There are many options for donating your home, second home, commercial building, vacant land, farm, or other real estate to The Oregon Humane Society. There may be a gift plan available that will help you achieve your charitable and financial goals.
A gift of real estate could be right for you if you have any of these goals:
- You own real estate for which you no longer want to be responsible.
- You own real estate that you are willing to donate if you get income in return.
- You want to save income taxes.
- You want to make a generous gift to OHS.
How it works
Here are some common techniques for making a gift of real estate to OHS.
- Give your real estate now.
- Give your real estate now and receive payments for life.
- Give your real estate through your estate.
How Your Gift Helps
Your gifts to the Oregon Humane Society help to foster an environment of respect, responsibility and compassion for all animals through education, legislation and leadership. It will provide OHS with the resources to…
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| provide free and low-cost spay and neuter surgeries for thousands of pets owned by low-income families; | educate more than 12,000 youths and about 2,000 adults annually through humane education programs; | bring more than 6,000 pets annually to OHS from other shelters around the region as part of our Second Chance program. |
The common techniques for making gifts of real estate are each briefly described below. We would be happy to discuss with you which technique might be best for your particular situation and goals.
Transfer your real estate to us outright
This is the simplest way for you to give The Oregon Humane Society a piece of real estate. By giving us all rights to your real estate, you will maximize your support of OHS, and you will earn an immediate income tax charitable deduction equal to the full appraised value of your real estate.
Give your real estate now and receive variable payments for life
Using a gift arrangement called a “flip unitrust,” you can give your real estate now and start receiving payments as soon as your real estate has been sold. Your payments will vary with the value of your flip unitrust. Payments equal to 5% or 6% of trust value are typical. You will also receive a substantial income tax charitable deduction in the year of your gift. In addition, there will be no immediate capital gains tax on the sale of your real estate.
Give your real estate now and receive secure fixed payments for life
Using a gift arrangement called a “deferred gift annuity,” you can give your real estate now and receive payments of a fixed amount starting on the date you choose. The payment amount will depend on your age and how long after your donation payments will begin. Payments are backed by the general resources of The Oregon Humane Society for life and may be partially tax-free. You also will receive a substantial income tax charitable deduction in the year of your gift and avoid or defer capital gains tax.
Give your real estate through your estate
By making a gift of real estate through your estate, you will retain use of your property during your life. What's more, you can change your gift plan whenever you wish, should your circumstances or priorities change. Putting your gift of real estate into your estate plan now will help assure that your wishes will be carried out later. You may also save estate taxes.
Special considerations when giving real estate
Giving real estate to our organization requires some extra steps of which you should be aware. These steps include the following:
- You will need to establish the value of your property by obtaining a qualified appraisal. To be valid for claiming your income tax charitable deduction, your appraisal must be conducted no more than 60 days before your donation and no later than the due date, including extensions, of your next tax return.
- We will need to examine your property and conduct our own independent analysis of its value. For example, we will want to know if there are any debts, taxes, or liens owed on your property.
- Once we accept your gift of real estate, we could become responsible for cleaning up any environmental problems your property may have. This sort of cleanup could be very expensive. Therefore, before we accept any gift of real estate, we routinely conduct a review to make sure the property has no environmental issues.
Example
Brenden Spooner owns several buildings in his hometown. While they have been a good investment for him over the years, he's ready to stop being a landlord. His properties have grown substantially in value, so he's concerned that he will have a big capital gains tax bill to worry about if he sells them. He would also like to show his dedication to The Oregon Humane Society by making a major gift.
One of Brenden's buildings is appraised for $300,000. He purchased it for $45,000. Brenden proposes that he donate it to OHS, which will eliminate his concern over capital gains tax. After performing our own review of the property, we confirm that the appraised value is accurate and that we have no environmental or financial concerns regarding Brenden's property.
Benefits
- Brenden receives an immediate $300,000 income tax charitable deduction.
- Brenden saves $111,000 in income tax and $51,000 in capital gains tax.
- Brenden is relieved of all responsibilities of owning the property.
- Brenden gains the satisfaction of providing substantial support to OHS.
