A Rose By Any Other Name… Might Be Called Scentūr

Coach, the holding company that ownsCoach leather and several other brands, is changing its name to Tapestry to better represent that they are a multi-faceted fashion house “… not limited to any category, channel or geography,” which was, of course, my exact thought when I heard the new name.

Actually, I thought of the 1971 Carole King album. Apparently, I’m not the only one. When asked for “the first association you have of a company named Tapestry,” the morning crowd at my local Coffee Bean was evenly split between the Carole King album and, as one person put it, “moldy moth-ridden faded banners hanging in dank castles.” To be fair, one person did say, “A classic luxury fashion house incorporating a swath of different brands,” but to be even fairer he copped to reading an article about the change earlier that morning… and then said, “Carole King.”

Death and Taxes (well, at least death)

Though the original title of this piece was “Real Estate Trumps Taxes,” I want to make it very clear that this is an article about real estate investing.

True, it is inspired by reporting that Donald Trump may not have paid taxes for the past eighteen years due to close to a billion dollars of real estate losses. That said, this is about how even small investors can avoid or minimize taxes and is not meant in any way as a political piece to suggest that Trump may be slightly disingenuous when it comes to his comments on people who don’t pay any taxes…

No, this is an article specifically about the way real estate is treated by tax regulations which allow well advised investors to put money in the bank by offsetting gains with losses (some of which only exist on paper). And I want to share with you some real estate investment secrets that don’t require you to attend Krull University.

A Multi-Family Investment Portfolio, One Unit At A Time

Somehow, I never get to be the Top Hat.

I have clients who want to own investment properties. And even though they may own several personal and vacation homes, the idea of putting all of their property investment eggs in one building basket is counter to their successful track record of spreading the risk across different assets.

Regarding real estate, individual investors generally think of the three most common property holdings: office buildings, shopping centers and apartment buildings. And the easiest of these investments to manage and understand is the apartment building — people pay rent, you subtract your expenses and voilà, there’s your net taxable income. (The CPA then works his/her magic by factoring in mortgage interest and depreciation deductions, but that’s something for the next day.)