Plan D, Iteration 314.22

May 26, 2005

it·er·a·tion Audio pronunciation of "iteration" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (t-rshn) n...... Computer Science.
a. The process of repeating a set of instructions a specified number of times or until a specific result is achieved.

In other words,
Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

Till it makes sense of course.

Ok, so forget the new Harley, at least for now. Check back in a week and it may be back on, but for now, it's off the table.

Last night I sent the Mrs out with a realtor to check on a house that I had found on the web just the night before. In the heating Albuquerque market, I had a sense that this house might just be "the one."

Why is it always the "one?"

Anyway, you know what I mean, and I was all excited because it had a killer view, was right on the river so there was no neighbor looking in over the back yard, and the stupid cinder block wall was minimal. (I'll tell you another time about the southwest fascination with cinder blocks. Suffice it to say for now, that I hate them.)

So she went and then since she was with the realtor, she called me while they were getting gas.

"As long as I've got his time, I want to go to the other side of the Sandias and see that log cabin up in the mountains. But I need you to tell us the address."

How cool is that, when all the technology at our finger tips comes together. I pop on the web to the realtor's web site, look up my saved listing, pop over to Microsoft Streets and Trips (that is on every computer I own) and give them driving directions, all from 2,000 miles away.

She called me from the house and said... "NSR, you would love this house, all I can tell you is that it is an "event."

"It's not a house, it's an event."

It's an interesting thing about Albuquerque, you can be on the Rio Grande overlooking the wetlands and thousands of birds while the mountains in the background glow in the light of the setting sun. But drive for 30 to 45 minutes, you are on the back side of the mountain range, transported as it were, to a different time, a different place.

But for me, that's just too many logs for every day life. For an occasional weekend, ok, but I'm liking my logs on a more random basis.

I might add that this particular trip was prompted by the fact that I have another offer on commercial property #2, and in 60 days I'll have no office, no place to work but at home.

So where is home going to be?

I told the Mrs, that if she really liked the house on the river, it was her call, buy it or not, but if it was a buy, it would kill the AZ law school deal for sure, since neither of us are inclined to play the cards at our disposal.

She knows how I've wanted to create a new twist on my career, and I did suggest that if it wasn't going to happen now, it probably would never happen.

So she said to me, "I'm not making that call. We'll just have to let this one go, because I doubt that it will stay on the market for more than a few days."

We discussed the two houses for a while, and then after she got home, out came the cell phones, and we burned up lots and lots more of our free minutes.

Somehow in all of the talking, another idea that had been circulated, dismissed, circulated and dismissed again, resurfaced.

All of a sudden bells rang in my head.

DING DING DING...

NSR, you are the financial planner and tax guy, why didn't you think of this?

The long and short goes like this.

Commercial real estate, when sold for a profit, creates taxes. In my case, I bought distressed property, didn't pay much, fixed it up and then waited almost 15 years. If I sell it , I pay the tax.

However, there is a provision in tax law that lets you trade investment real estate for other investment real estate, even allowing you to roll several properties into one new one.

That means that I could trade my office in Michigan for a "rental" condo, or "rental" house in Arizona.

Mrs suggested that we could then buy a much smaller house than planned in the mountains just outside of Albuquerque.

House in the city, house in the country.

Two for the price of one.

With or without law school, this may be a great idea.