Like-Kind Property
Like-kind property, for 1031 purposes, means any real property held for investment or business use in the United States — the definition is much broader than most investors assume.
What it means
The like-kind standard for real estate is extremely permissive. A shopping center is like-kind to an apartment building; raw land is like-kind to a net-leased industrial warehouse; a 30-plus-year leasehold is like-kind to a fee-simple interest; a fractional DST interest is like-kind to a whole building.
Not like-kind: U.S. real estate to foreign real estate; real estate to REIT shares (which are securities, not real property); a personal residence to anything.
Quality, condition, improvement level, and property class do not affect like-kind status. What matters is that both properties are held for productive use or investment, and both are U.S. real property.