Last month, the LANDTHINK Pulse posed the following question to our audience: What effect will a Trump presidency have on the land industry?
Our informal online survey revealed that 70.58% of respondents believe that Donald Trump’s presidency will have a positive effect on the real estate land market. President-elect Trump is heavily invested in the real estate space. The son of a real estate tycoon, Trump followed his father into a career in real estate development. He has made a fortune through property development and owns hotels and casinos, residential towers, and golf courses around the world. Among his most valuable assets is his real estate licensing business- selling his name to outside developers who then market the development as a Trump property. With a real estate developer making the decisions in the Oval Office, it seems safe to say that the interests of the entire real estate industry will be well-represented in the White House.
Trump is expected to protect favorable tax laws currently in place. In his recent LANDTHINK article “What Could a Donald Trump Presidency Mean for the Land Market?”, Jonathan Goode pointed out several tax issues impacting the land brokerage industry: conservation easements, estate taxes, and the 1031 Exchange. Trump frequently limits the development on his properties by donating easements for conservation and tax mitigation purposes. In his article “Trump’s Golf Courses Expose Conservation Quagmire”, James Moorhead, founder of the Moorhead Law Group, explains in detail how Donald Trump takes the utmost advantage of the tax break on many of his golf course and other properties.
Trump has been particularly specific about his plan to repeal the federal estate tax. “He recognizes that farmers, ranchers, and timberland owners are unfairly penalized for building their business around a particular asset class in a way that many people do not understand,” Goode states in his article. But of the major tax issues, none directly affects the land industry more than the 1031 Exchange, which allows investors to defer capital gains taxes on the exchange of like-kind properties. President Obama wanted to limit the deferral of capital gains to $1 million per taxpayer per year, for both real and personal property. While President-elect Trump’s position on the 1031 Exchange remains unclear, the 1031 Exchange encourages investment, development, and frequent transactions, forming a healthy real estate market where Trump thrives.
Judging by the results of last month’s survey, the majority of our audience believe that the real estate land industry will prosper under the Trump Administration and Republican-led congress. President-elect Trump is expected to be successful in creating a strong overall economy, with increased income, spending power, and consumer confidence- all factors that typically lead to a healthy real estate market.
There is no question; the LANDTHINK audience (70.58%) solidly believe a Trump presidency will have a positive effect on the land industry. Only 15.14% disagreed, believing the new Trump administration would adversely the land real estate market, followed by just 14.29% who remained neutral in their opinion.
Here’s how the results panned out:
- 70.58% said Positive
- 15.14% said Negative
- 14.29% said Neutral
Thank you to everyone who participated and shared the Pulse with friends and connections in the land industry.
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I appreciate your article and mention of Mr. Goode’s comments regarding the treatment of Section 1031 by the Trump Administration. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump’s past use of 1031 exchanges is not determinative of how Section 1031 will fare in the context of Comprehensive Tax Reform. The House Republican Blueprint is silent on Section 1031 but it is clear from comments made by House Ways and Means Chair Brady that Section 1031 is not needed in a revised Tax Code in light of the proposed immediate expensing for personal property. This simplistic approach ignores the huge positive impact Section 1031 has on the economy in general and more specifically farmers, ranchers, small business owners, commercial real estate investors, Realtors, title companies and so many others involved with the land. The Federation of Exchange Accommodators as part of a broader coalition including NAR, CCIM, Farm Bureau Federation, Real Estate Roundtable and others are extremely concerned that Section 1031 will not make it out of Tax Reform alive. For more info on how you can help save Section 1031 go to http://www.1031taxreform.com or call or e-mail me.