Real Estate Tax Strategies Most CPAs Miss | Cost Segregation, 1031 Exchanges & Asset Protection

Denise Givan (00:00)
When you say high income earner, I have a lot of those and they are W-2 workers. What I do with them is I advise them if you are a high income earner, paying a lot of taxes, need strategies, start a business. Preferably real estate. That is the strategy because what it does, it allows us to reduce their taxable income right away because they’re business owners or because they are investing in real estate. So that is one of the biggest things I tell my high income earners, let’s find a business for you right away.

Scott Bursey (02:10)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. And today we’re diving into the world of tax planning with Denise Givan, the CEO of CoachMe2Life Financial Consultancy. With over two decades of experience, Denise specializes in advanced tax planning and business structuring specifically for real estate investors and high-income earners. Listeners, get ready to learn how to keep more of what you earn by uncovering legal strategies that most CPAs never mention. Denise, welcome to the show.

Denise Givan (02:49)
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

Scott Bursey (02:53)
It’s awesome having you here, Denise. And to help our listeners get up to speed, please give us the ninety-second highlight reel, if you will, of how your career ignited and where you’re pouring your fuel now.

Denise Givan (03:07)
Well, let me tell you, as someone who grew up in with not a lot of money, not knowing investments, not knowing about real estate, I have made it my life mission to make sure that I educate people on that aspect. So CoachMe2Life Financial Consultancy is where I get that fuel from, as you say, and that’s where everything lies with me.

Scott Bursey (03:32)
That is phenomenal, Denise. And what really caught my attention about you is the way you’ve been able to take complex, often intimidating tax codes and turn them into clear, actionable roadmaps for investors. Building on that, curious to know, what is the winning recipe you use to identify legal tax strategies that most traditional CPAs completely miss?

Denise Givan (03:58)
Well, that’s a really good question because CPAs are great. You know, we don’t we they are super great because they look for compliance. They keep everybody compliant. Now, tax strategies, we keep you compliant as well, but we are the nosy ones. We dig for those deductions. We go looking from places you would never think to look. And so with that being said, we are the ones who find things that’s kind of hidden in plain sight. So we’re the strategist. We go strategize everything for you.

Scott Bursey (05:17)
Do you find that most investors are simply undereducated on the code or are they just afraid to be aggressive?

Denise Givan (05:25)
Now that’s a good one because let me say this. They’re really undereducated on the code because I’m gonna use the investor who likes to buy properties often. It’s a thing called 1031 exchange, and a lot of my investors don’t know about it or they’ve heard about it but have not implemented it. It’s one thing to hear about it, but to use it is a it’s a great tool. So that 1031 exchange is what I like to educate a lot of my investors on, on how you could buy properties and not take that big hit when you do sell, you know, that that capital gain hit. So that is the one of the things I would say is the education piece is where I really thrive.

Scott Bursey (06:07)
And that is huge. Just wondering, what are the most common weakness pitfalls you see real estate investors falling into when they handle their own business structuring?

Denise Givan (06:20)
So one of the big pitfalls is that they go into purchasing real estate with the mind of money, making money, not going into it with the mindset of structuring it first. So, what I mean by that is if you’re gonna buy real estate, think about the risk or the liability or the exposure that you’ll have when purchasing. Let’s talk about that first before you say, hey, this is a good money deal. That’s one of the things I think that they should look into. How should I structure this deal before I purchase?

Scott Bursey (06:53)
If someone realizes they’re in that trap, how quickly can they realistically fix it?

Denise Givan (06:59)
It’s relatively quick because it you just need it’s a mindset switch actually. It’s just saying, hey, what is my ultimate goal here in becoming a real estate investor? Do I want to buy properties to just build a great portfolio? Or do I want to be anonymous in my purchasing? It’s ways to do that and where they won’t be so open to risk. So it’s a quick transition. It’s just about knowing about just how to structure the deal.

Scott Bursey (07:28)
And we love your take on the current market. Where are the biggest opportunities for tax savings that most investors are completely sleeping on right now?

Denise Givan (07:37)
That’s a good one. Let me tell you what, based on my experience, a lot of real estate investors are sleeping on that cost segregation report. Now, a lot of times they don’t they know about it, but they don’t utilize it to their you know, to the full potential. And the second area is the depreciation. A lot of times those two go hand in hand, cost segregation and looking for because you can accelerate depreciation when it comes to taxes. And so that’s one of the things that they don’t fully understand and take advantage of.

Scott Bursey (08:13)
Is that strategy or strategies viable for someone just starting out? Or is it strictly for the big players?

Denise Givan (08:22)
It is for those that’s just starting out. Let me tell you why. It goes back to the question that I just answered. Planning your the way you structure your deal. So if you know the ultimate goal and how what the outcome you want, that’s where we could find out right away if we could accelerate some depreciation right in the beginning. So it’s not just for people that’s been in this for a while, it’s for newcomers as well.

Scott Bursey (08:48)
Fantastic point. And Denise, thinking about asset protection, what is the biggest threat you see investors ignoring that puts their entire portfolio at risk?

