In this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements, Mark Wahlstrom looks at the idea of whether or not 1031 exchange tactics can be used to "wait out" the current void in the structured sale market caused by the departure of Allstate Financial as an underwriter of structured sale annuity funding programs.

Structured sale and 1031 exchange, the key to tax savings?

Both concepts, the 1031 exchange and the structured sale, have been around for decades and used successfully in the pre-real estate melt down era of the late 1990's and mid 2000's. However, over the last 5 to 7 years, the collapse of both residential and commercial real estate, coupled with concerns about potentially increased capital gains rates, largely smothered the potential of this once promising concept of tax deferral and cash flow planning using structured sales.

Evidence so far in 2013 suggests that interest in structured sales is surging as real estate prices have begun to rebound at the exact same time as the first substantial increase in capital gains and ordinary income tax rates became law in 2013. More sellers of real estate have been looking for options to spread out the tax hit in a secure fashion and structured sales appear to fill a growing need of tax planners, CPA's and real estate investors of all sizes. In this weeks video Mark examines some timely ideas for those who have pending sales or potential sales and are wondering what options there might be in the interim.

Mark Wahlstrom is the President of Wahlstrom & Associates and one of the nations leading experts in structured sales, Oil & Gas lease bonus structures, structured attorney fee's and mass tort settlement administration.