It s too late to do an exchange. Until title has passed to the buyer and money has been received, it is not too late to set up an exchange. We can just have the title company keep the money until we find property to exchange into. A title company can hold the funds, but that, in itself, does not make them an Intermediary. There must be an exchange agreement in place between the taxpayer and the intermediary at the time of the sale and the funds cannot be in control of the taxpayer.
Exchanges are complicated.
If handled properly by a good Qualified Intermediary, the exchange will seem to be no different than a simple sale and a simple purchase. Exchanges will trigger tax audits. If handled properly by the Accountant and Qualified Intermediary, there should be no more chance of getting audited than in the case of a straight sale. The taxes will have to be accounted for at some time. This is true, but changes in certain tax laws as well as recent reductions in the capital gains rate offer hope for more favorable situations in the future.