Cost basis of subdivided land from a parcel with a house

Cost basis of subdivided land from a parcel with a house

INDIAN HARBOUR BEACH, FL · Member since 2014 · 29 posts · 7 votes

Hey guys!

I recently bought a .47 acre lot with a house on one side of the lot for 200K. A developer is interested in buying .36 empty acres of my lot for 150K (I want to keep the remainder acreage with the house). How much would the basis of the .36 section be for capital gains?
There are various approaches I can take:
1. According to the IRS (https://www.irs.gov/publicatio...) under "Subdivided plots". I can get the basis value by: "To determine the basis of an individual lot, multiply the total cost of the tract by a fraction. The numerator is the FMV of the lot and the denominator is the FMV of the entire tract." I paid 200K for the whole lot and the developer is willing to pay $150K for the subdivision. Assuming what I paid is considered "Fair Market Value" (the Market Value labeled in the property appraisers office for 2021 is $166,080): $200K x $150K/$200K = $150K which means I would not realize a capital gains.
2. Ignore the house and value the .36 acres proportionally to the total. So Value = (200 x .36)/.27 = $153.19K. Again not capital gain realized.
3. Trying to get the FMV of empty land in the area, a lot 2 houses down sold for $85K for .20 acres. If I apply that proportion to the land I am trying to sell, it values it at 153K.

Two questions:
1. Are the above approaches legitimate even thought they essentially imply that I got the house for "free" given the price of land in the area. I could arbitrarily assign a value of say 80% to the house and 20% to the land relative to what I bought and then pro-rate the 20% but that doesn't seem inline with the prices for land in the market.

2. If I do take a basis of 150K for the large subdivided lot of empty land and don't realize capital gains on it, does that mean that the remaining smaller lot with the house now has a basis of 50K when I go to sell it?

Thanks in advance!
Pedro

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  • Ashish AcharyaBusiness Member
    CPA, CFP®, PFS · FL · Member since 2017 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Pedro Machin:

    Hey guys!

    I recently bought a .47 acre lot with a house on one side of the lot for 200K. A developer is interested in buying .36 empty acres of my lot for 150K (I want to keep the remainder acreage with the house). How much would the basis of the .36 section be for capital gains?
    There are various approaches I can take:
    1. According to the IRS (https://www.irs.gov/publicatio...) under "Subdivided plots". I can get the basis value by: "To determine the basis of an individual lot, multiply the total cost of the tract by a fraction. The numerator is the FMV of the lot and the denominator is the FMV of the entire tract." I paid 200K for the whole lot and the developer is willing to pay $150K for the subdivision. Assuming what I paid is considered "Fair Market Value" (the Market Value labeled in the property appraisers office for 2021 is $166,080): $200K x $150K/$200K = $150K which means I would not realize a capital gains.
    2. Ignore the house and value the .36 acres proportionally to the total. So Value = (200 x .36)/.27 = $153.19K. Again not capital gain realized.
    3. Trying to get the FMV of empty land in the area, a lot 2 houses down sold for $85K for .20 acres. If I apply that proportion to the land I am trying to sell, it values it at 153K.

    Two questions:
    1. Are the above approaches legitimate even thought they essentially imply that I got the house for "free" given the price of land in the area. I could arbitrarily assign a value of say 80% to the house and 20% to the land relative to what I bought and then pro-rate the 20% but that doesn't seem inline with the prices for land in the market. 

    2. If I do take a basis of 150K for the large subdivided lot of empty land and don't realize capital gains on it, does that mean that the remaining smaller lot with the house now has a basis of 50K when I go to sell it?

    Thanks in advance!
    Pedro

    1) That is not correct. To allocate the basis, look at the value when you purchased the property, not the FMV as of now. Just looking at this high level, you are going to have 100+k capital gain on the sale. (Rough math)

    2) No, the basis can't be that high. Please look at the appraisal/tax record when you bought the house and allocate the basis based on that. 

    Your CPA can do this very easily and provide you documentation for your record. 

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  • Real Estate Professional · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2012 · 23k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    5y

    Yeah, you have to assign a value to the house when purchased, which can be defended.....subtract that from the purchase price to determine the land costs and your cost basis for the .36 acres you’re selling is about 75% of that.  I’m guessing a value “you can defend” would be the Property Appraiser valuation shown for Land verses the Building when you bought it.


  • INDIAN HARBOUR BEACH, FL · Member since 2014 · 29 posts · 7 votes
    5y

    Thanks for your answer Ashish. I bought the property 3 months ago so the value when I purchased it should be close to the FMV. The "Market Value" in the 2021 Column in the Tax Appraiser website has a value of $166,080. There is however no indication of land value in the tax appraiser site so I don't have any other way to calculate a ratio for the land. I think the assessed tax value never took into account that the property had a large lot and was simply valued like other homes with standard .2 acre lots.

  • Real Estate Professional · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2012 · 23k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    5y

    @Pedro Machin If it is in FL, the Property Appraiser site has the land/building values shown. 

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