Video - 3 Benchmarks to Make Sure You Qualify for 1031 Exchange

Many clients have blinders on when thinking about doing a 1031 exchange. They may think “I’ve got $500,000 of net proceeds, all I have to do is redeploy my $500,000.” These clients are not thinking about the fact that they also need to exchange into a property of equal or greater value. For example, you may have $500,000 in proceeds, but your relinquished property may be worth $2 million. That means you have to buy a $2 million or greater replacement property in order to continue your investment into an equivalent property. So it’s not just redeploying the cash. It’s redeploying the cash into enough replacement property.

Furthermore, to the extent that you paid off debt or mortgages on your relinquished properties, you have to offset that debt relief on the purchase of the replacement property by either taking out new debt or adding cash out of your own pocket. Think about it as going up in value, reinvesting all of your equity, and offsetting your debt relief. If you do those three things, you 1031 exchange is generally going to be OK.

• Start Your 1031 Exchange: If you have questions about 1031 exchanges, feel free to call me at 612-643-1031.

Defer the tax. Maximize your gain.

© 2023 Copyright Jeffrey R. Peterson All Rights Reserved

Video - What is Recaptured Depreciation in the Realm of Real Estate?

Recapture is a higher rate of tax, often on the depreciation that you took on a property. When you buy a building or improvements on real estate you’re allowed to recoup your outlay over a long period of time. A multi-family property like an apartment building is depreciated over 27 and a half years. A commercial building like a medical office is depreciated over 39 years. Over that long period of time you’re going to recoup your outlay by taking deductions on your tax return. These are non-cash losses that are very valuable when you’re doing your taxes. However, they have the inverse effect of lowering your basis, which is not great because when you sell the property your gain is determined by the difference between your adjusted basis and your net selling price. So you’re going to pay more in gains when you dispose of the asset because you’ve enjoyed these depreciation deductions over the years. By the way, depreciation is not an elective thing. You have to take it if you hold the property for investment or business purposes.

• Start Your 1031 Exchange: If you have questions about 1031 exchanges, feel free to call me at 612-643-1031.

Defer the tax. Maximize your gain.

© 2023 Copyright Jeffrey R. Peterson All Rights Reserved

Video - Can you do a 1031 Exchange if You Don’t Yet Own the Property?

So maybe you don’t own the property yet. You just have a purchase agreement that says you can buy a property. Now somebody comes along and they want to buy your purchase agreement. You don’t even have the real estate. All you own is a contract or option to acquire the property. Can you do a 1031 exchange when you don’t yet own the real estate?

In some states, when you sign a purchase agreement, under state law you are treated as the equitable owner of the property. So for state law purposes you may be considered the owner of the property notwithstanding the fact that you haven’t closed on it yet.

For federal tax purposes the definition of real estate in the code includes options to purchase real estate. So perhaps this is an interest in real estate that you have. The more interesting question is this: “is this interest in real estate that you have like-kind to fee title?” In the realm of leases, a leasehold of less than 30 years is not considered like-kind to fee title. So it’s a lesser interest if you have a leasehold of less than 30 years. Perhaps having a mere option to acquire property is similar to the shorter term leases, and perhaps it’s not like-kind to fee title. If you’re in this situation, you probably need a sophisticated tax advisor to advise you of your rights and opportunities.

• Start Your 1031 Exchange: If you have questions about 1031 exchanges, feel free to call me at 612-643-1031.

Defer the tax. Maximize your gain.

© 2023 Copyright Jeffrey R. Peterson All Rights Reserved

Video - What Makes a 1031 Exchange Qualified Intermediary?

A qualified intermediary is supposed to be somebody who is neutral and unbeholden to the taxpayer conducting the 1031 exchange. So it cannot be a related party such as your employees, your agents, your relatives, or people you’re in business arrangements with (such as your partners). The related party rules specify that you can’t do a 1031 exchange with someone that is under your sway. The qualified intermediary has to be a neutral and unbeholden party. The industry is such that certain companies that have developed a specialty in 1031 exchanges have developed over time and hold themselves out as a qualified intermediary, but it’s basically an unlicensed and unregulated industry as a whole. So basically anyone can hold out their hat and claim to be a qualified intermediary.

• Start Your 1031 Exchange: If you have questions about 1031 exchanges, feel free to call me at 612-643-1031.

Defer the tax. Maximize your gain.

© 2023 Copyright Jeffrey R. Peterson All Rights Reserved

Video - 1031 Exchanging Into Multiple Properties

Can you buy multiple properties to complete a 1031 exchange? Yes, provided you identify all the properties you are going to purchase. You have to designate them within 45 days after the closing of your relinquished property. They have to be clearly described. If you do that you can cobble together multiple properties to get to the requisite value that you need to attain from an accounting perspective to defer your gains.

Let’s say you sold a property for $500,000 and you identified three replacement properties each worth $250,000 for a total of $750,000 in replacement properties. You can spread your equity over those properties any way you want so long as you reinvest all of your equity into those three properties. What a lot of people do is they put a lot of cash down on one of those three properties and put the minimum down on each of the other two because if they ever need to refinance or draw out some equity, they want to have all of their cash consolidated in one target property. That way when they refinance their property they don’t have to encumber the other two.

• Start Your 1031 Exchange: If you have questions about 1031 exchanges, feel free to call me at 612-643-1031.

Defer the tax. Maximize your gain.

© 2023 Copyright Jeffrey R. Peterson All Rights Reserved