change of trust beneficiary in lieu of recoded sale..Miami, FL

[Francesca Perez]

I am a new investor and I have found a property I am very interested in purchasing for rental purposes. The current owner is suggesting to change the beneficiary on the trust to me in lieu of a recorded sale.  Stating I will have the greatest advantage due to my property taxes remaining low, based on the last recorded assessed value from 2010. My question is wouldn't that create a bigger problem from me down the line if and when I try to sell the property?  The property was valued at $67500 in 2010, annual property taxes of $1300. My purchase price would be $265K, which would raise annual taxes to approximately $3500. If hypothetically I were to sell the property for $400K, would this mean I would be taxed on capital gains for the profit of the difference between the $67500 and the $400K? Or because a contract is signed showing that I purchased the property at the $265K, will I be only responsible for the difference from my purchase? I have asked a few local investors but no one is able to give me a clear answer. 

[Wayne Brooks]

Property values in Dade are reassessed Every year, the purchase price doesn’t affect the assessment.  If there is a homestead exemption on the property, yes the tax value assessment will be higher, due to the save our homes annual cap.

Is this a “family trust” or just a Land trust.

Talk to a cpa about tax disadvantages of “buying the entity” versus buying the property.

Also, sometimes sellers want to do this because a regular sale, including a title search/insurance may bring to light some title issue the seller is trying to hide.