Selling Property and Taxes
Understand basis, capital gain, depreciation recapture, inherited property, second homes, and the questions to resolve before closing.
Move from a broad concern to the facts that decide it.
Each guide connects the immediate question to property use, sale timing, documentation, available strategies, and the next conversation.
Capital Gains When Selling A House
What determines whether you owe capital gains tax when selling a house, how the Section 121 exclusion works, and what changes if the home was ever a rental.
Section 121 Exclusion
The Section 121 exclusion lets a homeowner exclude up to $250,000, or $500,000 filing jointly, of gain on a main home sale, separate from and not a substitute for a 1031 exchange.
Capital Gains Tax On Investment Property
How capital gains tax is calculated on the sale of rental or investment real estate, what depreciation recapture adds on top, and how a 1031 exchange defers both.
Capital Gains Tax On Rental Property
Capital gains tax on a rental property combines depreciation recapture and standard capital gains rates, with no Section 121 exclusion, though a 1031 exchange can defer the bill.
Depreciation Recapture Tax
How depreciation recapture works on real estate, why it is taxed separately from capital gains, and how a 1031 exchange can defer it on an investment sale.
Capital Gains Tax On Inherited Property
Capital gains tax on inherited property starts from a stepped-up basis, not what the decedent paid. Here is how the calculation works and what changes it.
Capital Gains Tax On Second Home
How capital gains tax applies when you sell a second home or vacation property, why Section 121 usually will not help, and what changes if it becomes a rental.
Avoid Capital Gains Real Estate
The legal ways a real estate owner can reduce capital gains tax on a sale, from the homeowner exclusion to a 1031 exchange, installment sale, or opportunity fund.
Defer Capital Gains Tax
You can defer capital gains tax on investment real estate through a 1031 exchange, but a primary home uses the Section 121 exclusion instead. Here is the split.
Installment Sale Real Estate
An installment sale lets a real estate seller spread taxable gain across future payments instead of paying it all in the closing year, though total tax owed stays the same.
Estate Tax Real Estate
Real estate passed to heirs at death usually receives a stepped-up basis that can erase deferred capital gain, separate from any federal or state estate tax exposure.
Cost Segregation Study
What a cost segregation study does, how it accelerates depreciation on rental or investment property, and how the resulting deductions get recaptured on sale.
Charitable Remainder Trust Real Estate
A charitable remainder trust lets owners of appreciated real estate avoid an immediate gains bill, draw income, and benefit a charity, unlike a Section 121 exclusion or a 1031 exchange.
Opportunity Zone Tax Benefits
A Qualified Opportunity Fund defers tax on a capital gain and can make later appreciation tax-free after ten years, a different mechanism than a 1031 exchange.