Real Estate Referrals by Laura

Real-Estate Adjacent Personal Property Interests

An example of property that appears to be real property, but is actually considered personal property, is a mobile home. An investor might wish to purchase or sell a mobile home park or vacant lot, along with ownership of the mobile home(s) on that property, which are rented out. While the underlying fee interest to the land being transferred would qualify as real property, the mobile homes themselves would not. It would be important to determine what portion of the purchase price for the property should be allocated to the mobile homes; this provides clarity on which portion of the property and corresponding proceeds are connected to the exchange. To qualify as real property in a 1031 exchange, manufactured housing units must be permanently affixed to a chassis or foundation. If they are not, they are deemed personal property and therefore not eligible for a like-kind exchange.