How does the 45-day identification rule work?
You have 45 calendar days from closing your sale to identify replacement property in writing to your qualified intermediary. You can identify under three methods: up to 3 properties of any value, any number totaling up to 200% of what you sold, or acquire 95% of everything you named.
The clock starts the day your relinquished property closes and runs 45 calendar days — weekends and holidays count, and the deadline does not extend if day 45 lands on a Sunday. Identification must be in writing, signed, unambiguous (address or legal description), and delivered to your qualified intermediary or another permitted party by midnight of day 45.
The three-property rule is the workhorse: name up to three candidates regardless of value, and buy any of them. The 200% rule lets you name more than three, as long as their combined value does not exceed twice your sale price. The 95% rule is the escape hatch — identify anything you want, but you must actually acquire 95% of the total value named. Almost nobody uses it on purpose.
Practical advice from the lending side: identify three real candidates, not one dream property and two throwaways. If financing or diligence kills your first choice on day 60, a genuine backup is the only thing that saves the exchange — you cannot add names after day 45.
The Turnrow angle
Turnrow issues written term sheets in 24–48 hours, so you can test financeability on all three candidates before your identification letter goes in — not after.
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