OFFICE PROPERTY TAX

Lower Property Tax on Office Acquisitions

When you buy a leased office building, part of the price pays for the leases and tenants inside it. RealAdvice® helps commercial real estate buyers pay only the taxes that they legally owe by separating non-taxable intangible value from taxable real estate at closing.

What You're Buying in an Office Deal

A leased office building’s price typically includes:
  • In-place leases: occupied space producing income from day one.
  • Tenant relationships: established tenants and the renewals they bring.
  • Avoided leasing costs: the commissions, tenant improvements, and free rent a buyer doesn’t have to spend to fill the building.
  • Service contracts: parking, amenity, and building-service agreements that come with the property.
Most states don’t tax any of that as real estate. Unless it’s separated before closing, it stays in your assessment and in the transfer tax you pay at closing.

What's Taxable and What Isn't

Which of these a purchase includes, and how much, depends on the property and the deal. Rules vary by state.

How RealAdvice Helps Office Buyers

Our PairedExpert™ approach pairs an MAI (Member of the Appraisal Institute) appraiser for the real estate with a CPA/ABV (Certified Public Accountant, Accredited in Business Valuation) specialist for the lease and business value. Both sign one reconciled ProperTax Appraisal™, typically issued about ten days before closing. The report is restricted to state and local tax use, so it doesn’t change your lender’s appraisal or your federal taxes.

A Track Record Buyers Can Rely On

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years in practice

$ 0 B

transaction consideration analyzed

$ 0 M+

in first year tax savings for clients

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states where clients can benefit

The Florida Department of Revenue approved our methodology in 1991. Courts upheld it in the Disney rulings in 2018 and 2020, and it was vetted in federal bankruptcy court in 2022.

Questions Office Buyers Ask

Who benefits when office property tax goes down, the owner or the tenants?

The owner usually benefits first. Under full-service gross leases, the owner pays the property tax and tenants typically cover only increases over a base year, so a lower bill improves net operating income (NOI) directly.

Yes, though a building with fewer leases in place has less lease value to separate. The free estimate shows what’s there before you commit to anything.

No. The ProperTax Appraisal is restricted to state and local tax use. It doesn’t change your lender’s appraisal or your federal tax basis.