Side by side
No Fee vs Paying a Fee
The same statutory deadlines, the same qualifying rules, the same paperwork. Two very different settlement statements.
The Easy1031 Exchange DeskReviewed September 9, 2026
The short answer
A conventional intermediary charges $800 to $1,500 to set up a forward exchange, bills wires and extra properties on top, and keeps all the interest your funds earn. The no fee 1031 exchange charges $0 for the same transaction and pays you 0.50% to 2.00% of the interest. Nothing the IRS cares about differs between them.
Paying a fee
$800+
Typical market range, $800 to $1,500
- Setup fee on every forward exchange
- Wire fees billed per transfer
- Per-property fees beyond one-in, one-out
- Rush fees when documents are needed fast
- All interest on your funds retained
The no fee 1031 exchange
$0
Published rate, standard forward exchange
- No setup fee, ever, on a forward exchange
- No wire fees, however many transfers
- No per-property fees at any count
- No rush fees when timing gets tight
- 0.50% to 2.00% of the interest paid to you
| Line | Paying a fee | No fee 1031 exchange |
|---|---|---|
| Setup fee | $800 to $1,500 | $0 |
| Wire fees, two transfers | $60 to $300 | $0 |
| Interest earned on your funds | Kept by the intermediary | $15,411 paid to you |
| Your net position | Down $860 to $1,800 | Up $15,411 |
| 45 and 180 day deadlines | Identical | Identical |
| What qualifies as like-kind | Identical | Identical |
Run your numbers
What the no fee 1031 exchange is worth to you
Two things move: what you would have paid in fees, and what we pay you on the funds we hold. Both are shown at the low end, so the total is a floor rather than a projection.
Fees avoided uses the low end of the $800 to $1,500 market range. Interest is our published tiered rate on funds we hold, to a maximum of 180 days. Not a quote.
The comparison that matters more than price
Price is the easiest thing to compare and the least important. Whatever an intermediary charges, it is going to hold a very large sum of your money for up to six months, and it is not licensed, examined or supervised by anybody while it does.
So ask every firm you are considering, including this one, for four things in writing: whether the account is segregated or pooled, which bank holds it, how much FDIC coverage applies to a balance of your size, and the fidelity bond and errors and omissions limits as dollar figures.
Our answers, and our limits, are here. A firm that will not answer all four has answered the only question that mattered.
No small print
Comparing the two
Is a no fee 1031 exchange better than paying a fee?
On cost, unambiguously, because one side is zero. But cost is not the only axis and it is not the most important one. What matters more is whether your funds sit in a segregated account, which bank holds them, and what bond and insurance stand behind them. Compare those first, then compare price, because a cheap exchange with pooled funds is a bad trade.
What do you give up with a no fee 1031 exchange?
On a standard forward exchange, nothing structural. The deadlines, the qualifying rules and the documentation are statutory and identical. What you do not get is interest sharing below $1,000,000 in proceeds, and reverse or improvement exchanges are priced from $4,999 rather than free.
Do cheaper 1031 exchange companies cut corners?
Price and diligence are not the same axis, which is exactly why they should be checked separately. A firm charging $1,500 may pool client funds; a firm charging nothing may segregate them at a commercial bank behind a $10M bond. Neither the fee nor its absence tells you anything about custody. Ask for the custody arrangement in writing whatever the price.
How much does a 1031 exchange normally cost?
A conventional qualified intermediary charges $800 to $1,500 to set up a standard forward exchange, before add-ons such as wire fees at $30 to $150 each, per-property charges of $300 to $500, and rush fees of $200 to $500. Those are typical market ranges rather than quotes from any particular firm, and few intermediaries publish a rate card at all.
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.