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allowed tax-deferred exchanges for "tenancy in common" or "TIC" property transactions. Now 1031 exchanges were permitted not just for single-owner properties but also for multiowner, professionally managed real estate assets.

Between 2003 and 2008, Section 1031 investors poured more than $12.5 billion into various multiowner TIC properties ranging from shopping centers, office buildings, industrial buildings, apartments, and free-standing assets

With no available liquidity to fund like-kind property purchases, the 1031 market came to a screeching halt.

Delaware Statutory Trusts

DST deals are simpler for investors to understand, more nimble at critical life-cycle junctures, better suited to satisfy investor diversification needs, and, perhaps most importantly when it comes to putting a deal together, much easier for lenders to trust.

Centralized Management: In contrast to TIC, the DST structure puts all decision making in the hands of a trustee, centralizing the decision-making process. Furthermore, DSTs protect individual investors from personal liability and reduce deal documentation to a single agreement -- a trust agreement.

Smaller Investment Minimums: Although a TIC deal is limited to 35 investors, DST programs have no such mandated ceiling, with the only practical limit being that anything more than 2,000 investors triggers Securities and Exchange Commision reporting under the 2012 JOBS Act. As a result, TIC deals often have large minimum investments, whereas investors can buy into DST programs with smaller outlays.

Diversified Investments: Although TICs are constrained in the value of real estate that can be purchased by up to 35 investors, the pool of assets in a DST structure can be much larger. With more money available for investment, DSTs can afford to diversify assets.

Summing Up the DST Benefits: Simply put, an investor looking to do a like-kind property exchange gets a wealth of benefits under the DST structure. He enjoys the traditional tax deferral allowed under 1031 exchanges. Additionally, by executing a single trust document and for a comparatively small investment, he owns a piece of a diversified portfolio of real estate managed by a professional. And he is protected from personal liability.

For one thing, it mandates the unanimous consent of all owners for decisions such as property sales, refinancing and leases -- a management headache when there are many investors.

Similar to a public REIT, assets in a DST vehicle are not aggregated by blind pool methodology as they are in a non-listed REIT, but instead are specifically identified by a sponsor, and disclosed to all prospective investors.