The 45-Day Identification Period

The 45-day period begins on the closing date of the relinquished property, meaning the day title actually transfers, not the day an offer is accepted or a purchase and sale agreement is signed. The count runs on calendar days, including Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays, and nothing pauses it once it starts. If day 45 lands on a Sunday, the identification is still due that Sunday, not the following Monday. Investors who plan their search around a rough weekly estimate rather than the exact calendar date sometimes discover the deadline arrived a few days sooner than they expected.

Most Washington exchanges use the three-property rule, which is the simplest of the three identification options. It allows an investor to identify up to three properties of any value, with no combined price ceiling. An investor selling a single Tacoma industrial building, for example, could identify a Kent warehouse, a Spokane flex building, and a Everett distribution property as backups, then acquire whichever one closes. Because there is no value limit attached, this rule works well for investors comparing a small number of specific, already-scouted candidates rather than casting a wide net.

The other two rules exist for investors who need a longer list.

• 200 percent rule: any number of properties can be identified, as long as their combined fair market value does not exceed twice the value of the relinquished property
• 95 percent rule: any number of properties can be identified with no value cap, but the investor must actually acquire at least 95 percent of the total identified value by the end of the exchange
• Mixing rules within a single identification is not permitted; the investor picks one and the list has to satisfy it

The 95 percent rule is the least forgiving in practice, since falling even slightly short of the 95 percent threshold on total acquired value can disqualify the entire exchange, not just the properties that fell through. Investors identifying more than three candidates in a Seattle or Bellevue search where several offers are being pursued at once should confirm ahead of time which rule the list needs to satisfy before it goes out.

A valid identification is a written, unambiguous description of each candidate property, usually a street address or a legal description, delivered to the qualified intermediary or another party permitted under the exchange agreement before midnight on day 45. A verbal mention to a broker, a text message, or an informal email that is never confirmed by the intermediary does not satisfy the requirement. Because the description has to be specific enough to identify one property and not a category of properties, a note that simply says an office building in Spokane Valley would not count as a valid identification even if the investor has a specific building in mind.

Property search timelines and the 45-day identification window are not the same thing, and treating them as interchangeable is a common planning mistake. A search for a replacement property in a tight submarket, downtown Seattle office space or well-located Bellevue retail, can easily take longer than 45 days on its own. The identification deadline does not require the investor to have a signed purchase agreement, only a written description of the candidate, so many investors begin identifying properties while negotiations are still open, sometimes before financing or due diligence has concluded. Starting the search before the relinquished property even closes, using projected proceeds and expected debt payoff to model what a replacement can support, is standard practice for investors who know their submarket moves slowly. A short internal deadline several days before day 45, giving time to confirm delivery and correct a description error, is worth building into the calendar rather than finalizing the list at the last possible hour.