Out in the Outer Banks: An Investment Relocation Story

A couple years ago, a long-time client of ours, let's call her Melissa, reached out with a need in regards to the investment property in Springfield we'd helped her acquire. Melissa had been benefiting from holding the property, and had been successfully renting it out for quite some time. However her needs had changed: she was now trying to spend more of her time down in the Outer Banks, and wanted to move her equity down there. We were of course happy to share our expertise and guide her through this process!

First, we used our expansive network to connect Melissa with a top-tier Realtor in the Outer Banks. They helped her get a better understanding of that market, what she was looking for down there, timeline, cost, etc. We advised her about Capital Gains Tax, and using a 1031 Exchange to avoid taxes on the sale of the initial investment.

From there, as she started her search South, we started the process to get this investment property sold. We advised Melissa, as we do all of our investor clients, that it is much better to have tenants vacate the property before it goes on the market. So we timed the end of her current tenants' lease with the sale and new purchase. Once the house was empty, we got to work on our normal pre-sale checklist, starting with going through the home with her and making a comprehensive to-do list: items to fix or replace, carpet to clean or replace, paint, staging, high-end photography. The house was spiffed up, marketed extensively, put on the market, and sold quickly!

Melissa then found the investment property of her dreams in the Outer Banks, thanks to the awesome Realtor we connected her with there! Our client was able to avoid capital gains tax on the sale of her first property through the use of a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. Her substantial equity was transferred into the new investment property!

Now she has an investment property on the beach, and is able to take her family there for occasional OBX excursions!!

Want to learn more about how to make Investment Properties work for you? We're here to help!