An exit compresses years of gain into one tax year

Before the term sheet

With your CPA and attorney: QSBS qualification review, gifting and trust strategies, charitable structures, installment treatment, and, for some households, the residency question, which takes significant lead time to establish properly.

The real estate steps

• Buy before the exit, pay down after. Financing qualifies more cleanly on W2 and company income than on post-exit assets. Locking in the home or investment property before liquidity, and deleveraging after, is often the right order.
• Deploy proceeds on a schedule. Rotating exit proceeds into property works better as a planned sequence than as a post-close scramble.
• Decide the house and the company separately. Founders in Kirkland, Houghton, and Mercer Island often carry both through the exit. Which to sell, and when, deserves its own analysis; the answer affects the tax bill by six figures in either direction.
• If you are leaving the state, sell here and buy there in the right order. The Leaving Washington service page covers both sides.

This is not tax or legal advice. Aditya Kasturi is a licensed real estate broker, not a CPA, attorney, or financial advisor. Figures are illustrative, based on Washington and federal law as understood at the time of writing, and laws change. Confirm any strategy on this page with your CPA and, where relevant, your estate planning attorney before acting.