When Money Goes From House to House

Once you start buying and selling property, you enter the world of property taxes and arcane real-estate laws.

Not to mention the Internal Revenue Service.

Deep in this jungle of regulatory mumbo jumbo you can find a group of professionals who make their living based on four digits: 1031.

The number refers to IRS code 1031, which allows someone to take the proceeds from the sale of an investment property and reinvest it into a similar or better property without incurring a capital-gains tax. ...