Making an Outright Gift of Real Estate
With the world currently in an economic crisis, donating funds to a charity such as the McGill University Health Centre Foundation may seem like a daunting prospect. Fortunately, there are other types of donations you can turn to during these tough economic times.
Gift of Real Estate gains popularity
According to Real Estate for Charities, U.S. charities receive approximately $2 billion of real estate gifts every year and the number is going up during the next 15 to 20 years. Gifts of real estate could potentially be large and frequently beneficial to the MUHC Foundation. By making a gift of real estate to the MUHC Foundation, the donor, whether it be a business or an individual, will realize potential tax savings and promote their goodwill to the community by supporting the MUHC. Foundation.
Gifts of real estate may be made in various ways: outright, residual interest in the property, or to fund a charitable remainder trust. The following guidelines pertain to gifts of real estate in general:
- The donor shall secure a qualified appraisal of the property.
- Unless the MUHC Foundation has reason to believe this appraisal does not reflect the property’s true value, a gift receipt will be issued for the appraisal value. The MUHC Foundation does reserve the right to secure its own appraisal and issue a gift receipt based on it.
- The MUHC Foundation shall determine if the donor has clear title to the property. In addition, the MUHC Foundation shall review other factors in determining if it should accept the gift of real estate by examining the following: zoning restrictions, marketability and current use.
- The MUHC Foundation shall also conduct an environmental assessment if it chooses to accept the gift of real estate.
Therefore, real estate gifts can be very important to a charity. However, they must be carefully screened and accepted only after the Foundation has done its due diligence so as to avoid any liabilities in the future.
