Jersey Realty Exchange Corporation
Jersey Realty Exchange Corporation
I was at an event the other day and a friend came up and asked me who a particular darked hair man across the room was. He looked familiar, but I wasn't sure. He was surrounded by a group of people who appeared to be hanging on his every word.
"Everyone says he's really smart," she said. "I mean, really smart."
Turns out his name is George Christofely and he is the guy at the top at Jersey Realty Exchange Corporation, which is a subsidiary of the Title Company of Jersey.
And yes, he's really smart. He's a CPA, a designation that comes right after his name on his business card. Wow, do I have respect for anyone who can put that title next to their name. You have to be really, really smart - no, make that brilliant - to pass that exam.
Christofely is also very interesting!
Jersey Realty Exchange does a lot of different things, it's a really neat business and much more involved than I realized. I knew of their involvement with 1031 tax exchanges, but they do much more.
A 1031 is a tax savings vehicle built in to the Federal tax code, allowing people who hold an investment and wish to sell the investment to buy another investment without paying taxes on the profit from the original investment when they sell it.
"The IRS says 'we don't want to penalize you as long as you work through the proper intermediaries,'" said Christofely. "Our process is to facilitate that transaction instrument. Of course, the buyer/seller has to meet the proper criteria, everything has to be done in a certain way. With property values being what they are in our area, you can literally save hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.
"You have to invest in real property," he said. "It of course can be real estate, but it can be other things as well. It can be a car, a steamboat, an airplane or a train. We do a lot of business on the West Coast with those items. You can 1031 exchange timber rights for conservation easements. This goes into a lot of areas that people are not even aware of."
Put me on that "unaware of" list. I had no idea you could 1031 a train for Heaven's sake! I guess you can tell I've never invested in trains, or boats or planes for that matter.
"You can't trade a copyright for a book for a song," he said. "It has to be real property."
With the real estate market being a tad "sluggish," shall we say, I asked Christofely how it affected his business. It would seem that 1031 exchanges might not be in hot demand right now.
"Our business is different because it's national, not just limited to Ocean City," said Christofely. "We can do business with any state, and the Virgin Islands. We work anywhere in the country. When the market here softens, we work in other areas. We're not as affected as local real estate businesses."
This doesn't mean business is great, however.
"We're down about 50 percent from the high point a few years ago, we definitely feel the difference," he said. "In 2005, we did 1,200 settlements and we did half that last year. Our business is not focused on second homes or primary homes, it's strictly for investment properties. We flourished, and we're still doing very well with hotels, motels, commercial buildings, storage facilities. Commercial property is selling very well despite the slowdown in the residential and condo market. We sort of found our niche, when one area slows down we can pick up in other areas.
"The commercial/industrial market is surprisingly strong," he said. "We really lost that condo/investment market with the downturn, but we have been able to maintain a profitable company through commercial. We do business in Hatteras, the Poconos, Florida, upstate New York, in the Catskills. We're doing fabulously in the Midwest with farmland and timberland. That's how we subsist.
"You can do this type of business anywhere, as long as you have a phone," he said. "It's a very interesting business to be in. We did some business for someone in Alaska, a 1031 for a company. The man referred us to someone else who needed something and that took us to California. It spreads, it snowballs. That's how we ended up doing so many different things."
When you buy a stock, hold on to it and then sell it and buy a new stock, you have to pay capital gains on any profit.
"You pay taxes, it's what makes real property investment so much more lucrative," said Christofely.
"It's a fun field, I really enjoy it," he said. "I sold my CPA practice ten years ago. It was a lot of fun, but I really enjoy this so much more. There are some great vehicles in tax laws that people don't even know about. You sell and use the equity to buy something else.
"In todays crazy market, the bigger rewards go to the most informed," he said. "A 1031 is not only the last great tax shelter, it's a tool for building wealth. It's a way to avoid paying unnecessary taxes," he said.
