Disposition is the exit, and the after-tax result is set in motion well before the sale. Deferral and characterization planning — like-kind exchange, installment sale, dealer-versus-investor positioning, and withholding management — have to be in place before a contract is signed. The firm structures the disposition for the net, not the gross.
The firm represents sellers in negotiating and drafting purchase and sale agreements and managing the closing, with any pre-sale restructuring — entity moves, basis planning, allocation among assets — completed in advance of going to market rather than scrambled at the table.
For the relinquished leg of a like-kind exchange, the firm coordinates with the qualified intermediary, manages the 45-day identification and 180-day exchange periods, and structures forward and reverse exchanges to defer gain into replacement property — see the § 1031 exchange tool.
Where an exchange is not available or not desired, the firm evaluates installment-sale treatment under § 453 to spread gain across years, and Opportunity Zone investment to defer and potentially reduce gain — with attention to the program’s current timeline and the planning windows that govern when capital must be deployed.
Selling parcels out of a larger holding raises the dealer-versus-investor question that separates capital gain from ordinary income, and requires careful basis allocation across the subdivided lots. See subdivision and basis allocation and the Bramblett/Phelan structure that preserves capital-gain treatment on appreciation.
A foreign seller’s disposition of a U.S. real property interest triggers withholding under § 1445. The firm handles pre-disposition planning, U.S. real property holding corporation analysis, Form 8288-B withholding-certificate applications to reduce or eliminate withholding before closing, and post-closing refund claims where withholding exceeds the actual tax — see FIRPTA for foreign sellers and the FIRPTA withholding tool.
Where a disposition is involuntary, the firm represents property owners in eminent domain matters — just-compensation valuation disputes, partial-taking analysis, and procedural challenges — including, in past work, the use of a novel jurisdictional technique to move a case to a favorable forum, resulting in a substantial settlement.
Disposition is the final stage of the real estate lifecycle — see Acquisition and Ownership before it, or the related Tax Planning work. To discuss a disposition, use the contact page.