Frazer Ryan’s real estate attorneys advise and assist investors, property owners, and real estate companies with a broad range of services, including transaction, tax, and litigation services.
Real estate makes up a significant part of the net worth of many businesses, business owners, individuals, and families. Even if you own no real estate other than your home, you may have real estate-related questions, including about leasing property for your business or passing your real estate on to your loved ones or valued institutions.
Our knowledge of Arizona real estate ownership and planning, transactions, litigation, and tax law will help ensure that your rights and obligations relating to real estate have been carefully analyzed, well-documented and preserved for your benefit.
Below: Real Estate and Property Taxation | Real Estate Litigation | Estate Planning
Real Estate Transactions
David Cohen, Jim Ryan, Jon A. Titus, Phil Whitaker, Roger Stahl and Mia Samartinean assist clients in the purchase, development, and sale of all categories of property, from vacant land to commercial properties (including retail and industrial), shopping centers to office buildings, condos to ranches, and apartments to single family homes.
Many of our real estate attorneys also practice in our Business Law group and can provide insights and advice about entity selection (e.g., LLC, LLP, LLLP, or trust) to best support your purpose.
Frazer Ryan’s real estate attorneys help investors, buyers, sellers, developers, lenders, landlords, managers, brokers, and others possessing real estate interests, providing legal services that include:
- Commercial, agricultural, and residential purchase and sale agreements
- Commercial leases
- Subleases
- Ground leases
- Tenant improvements work agreements
- Real estate loans
- Closings, transfers, and exchanges
- Ownership structuring (LLC, LLP, LLLP, corporation, or trust)
- Declaration of easements
- Land development
- Negotiating and preparing loan documents
- Financing agreements
- Easements, covenants, and servitudes
- Lis pendens
- Property title issues and defects
- Tax-deferred exchanges
- Asset protection strategies
- Issues with probate and how to avoid probate
California Real Estate Transactions
Business and real property ownership in California poses a wide array of risks and requirements that are unique to that state, and that can hold serious consequences for Arizona and other out-of-state businesses and individuals that are not guided by California-experienced attorneys. David Cohen‘s knowledge of California’s complex Proposition 13 property tax laws, particularly as they relate to helping clients avoid unintended real property reassessments on direct and indirect transfers are invaluable. He practiced law in San Diego for 17 years, as a member of a law firm and as a sole practitioner.
Taxation
A property’s return on investment can be significantly affected by federal, state, and local taxes. Understanding how to best navigate the complex federal and state tax systems is crucial for real estate investors seeking to reduce their tax liability.
David Cohen’s background allows him to analyze complex tax issues and formulate effective tax strategies in sophisticated real estate transactions, including:
- Tax-deferred exchanges
- Entity structuring
- Sale and leasebacks
- Investor vs. developer issues
- California property tax
Doug John can help you with the state and local tax consequences of your real estate investment, including:
- Pre-acquisition tax planning and due diligence
- Property tax budgeting
- Property tax exemptions
- Property tax valuation appeals
- Real estate transfer tax
- Prime contracting tax
- Speculative builder tax
- Residential rental tax
- Commercial lease tax
- State and local tax controversy
- Property tax liens
Jon A. Titus represents buyers, sellers, investors, developers and homebuilders in real estate transactions throughout Arizona. Jon can assist in all aspects of these transactions including the following:
- Negotiating terms and drafting purchase and sale agreements
- Structuring ownership and profit participation techniques
- Drafting LLC and partnership agreements for the ownership entities
- Negotiating and documenting loan agreements and related agreements
- Handling title insurance issues
- Helping to resolve disputes before litigation is filed
California Taxation Transactions
By properly structuring transfers of real property, whether during one’s lifetime or as part of their estate plan, owners of highly appreciated California real estate can defer (and sometimes avoid) property tax reassessment that would otherwise occur when a property is transferred. In addition to directly advising clients on these issues, David Cohen can be engaged by both California and non-California licensed attorneys as expert co-counsel to assist clients with California-specific real property holdings as well as business, tax and transactional matters. He has an LL.M. in Taxation from Georgetown University and offers an invaluable ability to analyze complex tax issues and formulate effective strategies for businesses, tax-exempt organizations, multi-entity clients, and high net worth individuals.
Litigation
If your real estate ownership or transaction involves a dispute that may lead to a lawsuit, Phil Whitaker, Jon A. Titus, Jimmy Cool, and Jessica Dorvinen can help you protect your rights in settlement negotiations or in court or arbitration, including:
- Commercial lease disputes
- Adverse possession
- Hostile usage
- Partitions
- Ownership disputes
- Quiet title
- Commercial evictions
- Boundary disputes
- Foreclosures
- Breach of contracts
- Fraud
- Disputes involving inheritance-related issues
- Estate Planning
For many individuals and families, real estate holdings make up the largest part of their overall wealth. As a nationally recognized Estate Planning law firm, Frazer Ryan has decades of experience and wisdom involving strategies for using real estate to create a legacy for your family or your valued institutions. These tested and effective planning techniques include:
- Revocable and irrevocable trusts
- Family limited partnerships
- Qualified Personal Resident Trusts (QPRT)
- Family cabin limited liability companies
- Beneficiary deeds
