Featured Links

Other Topics






Quote of the Day

"Banks have a new image. Now you have 'a friend,' your friendly banker. If the banks are so friendly, how come they chain down the pens?"

Alan King








 




 
Featured Real Estate Articles

Are you looking for Columbus Ohio Real Estate information?
Are you looking for Columbus Ohio Real Estate information? Here is some information you can use if you'd like to get some information on Real Estate in Columbus Ohio. Columbus Ohio Real EstateReal Estate for Columbus and Central Ohio. Exclusive buyer's ...

Missouri Real Estate - The Show Me State
Nicknamed the "Show Me" state, Missouri is an interesting mix of big cities and rural lands. Missouri real estate prices do not require you to "show" a lot of money. Missouri The quintessential midwestern state, Missouri offers interesting contrasts. ...

Real Estate Investors find old fashion Lead Generation the Best!
Door Knocking is back! Tired of the poor results from “we buy houses” advertising, Real Estate Investors are tapping an old resource to generate higher profit deals. Door knocking is a lead generation, qualification, and development tool used by real ...




1031 Real Estate Exchanges - The Good and Bad!
 
One of the most powerful tools in a real estate investor's bag of tricks is the 1031 Exchange. When used properly it can defer the tax on capitals gains almost indefinitely.

A 1030 Exchange is really very simple. You don't actually have to trade one property for other... you just must use the gain from the sale of a income producing property to buy another income producing property. There are a few simple rules you must follow. One rule is that you have to complete the transaction with in a prescribed time period.

The other requirement of a 1031 Exchange is that you must never personally touch the money from the sale of the first property. Certain people and companies are in business to act as an "Intermediary" in exchanges. Their primary job is to collect and hold the funds from the buyer of the first property and deliver them to the seller of the property you are acquiring. And that's where the trouble starts.

In the past few years some Intermediaries have disappeared and the funds they were holding from many deals vanished along with them. Often the investor's losses amounted to from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

Oh yes, there have been other problems. Some Intermediaries "co-mingle" the monies they are holding for exchangers. That means that all of their exchange client's money is held in one account under the Intermediary's name. If the Intermediary is sued for some reason all money in the account may be frozen. If the freeze lasts beyond the prescribed time limit (180 days) for exchanges the investors are out of luck. There are no extensions possible of the 180 day deadline. Now the investors must pay income tax on all those capital gains.

With the huge increase in real estate values in many areas recently, investors should be using 1031 Exchanges. There is just no better way to protect their profits and build net worth. But they must also protect those profits from careless intermediaries.

Make sure that your exchange funds are held in a separate exchange account that holds only your money and no one else's. That account must be separate not only from other client's monies, but also separate from the intermediary's assets.

Each of the accounts should have the client's name on it something like this: "The Exchange Kings, as intermediary for Barbie and Ken Investor". That account must have the investor's tax ID or social security number on the account. Now, no matter what goes wrong with the intermediary, your exchange funds will remain protected and accessible.

It's great to exchange a property for profit. Just don't exchange that profit for an unexpected loss.

About the author:

Mark Walters mentors real estate investors with free videos offered at http://www.CashFlowInstitute.com


Google


Real Estate News


Leading Real Estate Company Announces Over $1 Billion in New ...
MarketWatch - 12 hours ago
HOUSTON, Nov 19, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Historic Real Estate Inc. Gets Aggressive Despite National Slowdown in Real Estate Development Historic ...

German Stocks Slump, Led by BASF, Hypo Real Estate, Carmakers
Bloomberg - 18 hours ago
Hypo Real Estate Holding AG sank 15 percent as Commerzbank AG advised customers to sell shares in the property lender bailed out last month. ...
Hypo Real Estate Post $3.87 Billion Loss, Forecasts Grim Outlook Wall Street Journal
Hypo Real Estate Sells EU30 Billion of Secured, Guaranteed Debt Bloomberg
German Stocks Pare Gains as Hypo Real Estate, Commerzbank Drop Bloomberg
Bloomberg - Bloomberg
all 147 news articles

Investment Regimes for Indian Real Estate Sector Explored
MarketWatch - 1 hour ago
Just as water seeks its own level, global investment, too, is gushing into real estate in India; its meandering path is revealed in detail in the following ...

Realtors Say Foreigners Hold Key to Real Estate Revival
FOXNews - 5 hours ago
By Phil Keating American real estate agents say there's a surefire way to help the country's plummeting real estate market: Let foreigners retire here after ...

Real Estate Market Slumps, Showhomes Soars
MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
Like many companies in the real estate industry, Showhomes posted huge gains in the housing boom. In 2004, at the height of the boom, Showhomes helped ...

Moody's: Commercial real estate prices rise
CNNMoney.com - 11 hours ago
NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Commercial real estate prices increased in September, according to Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Indices, ...

Winston & Strawn Continues Growth; Adds 19 Litigation, Corporate ...
MarketWatch - 11 hours ago
Nelson and Bristol handle private equity, project finance and real estate matters globally. Lapping brings his restructuring and bankruptcy practice to the ...

Commercial Real Estate Debt Index Plummets
Wall Street Journal - Nov 18, 2008
By PRABHA NATARAJAN WASHINGTON -- A commercial real estate debt index plummeted Tuesday after a Credit Suisse research report warned that two loans included ...
UPDATE 1-Economy, TARP conspire against commercial mortgages Reuters
Westin, Promenade Commercial Mortgages Near Default (Update2) Bloomberg
Big CMBS Loans Near Default; CMBX Soars, REITs Tank Seeking Alpha
Wall Street Journal - Bloomberg
all 31 news articles

Architects see drop in real estate design contracts
Los Angeles Times, CA - 7 hours ago
One way to tell if a recovery is on the horizon is to check in with architects. When they start drawing, development eventually follows. ...
Key RE Index Drops to Record Low in October Housing Wire
Billings by architects fall in West Bizjournals.com
all 65 news articles

Dividend.com

Target shareholder revises real estate proposal
The Associated Press - 8 hours ago
Ackman unveiled a plan last month that involves creating a real estate investment trust that would take ownership of the land Target owns underneath its ...
Troubled retailer+Ackman= $5 bln REIT IPO? Reuters UK
Pershing revises Target land spin-off proposal Bizjournals.com
Pershing's revised Target proposal out Wednesday Reuters
guardian.co.uk - LEAPSInvestor.com
all 129 news articles