1031 exchange with relative

1031 exchange with relative

Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes

Hey all! I have a question for the pros out there that might be able to provide some guidance for me. 

I am creating a 5-7 year plan of action for my family. The end goal is to have a piece of land with multiple houses: one for my growing family but also a home for my mother in law.

My mother in law has agreed to foot the money on a new property/land up front and when ready we can buy land from her to build/develop etc. 

We are looking at a property with a house on it plus 10 acres. Mom-in-law can buy the property as she will sell her primary home. I have several rentals that I can sell with combined equity of 600k+. Is it possible for her to buy the house/land then we subdivide the property (property has an approved preliminary plat for subdivision into 2-3 separate lots, electrical and pluming lines have been put in place for future development). I sell a few of the houses and do a 1031 to buy raw land from Mon-in-law then let it sit for 2 years until we are ready to sell our current home and move onto this new property?

Thoughts and suggestions or too complex and take the hit on capital gains tax as I sell my rentals?

thanks for the help all!

Eric

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  • Ben TrageserPro Member
    Accountant · Montclair, NJ · Member since 2020 · 218 posts · 104 votes
    1y

    @Jeff Nash Whitney may be able to help on this.

  • Dave FosterBusiness Member
    Qualified Intermediary for 1031 Exchanges · St. Petersburg, FL · Member since 2013 · 9k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    1y

    @Eric Helena, There is no statutory prohibition against purchasing from a related party to complete a 1031 exchange.  However, it must not have been your or their intention to avoid tax.  There are some accountants out there who say that the very act of doing a 1031 exchange is an attempt to avoid tax and so a 1031 purchase from a related party is a non-starter.  There are accountants who say that applies to the opportunity to discount sale and/or basis shift to further lower the tax bill.  

    These accountants believe that purchasing from a related party is fine as long as it is an arms- length documented market-consistent transaction.   You'll want to explore this with your accountant and see what side of the fence they are.

    What is more a concern to me is your plan to let the property sit for a couple of years and then move in.  When you do a 1031 exchange you are selling investment property and you must buy investment property.  After a couple of years it would be fine to move in.  But before that you need to establish that you purchased it with an investment intent.  Just leaving it sit without any investment use might not be enough to establish your intent in an audit.  But if you were to use it as an air bnb or ir it is raw land that you can generate income from by farming or renting out to farmers or grazing that would certainly work.

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