Cost Segregation Studies offer the opportunity to increase post-tax cash flows from an investment property by accelerating depreciation expense and deferring income taxes. To accomplish this, a team of experts in construction, engineering and accounting reallocate portions of a property's cost basis from real property (long term depreciation life) to personal property or site improvements (short term depreciation life).

The benefits of a Cost Seg Study still apply for single tenant net lease (STNL) properties: STNL properties are normally easier to assess, meaning a Cost Seg can be commissioned for much less than for a more complex property. On a relative basis, the present value tax savings can be just as great for a STNL property of a few million dollars or less as for a larger asset.

Certain properties will allow for reallocation of greater amounts of value to short term depreciation lives than others. A qualified Cost Seg team can provide a good estimate of a property's potential savings to an owner before a decision is made to move forward with the study.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Cost Segregation offers a way for real estate investors to realize tens of thousands of dollars in present value tax savings. STNL owners should understand that even at a smaller price point, they can still benefit from a reduced tax bill and increased up-front cash flows to their property.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Jonathan Hipp

Jonathan Hipp began his career in real estate over 25 years ago. In his early years as a broker, he ventured into the net lease industry and quickly began leading the US net lease market, closing over $3 billion in transactions. In 2005, Jon founded Calkain Companies, a company focused solely on net lease investment services. As President and CEO, he has been instrumental in building the firm into one of the leading Net Lease real estate companies, transacting over $12 billion of net lease deal volume over the past 13 years. He has expanded Calkain’s services to include brokerage, advisory, asset management, capital markets, and industry research. He has become a well-known resource, panelist, and speaker at various Net Lease and Industry conferences and is a regular contributor to GlobeSt.com on real estate trends. In June 2015, Jon’s passion for the real estate business was again recognized as he was nominated for the Top Real Estate Player in the DC area by SmartCEO magazine.