What actually qualifies as "like-kind" property in a 1031 exchange?
Since the 2017 tax law changes, Section 1031 only covers real property, and the definition of "like-kind" is broad within that category: raw land for a rental duplex, a single-family rental for a small commercial building, one investment property for another. Both the property you sell and the one you buy have to be held for investment or business use. A personal residence doesn't qualify on either end, per McLane Middleton's December 2025 overview in New Hampshire Business Review.
Does New Hampshire actually tax the gain if I skip the exchange?
New Hampshire has no general income tax and no state-level capital gains tax, so there's no New Hampshire tax bill to defer in the first place. The entire benefit of a 1031 exchange for a New Hampshire property owner is deferring the federal capital gains bill. What New Hampshire does add to the picture is its own Real Estate Transfer Tax, which doesn't go away just because the transaction is structured as an exchange.
What do the 45-day and 180-day clocks actually require?
The 45-day window starts on the closing date of the property you sold, and by day 45 you have to formally identify candidate replacement properties in writing to your qualified intermediary. The 180-day window, which runs concurrently and not in addition, is your deadline to close on one of them. The sale proceeds can't pass through your hands; a qualified intermediary holds them to avoid what the IRS calls constructive receipt. Any cash or debt relief you do receive outside the exchange, known as "boot," gets taxed immediately on that portion of the gain, per McLane Middleton's December 2025 summary.
Why doesn't searching "1031 exchange properties for sale" turn up NH listings?
There's no separate MLS category or listing type for 1031-eligible property. Any investment-grade property qualifies as a replacement if it fits your specific criteria and closes inside your window. What actually matters is having your price range, target cap rate, and geography locked in before your relinquished property closes, so the 45-day clock doesn't force you into whatever happens to be listed that week. Under NH's own Rev 802.01 rules, a 1031 exchange involving New Hampshire real estate is still treated as a taxable transfer for purposes of the state's transfer tax, even though it's not taxable for federal income tax purposes, which is a distinction worth understanding before you assume the exchange makes both transactions "tax-free.
What does the NH transfer tax actually cost across both sides of an exchange?
The rate is $.75 per $100 of price on the buyer and $.75 per $100 on the seller, a combined $1.50 per $100, or $15 per $1,000, per RSA 78-B:1. Say you sell a relinquished property for $600,000 and close on a $900,000 replacement. Your seller-side transfer tax on the sale is $4,500. Your buyer-side transfer tax on the purchase is $6,750. That's $11,250 in New Hampshire transfer tax across the two transactions, on top of whatever your qualified intermediary and closing costs run, regardless of the federal gain you're deferring.
Running the transfer tax and closing cost math on your specific relinquished and replacement price points takes about ten minutes and changes your actual net proceeds number before you're locked into a 45-day clock.
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