What do you do with a house you no longer want? What if it’s a house in bad shape but you love the land?
Up until recently, I would have offered two options: renovate it or knock it down and rebuild.
Turns out there is a very creative strategy. You donate the house to the local fire department, who in turn burn it down for training purposes. You, in turn, receive a sizeable charitable contribution.
It’s common enough of a strategy that the Journal of Accountancy wrote a summary piece on what to be aware of (it’s written for CPAs, so it’s really technical, but the conclusion confirms it).