Example of Cost Segregation Study on Single Family Home in Miami

Example of Cost Segregation Study on Single Family Home in Miami

Julio GonzalezPro Member
Specialist · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes

Without a Cost Segregation Study, this $595,685 Single Home in Miami, Florida purchased in 2020 would have generated first-year depreciation of approximately $22,000. By applying a Cost Segregation Study, the property investors accelerated depreciation for the first year to approximately $203,600.

This accelerated depreciation strategy allows the property investors to immediately reduce their tax liability and in turn, increase their bottom line by offsetting income. This detailed engineering-based Cost Segregation Study will also be used to help maximize improvements and renovation in addition to being used for potential savings with insurance premium costs and property tax appeals.

A Cost Segregation study is an IRS approved federal income tax tool that increases near term cash flow by utilizing shorter recovery periods for depreciation to accelerate return on investment. For newly constructed, purchased or renovated properties and also retroactive generally over the last 10 years, building components are properly classified into individual units of property and accurate recovery periods for computing depreciation deductions. The study identifies with forensic engineering detail the immediate Bonus Depreciation 5, 7 and 15-year personal property class lives qualifying portions of a building that are normally buried in 27.5 year residential or 39 year commercial categories.

If you are a real estate owner, have you had a cost segregation study performed on your properties? What benefits did you receive?

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  • Lender · Winlock, WA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    5y

    I have always been interested in cost segregation studies, however I have heard that it may not make financial sense if the value of the property is small. Can you tell us more about the costs and at what value level of the home, a person should consider a study? 

    Also, because depreciation will easily out pace any cash flow on the property, are you allowed to carry forward the depreciation into future years to off set the profits. And finally, will this reduce the basis in the home or does it have no affect on basis going forward?

  • Julio GonzalezPro Member
    OP
    Specialist · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Kevin Romines Great question! We have done cost seg studies on properties with a purchase price as low as $150k. That's not to say every property at that price point is able to benefit from a cost seg study, but I always recommend getting a free cost/benefit analysis quote to determine if it would be beneficial for your property. On average, the price of a cost seg study on a SFH is around $3,000-$4,000. It could be a little lower or higher depending on the how small or large the property is.

    Your depreciation is accelerated on the property, so you will have significantly more depreciation up front. In this example you can see that only $73k is depreciated over 15 years and $35k is depreciated over 27.5 years. The rest is taken in year one or depreciated over 5 years. When doing a cost seg study, a lot of people want this accelerated depreciation to put more cash in their pocket today so they can invest in another property and continue the cycle to keep building out their real estate portfolio. Yes, depreciation in general reduces your basis in the property. So your basis will decrease each year depending on how much you take in depreciation.

  • Member since 2021 · 166 posts · 113 votes
    4y

    @Julio Gonzalez People may not know the acronyms you are using if they don't swim in your lane. What does "CL" stand for in the Excel screen-cap above? I assume its related to the allocated depreciation for each time block of years?

  • Julio GonzalezPro Member
    OP
    Specialist · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Jeff Costa great question! CL stands for Class Life.

  • Member since 2022 · 4 posts · 3 votes
    3y

    @Julio Gonzalez I was not able to see the cost segregation study you posted. Could you send me a copy?

  • Julio GonzalezPro Member
    OP
    Specialist · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    3y

    @Michael S Dawson Unfortunately we aren't able to share the actual report itself for client confidentiality purposes, but the example above summarizes the results. Let me know if you have any other questions or have any properties you'd like for me to put together a free cost/benefit analysis quote for.

  • Investor · Pensacola, FL · Member since 2017 · 50 posts · 21 votes
    2y

    @Julio Gonzalez  I'm looking to do a cost seg study on a property I purchased in Pensacola, FL this year.  Can you help?  I sent you a DM already.  

  • Julio GonzalezPro Member
    OP
    Specialist · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y

    @Andrew Angell Absolutely. Got your DM and will follow up.

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