MYTH: you have until December 31st to start thinking about your year-end real estate strategy.
If you’re an investor, that’s not true — and waiting until the holidays to think about it can genuinely cost you. October 1st is a better start date than most people realize. Here are three things worth doing now, not in six weeks.
1. Check Your 1031 Exchange Clock — Especially If You Sold After October 16
If you’re mid-exchange or planning to sell an investment property before year-end, this is the one that catches people off guard.
The standard rule: you have 45 days to identify a replacement property and 180 days total to close. But there’s a second deadline running in the background — your exchange period is capped at whichever comes first: the full 180 days, or your tax filing deadline, including extensions.
For a property sold after October 16th, that second deadline can arrive before your 180 days are up. Without filing an extension on your full tax return, your exchange deadline can default to April 15th — which shortens your actual window, sometimes by weeks. If you’re closing a sale this quarter and expect to need the full 180 days, this is worth a call to your CPA or qualified intermediary now, not in March.
(This is general information, not tax advice — talk to a qualified intermediary or CPA about your specific exchange timeline.)
2. Know That 100% Bonus Depreciation Is Back
For 2026, 100% first-year bonus depreciation has been restored, with the IRS issuing interim guidance (Notice 2026-11) to help clarify how it applies. Paired with a cost segregation study on a property you’ve purchased or plan to purchase, this can mean a significant first-year write-off instead of depreciating those components over decades.
Whether this makes sense for you — and how it interacts with a property you’re closing on this quarter — depends on your specific situation. This is exactly the kind of thing worth a conversation with your CPA before year-end, while there’s still time to structure a purchase or a cost seg study to take advantage of it for this tax year.
(Again — not tax advice. This is a real, current rule change worth asking your CPA about, not a recommendation to act on your own.)
3. Use What the Current Market Is Actually Telling You
Greenville County home price growth has cooled to 1.3% year-over-year, and homes are sitting a median of 68 days — up 9 days from a year ago. That’s not a market falling apart. It’s a market with real negotiating room that didn’t exist a year or two ago.
For investors, that combination — slower price growth plus longer days on market — usually means more room on price, credits, and terms, which directly improves your numbers on day one rather than requiring you to bet on future appreciation. If you’ve been waiting for a better entry point, the data says this fall and winter are worth a serious look, not a market to wait out.
This isn’t only an investor’s advantage, either — if you’re a regular buyer who’s been priced out or outbid over the last couple of years, the same conditions apply to you.
The Bottom Line
None of this requires a decision today. It requires starting the conversation today, so the decisions you do make over the next few months are made with enough runway — not rushed in the last week of December.
If you’re weighing a 1031 exchange, thinking through a cost segregation study, or just want to run the numbers on whether now’s the right time to buy or add to your portfolio, let’s talk.
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