When your household brings in healthy cash flow, having "extra" capital creates a great problem to have: Should you aggressively eliminate your primary mortgage, maximize tax-advantaged retirement accounts, or build outside investment portfolios? In high-cost corridors like the Puget Sound, home
The Costly “Gift” Trap: What Washington Residents Need to Know About Selling Out-of-State Inherited Property
When a family property changes hands, well-meaning parents often think they are doing their adult children a favor by deeding a house over while they are still alive. It feels clean, avoids probate, and feels like an "inheritance ahead of time." However, from an IRS standpoint, there is a
Rental Property Write-Off Limits in Seattle
Seattle's rental market can be attractive to real estate investors, but owning a rental property also means navigating a tax system with plenty of rules about what you can deduct, when you can deduct it, and how much of a rental loss you can actually use. The good news is that rental-property
Should You Prepay Property Taxes to Get an Itemized Deduction?
Every year around tax time, homeowners ask the same question: Should I prepay my property taxes to get a bigger tax deduction? The answer is: sometimes — but it depends on your overall tax situation. And there's an important update homeowners need to know: the federal SALT deduction limit is
Real Estate Tax Strategy: Cost Segregation, Accelerated & Bonus Depreciation
Real estate can be an excellent long-term investment, but property owners don't have to wait decades to receive the tax benefits associated with depreciation. For certain real estate investors, a cost segregation study combined with accelerated depreciation and bonus depreciation can
How to Reduce Taxes After Selling an Investment Property
Selling a property can be a fantastic financial move. You bought an asset, watched it appreciate, and finally decided it was time to cash out. Then comes the less exciting part: the tax bill. Depending on how long you owned the property, how you used it, your original cost basis, depreciation,
537 Installment Sale Trusts for Commercial Real Estate: Strategy vs. Scrutiny
When commercial real estate property owners in the Seattle and Puget Sound area prepare for a major exit, capital gains taxes are often the biggest hurdle to preserving net proceeds. Between federal capital gains, depreciation recapture, and Washington’s local real estate excise taxes (REET), an
Cost Segregation for STRs: A Tax Strategy Most Overlook
If you own a short-term rental (STR) -- be it a beach condo, mountain cabin, or investment property listed on Airbnb -- there’s a tax strategy that could dramatically accelerate your deductions: cost segregation. For many STR owners, this can mean thousands (and sometimes tens of thousands) of