Every 1031 exchange runs on two federal clocks that start the day your relinquished property closes: 45 calendar days to formally identify replacement property, and 180 calendar days to close on it. Both run on calendar days — weekends and holidays included — and the 180-day period is further capped at the due date of that year's tax return, so an Austin sale late in the year can shorten the window before you realize it. Deadline monitoring keeps every one of those dates, plus the lender, title, inspection, and Qualified Intermediary milestones that feed them, on a single tracked timeline rather than scattered across half a dozen inboxes.
We build a master calendar the moment your relinquished sale goes under contract, working backward from the 45-day and 180-day statutory dates and forward from each transactional milestone — earnest money and inspection periods, the identification-letter filing, lender commitment and appraisal dates, title clearance, and the final closing. Automated alerts fire at the 30, 15, 5, and 1-day marks before each critical date, and a weekly status note goes to your Qualified Intermediary, lender, title officer, and brokers so no one is working from a stale date. For reverse and improvement exchanges, we track the parallel parking arrangement and construction deadlines against the same 180-day ceiling. We are not a Qualified Intermediary; our role is to own the calendar so the professionals on your deal never miss a date to miscommunication.
A single missed identification or closing deadline does not simply delay the exchange — it disqualifies it, and the gain you set out to defer becomes taxable in the current year at federal and, in most states, state rates. Outside a federally declared disaster, the IRS grants no extensions and no grace period. In a fast-moving Austin market where replacement inventory and financing both move quickly, disciplined tracking is the cheapest insurance available against a five- or six-figure tax surprise.
Asset focus
Challenges
- The 45-day and 180-day clocks run on calendar days, including weekends and holidays, and the IRS grants no informal extensions.
- The 180-day period is capped at the due date of that year's tax return, so a sale late in the year can quietly shorten the window.
- Deadlines live in separate inboxes — the Qualified Intermediary, the lender, the title company, and the brokers — with no single owner of the master calendar.
- Reverse and improvement exchanges layer in parking and construction deadlines that are easy to lose track of under pressure.
What we deliver
- A single master timeline mapping every statutory and transactional deadline from the relinquished closing forward.
- Automated alerts at the 30, 15, 5, and 1-day marks ahead of each identification and closing deadline.
- A weekly status note circulated to your QI, lender, title officer, and brokers so every party works from the same dates.
- A tracked identification-letter deadline with a pre-drafted checklist so the 45-day filing is never rushed.
- Immediate escalation flags the moment any milestone slips, with the days-remaining math already done.
Related services
Find replacement properties for your 1031 exchange
Understand how federal capital gains tax applies when you sell a rental
Understand the stepped up basis rule for inherited real estate
Understand the structures investors use to earn passive income from real estate
FAQ
When does the 45-day identification clock start?
It starts the day your relinquished property closes — the date the deed records — and it runs on calendar days, so weekends and holidays are included. You have 45 days from that date to deliver a written, unambiguous identification of replacement property to your Qualified Intermediary.
Can the 180-day closing deadline ever be shorter than 180 days?
Yes. The exchange period ends on the earlier of 180 calendar days after the relinquished closing or the due date of your tax return for that year, including extensions. A sale late in the calendar year can therefore compress the window, which is exactly the kind of trap a tracked timeline is built to catch.
What actually happens if a deadline is missed?
The exchange fails and the gain becomes taxable in the current year. Outside a federally declared disaster affecting your area, the IRS grants no informal extensions to the 45-day or 180-day deadlines. That is why we build in alerts well ahead of each date rather than at the last minute.
Do you act as my Qualified Intermediary?
No. We are not a Qualified Intermediary and we never hold your exchange funds. We coordinate the master calendar across your QI, lender, title company, and brokers so every party works from the same set of dates, and we remind everyone of the statutory deadlines as they approach.
How do reverse and improvement exchanges change the deadlines?
Both still run on the 45-day and 180-day clocks, but they add moving parts. A reverse exchange parks the replacement or relinquished property with an Exchange Accommodation Titleholder, and an improvement exchange requires that construction be completed and title transferred within the same 180-day window. We track those parallel deadlines alongside the core dates.
How early do you start tracking?
As soon as the relinquished sale goes under contract, before it closes. Front-loading the calendar means the 45-day identification window opens with a vetted pipeline and a filing checklist already in place, rather than a scramble against the clock.