For California Real Estate Agents · Free Tool

Losing a $1M+ listing because your seller is staring at a seven-figure tax bill?

Your client wants to sell. You've got the buyer. Then the seller's CPA runs the capital gains number — $400K, $800K, $1.2M to the IRS and Franchise Tax Board — and suddenly they're "thinking about it." The deal stalls. The listing expires. You move on.

There are two legal structures the IRS codified specifically for this situation — IRC §453 Structured Installment Sale and §664 Charitable Remainder Trust — that can cut the effective tax rate by 8–11 points and get your deal back on track. Run a free quote for your client below.If the math works, we coordinate with the seller's CPA through close. You stay the listing agent and collect your commission.

Quote your client now — free → Refer a client to Hans
The problem you keep running into

"My CPA just told me what I'd owe in taxes. I'm not sure I want to sell now."

Every California listing agent working in the high-equity coastal corridors has heard this. The seller has owned the property since 1995. The basis is $400K. The current value is $3M. The capital gain is $2.6M. The combined federal + state + NIIT tax bite is 33–37%, depending on filing status and income. That's $860K–$960K written to the government at close.

Why the seller's CPA isn't telling them about the fix.Most California CPAs know §1031 like-kind exchanges (for sellers who want to stay in real estate) and the §121 personal residence exclusion ($500K MFJ). Far fewer have done a §453 Structured Installment Sale or coordinated a §664 Charitable Remainder Trust for a real estate transaction. Many of them flag "Deferred Sales Trust" pitches as suspicious — correctly, since those are not §453 — and conflate them with the real, statutory installment-sale structures. The seller hears "no" on a non-1031 tax solution and starts wondering whether to sell at all.
The fix isn't aggressive tax planning.Both structures we coordinate are codified in the Internal Revenue Code (§453 since 1980, §664 since 1969). Both have decades of court history, IRS revenue rulings, and routine acceptance by Big Four CPAs. The seller doesn't need to like risk — they need to know the option exists. Once they see the numbers, the deal usually gets back on track.
The leverage your CPA never mentioned

Drop price ~$50K, could net ~$300K more.

Your CPA quoted your “net nut” on the cash price. They didn’t run it with the SIS. The difference is the leverage that closes deals.

The buyer doesn’t need to know what you’re netting on the other side — that’s your private math.

From the buyer’s side it’s painless: same wire, same closing date, same title transfer. They sign one extra page at closing — an assignment addendum that abdicates their future payment obligation to the insurance company. A few painless signatures and they’re out of the picture the day the deal closes. When it’s deal-or-no-deal at the negotiating table, that asymmetry is your leverage.

The scenario

You list your property for $2M.Your CPA quotes you a "net nut" of $1.26M after-tax on the cash sale (37% combined federal + CA + NIIT). A buyer comes in at $1.95M — $50K under list. You hesitate.

Here’s what your CPA didn’t tell you: with an SIS at the $1.95M price, your net (over the structure term) lands at ~$1.56M. You just dropped your price $50K, closed the deal, AND netted $300K MORE than the original cash plan.

⚠ Illustrative scenario · your numbers may differ
Plan A · Original
Cash sale @ $2.00M
Sale price: $2,000,000
Tax (37%): −$740,000
Closes? Maybe
Net to you
$1,260,000
Plan B · Buyer’s offer (cash)
Cash sale @ $1.95M
Sale price: $1,950,000
Tax (37%): −$721,500
Closes? YES
Net to you
$1,228,500
Winner
Plan C · Same offer + SIS
SIS @ $1.95M
Sale price: $1,950,000
Tax (spread, ~25%): −$487,500
Closes? YES
Net to you
$1,562,500
+$302K vs Plan A · +$334K vs Plan B

Why this works as negotiating leverage

  • The buyer signs the structure but takes no responsibility. They acknowledge the assignment on one extra page at closing — same price, same wire, same title transfer — and the future payment obligation moves to the assignment company. The buyer is out of the picture the day the deal closes.
  • The price cut becomes a closing concession.When the buyer asks for $50K off, you can say yes — confidently — because the SIS structure recovers $250K+ of value on your side. The buyer feels they negotiated well. You actually netted more.
  • Make it a CONDITION of the deal.The SIS assignment goes into the original Purchase Agreement as a contract condition. If the buyer balks at signing the addendum (they almost never do — it’s one page), you walk. The price reduction was contingent on the structure.
  • Your listing agent looks like a hero.They got the deal closed. Closing rate goes up. They get paid. They love structured-installment-sale-aware sellers. Win-win-win.
  • Walk into negotiation with a wider range.Cash math says you can’t accept under $1.95M without losing your net. SIS math says you can accept down to $1.78M and still match the original cash net. That’s 9% of negotiation room your competition doesn’t have.
The benefit of the benefit
A deal that closes is worth infinitely more than a deal that doesn’t. The SIS doesn’t just save you tax — it gives you the negotiating room to actually close the sale you’ve been sitting on for two years because the cash math wasn’t good enough.
Run your negotiating range →
What we offer California realtors

A free instant quote for any client with a $1M+ sale

No white-labeled landing page on your domain. No data-sharing arrangement. You just send your client to the calculator below (or run it on their behalf with their inputs), and we generate a full written analysis. If the math works for SIS or CRT, we coordinate with their CPA and estate attorney through close — and you stay the listing agent on the property side.

1

You run the calculator

Enter your client's sale price, basis estimate, and approximate post-sale income. Takes 60 seconds. Sharable URL.

2

Calculator quotes the structures

Side-by-side comparison of SIS, CRT, and straight cash sale using actual 2026 CA + federal tax brackets. Shows real after-tax dollars in pocket.

3

Email the analysis to your client

Branded HTML PDF report (the calculator emails it automatically). They forward it to their CPA. The CPA sees real numbers, not a vague pitch.

4

Hans coordinates the close

If the seller wants to proceed, Hans coordinates the §453 placement (via a carrier-appointed structured settlement broker) or §664 trust drafting (via the seller's attorney). You stay the listing agent.

No login · No email required · 60 seconds

Quote your client now

Same calculator any seller can run on their own. Realtors typically run it once with the client's rough numbers to verify the math justifies the conversation, then send the seller the link to run it themselves with precise inputs.

Open the SIS vs CRT vs Cash calculator →
Transparency on compensation

How this works for everyone involved

No referral fees flow between you (the realtor) and us. Your relationship with your client stays clean. Compensation flows the standard way each party gets paid in their respective practice — and it's disclosed in writing to the seller on every case.

Realtor

You collect your standard listing commission from the property sale at close. We do not pay realtor referral fees and we do not accept them. We benefit by being introduced to motivated sellers; you benefit by getting your stalled listing back on track. That's the exchange.

Seller's CPA & estate attorney

They charge their normal advisory rates for reviewing the structure with their client. The CRT trust drafting fee ($3K–$15K typical) is paid by the seller directly to the attorney. We do not pay CPAs or attorneys for referrals.

👤 Hans Goldstein

On a placed §453 structured installment sale annuity, the carrier (an A-rated fixed-annuity carrier, an indexed-annuity carrier, etc.) pays standard producer commission to the placing structured-settlement broker. That broker pays Hans a co-broker referral split. The full compensation arrangement is disclosed in writing to the seller before any placement, per CA SB 263 best-interest standard.

Direct referral

Want to introduce Hans to a specific client?

Send the basics. Hans will follow up within one business day to coordinate a no-obligation 20-minute call with you and your seller.