We source and diligence the property. The investor's CPA and tax advisor decide what it means for basis, depreciation, and the final tax return. Twenty years of running Michigan exchanges has taught us to keep that line clear rather than let operational coordination drift into advice we're not licensed to give.
What Coordination Actually Covers
Every property we bring to an investor's attention comes with a facts package, purchase price, lease terms, tax and expense figures, and closing timeline, that we route directly to the investor's CPA and attorney so they can evaluate basis carryover, depreciation recapture, and boot exposure with real numbers rather than a broker's summary. We keep a single, current version of that facts package rather than letting different advisors work from different drafts.
When a property under consideration changes, say the purchase price shifts during negotiation or a different unit gets identified in its place, we push an updated version of the facts package out immediately rather than letting the CPA work from information that's already gone stale.
Michigan-Specific Points That Come Up Often
Michigan taxes individual income at a flat state rate, which is a different structure than states with graduated brackets, and investors moving proceeds between properties in different counties or considering an out-of-state replacement often have questions about how that interacts with their overall filing. We don't answer those questions ourselves; we make sure the investor's CPA has the property and closing details needed to answer them directly.
Coordinating Across Multiple Advisors on One Exchange
A single Michigan exchange can involve a CPA, an estate planning attorney, a qualified intermediary, and a lender all needing slightly different pieces of the same underlying facts. We maintain:
- a single contact map so every advisor knows who else is involved
- a running question log so nothing gets asked twice or missed entirely
- a document transmittal record showing what was sent to whom and when
- a decision history so later advisors can see what was already resolved
Entity and Multi-State Ownership Questions Route to the Advisor, Not to Us
When a Michigan property is held in an LLC or partnership, or when an investor is weighing a replacement property in another state, questions about entity structure, tenancy-in-common arrangements, or multi-state filing obligations are squarely the tax advisor's territory. We surface those questions as soon as they come up in a property search rather than letting them sit until closing week.
Partnership-held relinquished properties bring an extra layer of complexity, since individual partners sometimes want to go separate directions on their replacement strategy, and that conversation needs to happen between the partners and their advisors well before any single replacement property is identified.
Keeping the Loop Moving Under Deadline Pressure
As the 45-day identification window or the 180-day closing period tightens, advisor response times matter more, so we send updates on a predictable schedule rather than waiting for a crisis to prompt outreach. A CPA who's been kept in the loop from the start of the search can turn around a basis question in a day; one who's brought in cold during the final week often can't.
Common 1031 Exchange Questions
Will you tell me how much tax I'll owe if my exchange doesn't fully qualify?
No, that calculation depends on the investor's specific basis, depreciation history, and overall tax situation, which is the tax advisor's determination to make. We provide the property and transaction facts needed for that calculation but don't perform it ourselves.
Do I need my own CPA even if I'm using a qualified intermediary?
Yes. The QI holds funds and administers the exchange mechanics, but confirming the exchange fits your specific tax situation, including basis, depreciation recapture, and any boot exposure, is a separate conversation with your own tax advisor.
How early should my CPA be brought into a Michigan 1031 exchange?
As early as possible, ideally before the relinquished property is even under contract, so basis and structure questions can be worked through before the identification clock starts. We route facts packages to the CPA from the beginning of the search rather than waiting until a property is under contract.
Can you coordinate directly with my estate planning attorney as well as my CPA?
Yes, when the investor authorizes it, we include any relevant advisor, attorney, CPA, or financial planner, in the same facts distribution and question log so nobody is working from an outdated version of the property details.
What happens if my advisors disagree about how a property should be structured?
That's a conversation between the investor and their advisors, and we stay out of resolving it since it touches legal and tax judgment calls outside our role. What we can do is make sure both advisors are looking at the same underlying property and closing facts so the disagreement is about judgment, not missing information.
How do you handle coordination when a relinquished property is owned by multiple partners?
We route the same facts package to every partner's advisor and flag early if individual partners appear to want different replacement strategies, since that's a structural question their advisors need to work through together well before any property is identified.
Do you send updated numbers to advisors automatically as a deal changes?
Yes, whenever a purchase price, lease term, or property under consideration changes materially, we push a refreshed facts package to the full advisor group rather than waiting for someone to ask, since an outdated number is often worse than no number at all during a fast-moving exchange.