For more information, call (609) 391-1031 or go to www.jerseyrealtyexchange.com
I was at an event the other day and a friend came up and asked me who a particular darked hair man across the room was. He looked familiar, but I wasn't sure. He was surrounded by a group of people who appeared to be hanging on his every word.
"Everyone says he's really smart," she said. "I mean, really smart."
Turns out his name is George Christofely and he is the guy at the top at Jersey Realty Exchange Corporation, which is a subsidiary of the Title Company of Jersey.
And yes, he's really smart. He's a CPA, a designation that comes right after his name on his business card. Wow, do I have respect for anyone who can put that title next to their name. You have to be really, really smart - no, make that brilliant - to pass that exam.
Christofely is also very interesting!
Jersey Realty Exchange does a lot of different things, it's a really neat business and much more involved than I realized. I knew of their involvement with 1031 tax exchanges, but they do much more.
A 1031 is a tax savings vehicle built in to the Federal tax code, allowing people who hold an investment and wish to sell the investment to buy another investment without paying taxes on the profit from the original investment when they sell it.
"The IRS says 'we don't want to penalize you as long as you work through the proper intermediaries,'" said Christofely. "Our process is to facilitate that transaction instrument. Of course, the buyer/seller has to meet the proper criteria, everything has to be done in a certain way. With property values being what they are in our area, you can literally save hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.
"You have to invest in real property," he said. "It of course can be real estate, but it can be other things as well. It can be a car, a steamboat, an airplane or a train. We do a lot of business on the West Coast with those items. You can 1031 exchange timber rights for conservation easements. This goes into a lot of areas that people are not even aware of."
Put me on that "unaware of" list. I had no idea you could 1031 a train for Heaven's sake! I guess you can tell I've never invested in trains, or boats or planes for that matter.
"You can't trade a copyright for a book for a song," he said. "It has to be real property."
With the real estate market being a tad "sluggish," shall we say, I asked Christofely how it affected his business. It would seem that 1031 exchanges might not be in hot demand right now.
"Our business is different because it's national, not just limited to Ocean City," said Christofely. "We can do business with any state, and the Virgin Islands. We work anywhere in the country. When the market here softens, we work in other areas. We're not as affected as local real estate businesses."
This doesn't mean business is great, however.
"We're down about 50 percent from the high point a few years ago, we definitely feel the difference," he said. "In 2005, we did 1,200 settlements and we did half that last year. Our business is not focused on second homes or primary homes, it's strictly for investment properties. We flourished, and we're still doing very well with hotels, motels, commercial buildings, storage facilities. Commercial property is selling very well despite the slowdown in the residential and condo market. We sort of found our niche, when one area slows down we can pick up in other areas.
"The commercial/industrial market is surprisingly strong," he said. "We really lost that condo/investment market with the downturn, but we have been able to maintain a profitable company through commercial. We do business in Hatteras, the Poconos, Florida, upstate New York, in the Catskills. We're doing fabulously in the Midwest with farmland and timberland. That's how we subsist.
"You can do this type of business anywhere, as long as you have a phone," he said. "It's a very interesting business to be in. We did some business for someone in Alaska, a 1031 for a company. The man referred us to someone else who needed something and that took us to California. It spreads, it snowballs. That's how we ended up doing so many different things."
When you buy a stock, hold on to it and then sell it and buy a new stock, you have to pay capital gains on any profit.
"You pay taxes, it's what makes real property investment so much more lucrative," said Christofely.
"It's a fun field, I really enjoy it," he said. "I sold my CPA practice ten years ago. It was a lot of fun, but I really enjoy this so much more. There are some great vehicles in tax laws that people don't even know about. You sell and use the equity to buy something else.
"In todays crazy market, the bigger rewards go to the most informed," he said. "A 1031 is not only the last great tax shelter, it's a tool for building wealth. It's a way to avoid paying unnecessary taxes," he said.
For more information, call (609) 391-1031 or go to www.jerseyrealtyexchange.com
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