For 35 years, Asset Preservation, Inc., has been what you might call a highly successful (ex)change agent. The API firm, founded and still run by Javier G. Vande Steeg, whose parent company is Stewart Information Services Corporation, has managed the transaction of more than 200,000 Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 tax-deferred exchanges. 

In a sense, a tax-deferred exchange can be viewed as a highly sophisticated real estate swap meet — with the extra benefit of a reliable, professionally certified go-between. It allows investors to delay their capital gains tax payment by taking the funds from their property sales and reinvesting them in new or other investment properties.

An exchange is a primary tool for educated investors. By deploying it, they can benefit from a tax deferral that allows for significant growth and preservation of capital.

“What sets us apart is the vast experience of our associates and the security of funds provided by the Stewart Title Company Letter of Assurance.” — Javier G. Vande Steeg, Founder

API calls its trademarked industry differentiator The API Advantage. “What sets us apart is the vast experience of our associates and the security of funds provided by the Stewart Title Company Letter of Assurance,” says Vande Steeg. “The experience of API’s senior staff ranges from 15 to 35 years of experience structuring all levels and variations of 1031 transactions.” 

“That Letter of Assurance provides our clients with the comfort of knowing that Stewart Title backs API’s performance and the safety of their funds while on account with API,” he adds.  

Vande Steeg recalls that in the mid- to late-1980s, “I was working for a developer and a 1031 exchange transaction was being consummated by the buyer of one of our properties. It caused me to dig in and research what the buyer was doing. 

“I was more than intrigued by what I had learned,” he continues. “At that time, Internal Revenue Code Section 1031, for all intents and purposes, was unknown. I recall thinking that the benefits of the 1031 exchange were tremendous, fairly easy to execute, and yet were generally unknown to most real estate practitioners and investors alike.” He says he decided then and there “to make a career out of changing this, while starting and building API” — a determination that’s literally paid off for all concerned.