Strategies & Tax Implications for purchasing commercial property from parents

[Jeanelle Ignacio]

This is my first post for some insight on this great forum...and it's got a ton of moving pieces.

My husband's parents own commercial property (free & clear/no mortgage) on a large lot that has a board and care (assisted living) facility.  They are retired, and are currently leasing that board and care business for about 5K/month (which is low in this industry).  The property is valued at about $1,000,000 and they are open to selling this to us for less than that ($700-$800K).  Their main concern is the tax implications from such a large sale.  Not sure if this type of transaction would be best to put in a trust.  They are open to seller financing.  If we move forward with purchasing this property, we plan to build additional 4-8 units (pending on what is permitted) while maintaining the original board and care facility.  Rental prices are crazy here in SoCal so we wanted to make the best use of the large lot of this property.

I do plan to speak to my CPA and lawyer about this.  I am curious to hear if anyone here has any creative strategies for acquiring the property and/or suggestions for decreasing tax implications.  Thanks for you insight.

[Steve Vaughan]

Quote from @Jeanelle Ignacio:

This is my first post for some insight on this great forum...and it's got a ton of moving pieces.

My husband's parents own commercial property (free & clear/no mortgage) on a large lot that has a board and care (assisted living) facility.  They are retired, and are currently leasing that board and care business for about 5K/month (which is low in this industry).  The property is valued at about $1,000,000 and they are open to selling this to us for less than that ($700-$800K).  Their main concern is the tax implications from such a large sale.  Not sure if this type of transaction would be best to put in a trust.  They are open to seller financing.  If we move forward with purchasing this property, we plan to build additional 4-8 units (pending on what is permitted) while maintaining the original board and care facility.  Rental prices are crazy here in SoCal so we wanted to make the best use of the large lot of this property.

I do plan to speak to my CPA and lawyer about this.  I am curious to hear if anyone here has any creative strategies for acquiring the property and/or suggestions for decreasing tax implications.  Thanks for you insight.

 Seller financing was the most tax efficient method to exit long appreciated assets for me.  

The tax hit is essentially spread out over the length of the installments.

Find a RE-focused CPA / EA.