The honest version
Is There a Catch?
Yes, four of them, and we would rather put them on their own page than have you find them at closing.
The Easy1031 Exchange DeskReviewed September 9, 2026
The short answer
Interest sharing begins at $1,000,000 in net proceeds. Reverse and improvement exchanges are priced from $4,999. The interest rate is tiered, so 2.00% applies only at $5,000,000 and above. And ordinary closing costs still arrive, as they do with any intermediary. The $0 forward exchange fee has no asterisk on it.
- 01
Interest sharing starts at $1,000,000
Below that there is no interest payment at all. The balance does not generate enough to cover administering the exchange, so there is nothing to share. Under $1M the value to you is the $0 fee, which still beats paying $800 to $1,500, but it is the whole of the value.
- 02
Reverse and improvement exchanges are not free
They start at $4,999. A reverse exchange needs a separate legal entity to take and hold title to a property for up to 180 days, and that entity has to be formed, insured and administered. It is a materially different transaction, and no intermediary does it for nothing.
- 03
The rate is tiered, so most people are not on 2.00%
2.00% is the top tier and it starts at $5,000,000. A $1.2M exchange earns 0.50%. Quoting the headline rate as though everyone gets it would be the sort of thing this page exists to avoid.
- 04
Closing costs still arrive, and always will
Title insurance, escrow, recording fees, transfer taxes and your CPA's time on Form 8824 are costs of buying and selling property. No intermediary can remove them, and on a large transaction they dwarf any setup fee. What we remove is the only part of the bill a provider controls.
What is not a catch
The safety of your funds. That is a separate question from pricing and it deserves a straight answer from anybody you are considering. Ask for four figures in writing: is the account segregated, which bank holds it, how much FDIC coverage applies to a balance of your size, and what are the fidelity bond and errors and omissions limits in dollars. Ours are segregated, a commercial bank, up to $175M, $10M and $5M. Any firm that will not answer all four has told you something.
Why we put this page in the navigation
Because “no fee” invites suspicion, and it should. A page that only listed advantages would be less believable than one that names its own limits, and the limits are not especially damaging when written down.
The mechanism is plain enough that it survives being explained: every intermediary earns interest on your funds, most keep all of it and charge a fee too, and we do one of those two things instead of both.
No small print
The sceptical questions
Is a no fee 1031 exchange too good to be true?
It is the same economics every intermediary already runs on, disclosed differently. Every qualified intermediary earns interest on client funds for up to 180 days. Most keep all of it and charge a fee on top. We take our income from the interest alone and share part of it. Nothing is being given away for free; the revenue simply comes from one line instead of two.
What is the catch with the no fee 1031 exchange?
Four things, and they are all on this page. Interest sharing begins at $1,000,000 in net proceeds. Reverse and improvement exchanges are priced from $4,999. The interest rate is tiered, so 2.00% applies only at $5,000,000 and above. And ordinary closing costs still apply, as they do with any intermediary.
Is my money less safe in a no fee 1031 exchange?
The fee structure and the safety of the funds are unrelated questions, and safety is the one worth interrogating. Ask any intermediary, whatever it charges, for four figures in writing: is the account segregated, which bank holds it, how much FDIC coverage applies to a balance of my size, and what are the fidelity bond and errors and omissions limits. Easy1031 answers segregated, a commercial bank, up to $175M, $10M and $5M.
Are there hidden fees in a no fee 1031 exchange?
On a standard forward exchange there are no intermediary fees at all, including the ones commonly billed separately elsewhere: wire transfers, additional properties, expedited handling and document preparation. What is not covered is anything a third party charges, such as title, escrow, recording and your own advisers, and reverse or improvement structures which are priced from $4,999.
What happens if my exchange does not complete?
The funds are returned to you and the exchange fails, which means the gain becomes taxable for the year of the sale. That outcome is the same at any intermediary. What differs is that there is no setup fee to have wasted, because there was none to begin with, and no termination fee for releasing the funds early.
Start a 1031 exchange that costs you nothing
No setup fee, no wire fee, no per-property fee. Segregated funds at a commercial bank, and a share of the interest paid back to you.