Gifts of Real Estate While Prices Remain High

By Eaton Dunkelberger

President & CEO

The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada has a variety of giving options to help you optimize your philanthropy and minimize your tax burden.  Gifts of properties can provide many options to make a transformative charitable gift, often preventing capital gains taxes or creating a lifetime income.  I have seen an influx in interest in gifts of real estate in the last month at the Community Foundation.  Several current fundholders have initiated real estate gifts recently to maximize their charitable contributions while real estate prices remain highly appreciated.

Since real estate comprises over 40% of America’s total wealth, the Community Foundation strives to be a ready partner to help families donate properties to enhance their charitable efforts.

The simplest gift is a donation of long-term real estate (held longer than one year) into a donor advised fund.  We work with you to deed ownership to the Community Foundation, and the gift amount (and associated tax deduction) is based on today’s fair market value. We also work with families interested in gifting a portion of the property value, and can help you figure out a Zero Tax Sale to calculate the percentage of a property you would need to gift to eliminate capital gains tax. 

The Community Foundation can also help you (or your clients) establish Charitable Remainder Trusts, which pay a lifetime or time-bound income to you or your beneficiaries while the underlying asset ultimately goes towards a charitable purpose.  All of these giving methods can help you reduce or eliminate capital gains taxes on highly appreciated properties.

Finally, the Community Foundation has established a Community Housing Land Trusts dedicated to addressing the needs of affordable housing in Northern Nevada.  Properties donated to the Trust can be giving towards affordable housing purposes in perpetuity, ensuring multiple homeowners have an opportunity to achieve the dream of first-time home buyers through your gift.  You can learn more here.

The variety of ways to use real estate in your charitable giving and tax planning is exciting and I would love to help you make a transformative gift through property.  Are you curious about how you can make a charitable real estate gift with little or no tax, or that can generate income?