Mercer Island: a high concentration of homes above the estate exclusion

Two populations, two problems

Long-tenured owners who bought in the 1990s hold large embedded appreciation and real estate exposure; arriving founders and tech leadership hold concentrated stock and a rotation problem. The first group needs valuation, titling review, and eventually a well-run sale, often an estate or trust sale. The second needs sourcing and sequencing. Serving both requires knowing that the North End's walk-to-town blocks, the East Seattle slope views, and the South End's newer plats are different markets sharing one ZIP code.

Waterfront numbers

Island waterfront from Faben Point to the south tip trades between $6M and $30M or more. Every one of those sales is exempt from the state capital gains tax, and every one of those holdings sits well into estate territory. For a family rebalancing its balance sheet, the property is frequently either the most efficient asset to sell or the one most in need of restructuring. It is rarely neutral, and finding out which takes one conversation.

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.