July 12, 2021 – Since my article in Realty Times on structured installment sales last year, housing appreciation has continued unabated and interest by many in “cashing in by cashing out” of their paper wealth has increased.

With some talk of interest rates ticking up in the coming year and phase four of the real estate cycle, recession, overdue, this seems an ideal time to take advantage of market demand by selling appreciated real estate.

But then there’s the tax sting which keeps many from selling.

Because capital gains on assets held over two years on anything above $250,000 (single) or $500,000 (married filing jointly) for a primary residence can be taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on the amount of gain, strategically selling real estate to minimize these taxes is just plain smart.

Add in state capital gains taxes which can siphon away even more of your equity when selling and you have a lot of reasons for considering a structured installment sale when you sell.

The Four Phases of the Real Estate Cycle

The four generally accepted phases of a real estate cycle are recovery, expansion, hyper supply, and recession. Depending on who you want to believe, these real estate cycles can last anywhere from 7-to-10 years to as many as 18 years.

We’re not here to argue which phase we’re in right now and can’t predict with any degree of accuracy when things will change, and supply starts to outstrip demand.

We just know that when someone’s ready to sell and wants to defer, reduce, or eliminate capital gains taxes, we can help.

Our firm fields calls from interested parties from across the country nearly every week and we’ve helped many clients save money on their transactions.

Structured installment sales are supported by U.S. tax law and are surprisingly easy to implement.

Our challenge is not enough people have heard about this option yet despite its availability for decades.

Having helped clients save tens of thousands of dollars on capital gains taxes, we’re urging anyone contemplating selling a business or real estate to look into the benefits of doing so using a structured installment sale.

Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash