In this guide
The fee ranges, itemized
| Service | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Delayed exchange (base) | $750–$1,500 | Transparent firms publish $950–$1,250 flat; national full-service firms quote the upper half |
| Each additional property | $300–$400 | Applies to extra relinquished or replacement properties — multi-property exchanges add up |
| Wire fees | $25–$50 each | Two to four wires in a typical exchange |
| Reverse exchange | $3,500–$8,000+ | Entity formation + title holding under Rev. Proc. 2000-37; larger deals price higher |
| Improvement exchange | $6,500+ | Reverse mechanics plus construction-period oversight |
| Rush / late engagement | $200–$500 | The avoidable one — engage when you list, not closing week |
Ranges compiled August 2026 from published price sheets and quotes across the firms in our directory; methodology per how our numbers work. Individual quotes vary with deal complexity.
For scale: on a $1,500,000 sale deferring roughly $213,000 of tax (the calculator's standard worked example), the QI fee is about half of one percent of the benefit. Fee-shopping is rational; fee-anxiety is misplaced — the expensive mistakes in exchanges are custody failures and blown deadlines, not overpaying $400. (And skipping the QI to save the fee isn't an option — here's why.)
What the base fee includes
A competent base fee buys the safe-harbor machinery: the exchange agreement with the (g)(6) restrictions that keep you out of constructive receipt, assignments into both contracts, coordination with both closing agents, receipt and documentation of your 45-day identification, custody of funds, and the closing wires. Better firms include unlimited consultation with their exchange officers — not tax advice, but process guidance that has saved many an exchange. What it never includes: your CPA, your attorney, or responsibility for your deadlines. Those stay yours.
The fee that isn't on the invoice: interest on your money
Here is the industry's actual business model. During the exchange period the QI holds your entire net proceeds — commonly for 60 to 180 days. That money earns interest, and the exchange agreement decides who keeps it. Hold $1,000,000 for 120 days at a 4.5% money-market rate and the float is worth about $14,800 — ten times a typical fee. Three models exist in the market: the firm keeps all interest (most common, historically); the firm shares a stated rate with you; or the firm charges no fee at all and keeps the spread — the model behind every “free 1031 exchange” advertisement. None of these is inherently abusive, but only one number lets you compare firms honestly: stated fee minus interest credited to you. On a large exchange, a $1,250 fee with interest paid to you beats a $0 fee with interest kept — by thousands of dollars. Ask for the interest terms in writing; it's the single highest-leverage question in QI shopping, and on seven-figure exchanges the answer is negotiable.
Why reverse exchanges cost 5× more
A reverse exchange isn't more paperwork — it's a different product. Under Rev. Proc. 2000-37, the accommodator's affiliate (the exchange accommodation titleholder, a special-purpose LLC) takes actual title to your parked property and holds it for up to 180 days: entity formation, deed, insurance, a lease back to you, lender coordination when the parked property carries debt, and unwinding at the end. Liability lives on the accommodator's books for months, and the fee prices that risk. The same logic drives improvement-exchange pricing, with construction draws layered on. The premium is real and mostly non-negotiable — what is shoppable is the gap between a $3,500 boutique quote and an $8,000 national quote for the same structure.
Only 6 of 47 firms publish pricing
In our 47-firm verified directory, just 6 firms publish their fees; the other 41 quote by phone. The stated reason is deal complexity; the structural reason is that opacity serves the seller — quoted pricing can flex with what the file looks like, and fee comparison takes effort most exchangers under deadline pressure won't spend. Treat published pricing as a positive disclosure signal (it correlates with the firms that also publish custody and bonding terms), and treat a quote that arrives without written interest terms as half a quote. This is the exact information asymmetry our directory exists to close — the map marks who disclosed what, with sources.
Fees, proceeds, and boot
Good news on the tax side: QI fees are the textbook exchange expense — payable from exchange proceeds, reducing your amount realized, creating no boot. Commissions and standard title/escrow charges on the exchange legs share that treatment. The boot traps live elsewhere on the settlement statement — prorated rents, security deposits, lender-required charges paid from exchange funds — and the boot guide's closing-statement table sorts safe from unsafe line by line.
How to actually compare two quotes
Reduce every quote to four numbers and one document: (1) all-in stated fee for your structure and property count; (2) interest rate credited to you, in writing; (3) fidelity bond and E&O amounts, in writing; (4) custody structure — segregated, your name, dual signature. Then price the package: on a $400,000 exchange held 90 days, a firm crediting you 4% interest (~$3,900) with a $1,250 fee nets you ~$2,650 ahead; a “free” firm keeping the float nets you $0. The cheapest invoice finished third. The choosing-a-QI guide covers the safety half of the comparison — run both halves before you sign, because you're choosing a custodian first and a price second.
Red flags worth more than any discount
Walk away from: commingled funds or vagueness about where money sits; “we're bonded” with no number in writing; pressure to skip your attorney's review of the exchange agreement; a firm you can't find operating before 2020; interest terms nobody will state; and pricing dramatically below market with no explanation of the economics — in this industry the economics always exist, and if you can't see them, you're them. A fee difference is $500; a custody failure is your equity. The directory shows which firms clear these bars on the public record.