Have you ever wondered: “How do I turn my unwanted or unused or unprofitable property into cash?” Of course not. That’s not something most of us think about while looking up into the night sky or hiking up Millcreek. More likely is that you’re fine 360 days out of the year, but then you read about our out of control real estate bubble, or a bad tenant vandalizes all the walls in your condo after getting evicted, or you inherit a vacant lot you’d love to do something with someday but never will. That’s where Wasatch Cash comes in. We’re the Ellis Island of real estate investors. The almighty Wikipedia defines capital gains as “the profit earned on the sale of an asset which has increased in value over the holding period.” In short, it’s money you make when you sell. For example, if you bought your home for $100,000 and you sell for $150,000, you’d make $50,000 in profit (minus the costs of selling and any realtors fees unless you opted to sell to a professional homebuyer). Short-term capital gains (when a property is sold within one year or 365 days of purchasing it) are taxed at the same rate as ordinary income while long-term capital gains (when a property is sold after a year or 365 days of purchasing it) are taxed at only 15%. Here’s the good news: the Capital Gains Exclusion allows single persons to exclude up to $250,000 worth of gain and married couples to exclude $500,000 worth of gain from their taxes—so long as that property was your primary residence for two out of the previous five years. And those years don’t need to be consecutive. Here’s the bad news: the average price of a home in Utah as of June 2022 is $545K. That’s across all housing types sold. If it’s in good condition, you may end up netting a gain over the exclusion(s).