They are, in a sense. You do not receive the capital gains tax exemption if you do not reside in the house for something like 2 of the last 5 years before the s

They are, in a sense. You do not receive the capital gains tax exemption if you do not reside in the house for something like 2 of the last 5 years before the sale. You also pay a different tax level if the sale occurs within a year. I'm not sure how a 1031 exchange impacts these companies though. They're probably reinvesting the money in other real estate.