Denise Givan (09:41)
I hate to say this, but they’re exposed. They purchase in their own name. And if I could, I just want to paint a picture really quick here. So if someone has rental property, multiple properties, A, B, and C, let’s say, and something happens in property A, and it’s all under one LLC, that could be a bad thing because if someone has an accident or if something is exposed in property A and someone goes after property A in a lawsuit, they could potentially go after the other assets too if they’re all structured under the same entity. So that is one of the things that’s overlooked is the way they purchase. Like the series LLC is not talked about a lot. That’s one good way of not exposing the other asset. So asset protection is it’s a very good strategy. You just gotta know is it’s no cookie-cutter way to do that as well. So you know you need to know it’s specific to you know to what you’re doing today.

Scott Bursey (10:47)
Let’s go a little bit deeper on cost segregation. When is the absolute right time to pull the trigger on that to maximize the benefit?

Denise Givan (10:57)
For me, you know, since it is considered accelerated depreciation when you’re taking that you need to do it in the first year. So you could take all of the you can take up to five years, sometimes seven years of accelerated depreciation. So pulling the trigger immediately would be my take on the cost segregation.

Scott Bursey (11:19)
Does that strategy apply to every property class or are there exceptions?

Denise Givan (11:24)
Are exceptions. So let me say this. With the a lot of times some investors don’t want to pay for that report because sometimes it can get very lengthy, it’s 60 pages sometimes, and so but as a tax strategy I think everybody should consider it or learn about it’s really about the education piece of it. Is it gonna really benefit me? In the beginning of me, you know, with my purchases and things of that nature.

Scott Bursey (11:55)
That makes total sense. Thank you for expanding on that. And interested to know, Denise, what does your professional network look like right now?

Denise Givan (12:07)
Yes, I do have a networking group that we do strategic, I call it strategic partnership is what I call it. And what that means is that it’s part it’s called RVX. And what we do is we tell each other how can how can you refer someone to me and it’d be a stroke a true strategic partnership. And a lot of times, you know, like with networking, you know which what we do. We go to a event, we pass out our business cards and what we hardly ever call each other. But no, we make connections right away. I would say, Hi, Scott, I have someone, Mr. Jones here. He likes, he would like to do business with you. I’m gonna connect you via text message. I do it right away. So it’s intentional. So yes, I’m a part of groups of, you know, that with intentional networking.

Scott Bursey (13:00)
Digging a bit deeper, Denise, what is the one piece of advice you’d give a high earner who feels they’re paying too much in taxes, but is totally terrified to change their current structure?

Denise Givan (13:13)
Okay. So are we speaking? So when you say high income earner, I have a lot of those and they are W-2 you know, workers. What I do with them is I advise them if you are a high income earner, paying a lot of taxes, need strategies, start a business. Preferably real estate. That is the strategy because what it does, it allows us to reduce their taxable income right away because they’re business owners or because they are investing in real estate. So that is one of the biggest things I tell my high income earners, let’s find a business for you right away.

Scott Bursey (13:54)
And is that transition usually as painful as people fear it might be?

Denise Givan (14:01)
It can be. It can be. But when you’re working with a strategist, that’s my job is to make this painless as possible. Because starting a business doesn’t necessarily mean that you you’re doing something outside of your current you know, career path. It could be if you are if you are an IT professional at your at your job, that is something you can do as a consultant to small business owners. So it I don’t make it overwhelming for them. So it can be painful and it can be, you know, a little intimidating. But when you’re working with someone that can hold your hand and say, hey, this is for tax, for tax strategies and let’s let me guide you in this. It won’t be as painful as it sounds.

Scott Bursey (14:47)
And that is powerful. Denise, you’ve really given us a lot of powerful insight here today. But is there any additional golden nugget or two that you could leave with our listeners?

Denise Givan (15:00)
Absolutely. Don’t wait until tax season to start looking at your books. A lot of times people think that tax prep and tax planning is done at the beginning of the year in January. It’s actually done right now. August, September, October, those are the perfect months to start tax planning. Why? Because we could find we can jump in front of some things that we couldn’t if the year has already closed. So that is one thing that I would want the listeners to pay attention to is it’s time now. If you should be tax planning at least four times a year. And you should have clean books. Those are the nuggets that I would leave anybody in real estate, in any type of business, tax plan before the end of the year.

Scott Bursey (15:51)
You just move the needle for a lot of people. And Denise, for those of our listeners that want to keep this conversation moving, stay in your lane or collaborate with you on future deals, what’s the best way for them to plug into your pipeline and reach you directly?

Denise Givan (16:04)
Well, the best way to reach me is through my website, and it’s DeniseGivan.com. You can book a time with me. You can see the services I offer. And also on the social media platforms. I am The Tax Strategy Coach on Instagram and also on Facebook.

Scott Bursey (16:23)
Denise, thank you so much for joining us today on the Real Estate Pros Podcast.

Denise Givan (16:29)
Thank you for having me.

Scott Bursey (16:30)
It was an absolute pleasure. And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you receive value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll be filling your tanks with the lineup of elite guest, just like Denise Givan, who are accelerating and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you in the next episode, everyone.