Creative Exit Strategy Needed

[Jeff M.]

Almost 20 years I bought a mobile home in foreclosure for my grandmother to live in. She recently passed. It just went under contract and I'm about to be staring down BIG capital gains. Yes, there are worse problems. BUT who likes getting mugged by the Tax Thugs?

I'd like to have a brief conversation with someone in CA who can provide some creative ideas on how to structure the best deal. Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks!

[Jon Holdman]

Was the property in your name or hers?  If it was in hers and you inherited it your basis will be the value at the time of her passing.  If its been in your name all along, then that doesn't apply, unfortunately.  You're 20 years too late to be doing tax planning, in that case.

Was she paying rent?  If so, then it was an investment and you could do a 1031 exchange into another property.

Good news is even if it was just a personal property then you're looking at long term capital gains and that's only 15% plus state taxes.  Nobody likes paying taxes but we do like the things we get from them.

Perhaps @Steven Hamilton II has some ideas.