Blog Posts | Page 5

If you’re a real estate investor or plan to invest in the future, it’s important to know the basics of residential rental properties, starting with the various classifications. In this post, we’ll break down how to classify rental property, from property types and classifications by property age and location to classifications used for writing off accelerated depreciation. 

The Internal Revenue Service allows property owners to depreciate the value of an investment rental property over 27.5 years using the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS). This applies to all properties put into service on or after January 1, 1987.

While it is generally recommended to do a cost segregation study in the same year a property is purchased, built, or remodeled, this doesn’t always occur. Property owners that do not do a cost segregation study in the same year that property was put into service can do a cost segregation look-back study.

The best time to do a cost segregation study is the year the property is put into service. This is the same year that you purchase, construct, or remodel the property. However, if you didn’t order a study in the first year, you haven’t missed out. You can have a cost segregation study done at any time with a look-back study.

For property owners, cost segregation can help save thousands of dollars through accelerated depreciation. The required cost segregation study to realize these savings can be expensive, so can you bypass this expense with DIY cost segregation? 

An approach (or methodology) of cost segregation is the method used to allocate total project costs to property assets. These approaches rely on construction and cost documentation, estimates, sampling, or a combination of these things to accurately perform a cost segregation study.

A cost segregation company specializes in assessing property components for accelerated depreciation, which minimizes tax liabilities for real estate owners. Some companies may also offer additional tax credit services to help businesses save even more on their income tax returns. In this post, we’ve selected the best cost segregation companies to help you accelerate depreciation on your commercial or investment property.

A cost segregation study gathers information that is used to maximize depreciation on commercial and investment properties. A cost segregation study gives an in-depth look at various components of the property (everything from appliances to landscaping) to determine costs that can be depreciated over a shorter period of five, seven, or 15 years. A cost segregation study is also crucial for property owners who want to recover costs more quickly in the first year with bonus depreciation.

Cost segregation is a tax strategy that property owners can use to accelerate the depreciation of a commercial or investment property. Cost segregation allows for certain components of the property to be depreciated over a shorter timeline of five, seven, or 15 years. This accelerated depreciation can lower a property owner’s tax liability and increase cash flow.

The easiest and most accurate way to do a cost segregation study is by hiring a cost segregation company. Your cost segregation team should include CPAs, engineers, and other experts. It is possible to do a cost segregation study yourself; however, we don’t recommend going this route.