated equity, entity signals, and market activity. The list is sorted by probability, so brokers prioritize outreach to the most likely movers first.
The candidates feed is available as a standalone data subscription and is included in the Intelligence plan. It is updated weekly as new ACRIS filings and market transactions come in.
No comparable product exists at any price point in the NYC retail market.