I purchased a vacant lot in my sub-division (catty-corner to the lot my house is on) 20+ years ago. I want to sell it to help fun a vacation house. I'll net a profit of $200,000 or so on the land sale. I'm trying to figure out if I can avoid capital-gains taxes on the land sale by using a 1031 exchange.
I gather the land and the vacation house are considered "like kind" simply because they are both real estate. But I'm unclear if one or both need to be considered to be investment property, as opposed to property for personal use.
I'm also afraid that the timing will prevent this. I have no expectation that when the land sells, that I will somehow be able to identify the vacation house to be purchased within 45 days (I believe I'm allowed to designate 3 and must close within 180 days). If not, am I out of luck ?