Condo-ize apartment building to get under $500k in gain-Biden

Condo-ize apartment building to get under $500k in gain-Biden

Member since 2021 · 3 posts · 0 votes

It's my understanding that Biden's proposed changes regarding 1031 exchanges would not apply to real estate transactions where there is less than $500k of gain.

My partner and I own a 10-plex apartment building next door to an 8-plex condo building, where we own all 8 of the units.

We rent all of the units in both buildings as STRs and have been doing so for 10 years in the case of the condo building, and 5 years in the case of the 10-plex.

If we sold the apartment building, the gain would be ~$1.2 million, subjecting $700k to capital gains tax under Biden's plan

If we sold all 8 condos to an investor, the total gain would be ~$1.4 million, but split among the 8 condos, it'd be a gain of $175k/unit, so presumably nothing subject to capital gains, and we could possibly roll all of the proceeds over into a 1031.

Anyway, that got me thinking that if we converted our 10-plex into condos, if/when we sold the building, we could eliminate capital gains tax if Biden's change goes through.

We also own another two other 8-plex apartment buildings, and two 4-plexes, where we are in the same situation.

A google search turned up https://liberty1031.com/conver..., where a lady converted an apartment building to condos, then sold them to multiple individuals, and was deemed a dealer rather than an investor, and so was ineligible for a 1031 exchange.

If we did condo-ize the apartment buildings, would we need to continue renting them as STR for any period of time before we sold to show that we are still an investor rather than a dealer?

We had planned on owning these until we kick, but are getting tired of owning them and running our STR business, and are considering selling and investing in a DST.

Thanks for any help!

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  • So MD · Member since 2019 · 294 posts · 191 votes
    5y

    No clue where you are but given your scenario of "tired of owning" I would simply sell all and 1031 into a DST now. The law hasn't changed yet. Selling off the 8 condos would be easy to manage as each could be an individual exchange. I have no experience with conversions into condos but getting the permitting, possible building code issues due to shift from multi family to individual condos, HOA setup docs, individual sales, managing your own units as your ownership fraction decreases, etc... WHEW Sure sounds like a huge pile of new work to me. Best wishes whatever you do!

  • Member since 2021 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    5y

    Thanks so much. 

    The concern is that if we have over $500k in gains per sale now, and 1031 the proceeds into a DST today, in 7 years when the DST goes full cycle, and if there's a $500k limit, won't we have to then pay capital gains etc? At who knows what rate?

    If we keep each sale to under $500k in gains, that seems like it would at least help to possibly keep doing 1031s until we kick. Sort of an insurance policy? 

    We'd sell all the condos to one investor, not individual buyers. And it seems it may be more attractive to a potential buyer to buy multiple condos, so that if/when they go to sell, they're in a potentially better position, too. Smaller gains on multiple sales vs. a much larger gain on one sale. At the end of the day they get the same building whether buying 8 condos or one apartment building. 

    We're in Charlotte NC and fairly certain there aren't any building code issues, etc in converting, just legal fees etc. 

    There would be higher transaction costs I presume selling and doing a 1031 exchanges for 34 condos vs 4 buildings, but if that might help us after 7 years in a DST, keeping us under an arbitrarily set $500k threshold, we'd certainly consider it.

    Thanks again! 

  • Member since 2021 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    5y

    Learned that I can just cap any investment in a DST to $500k to stay below the proposed limit, potentially ensuring the next 1031 won't exceed the $500 gain limit, if it passes.

  • Investor · Saint Johns · Member since 2021 · 34 posts · 16 votes
    5y

    You can exchange each property into multiple DSTs, I think subject to some exchange rules. The gain of each DST can be kept well below 500k.

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