A client sells a cabin for $50,000 less than they paid and still owes tax on a $200,000 gain. Brandon Hall has watched it happen — he runs Hall CPA, a roughly 150-person firm that files for more than a thousand real estate investors, from first-time landlords up to syndicates holding a couple billion in assets. He started it in 2016 answering tax questions on BiggerPockets while he was still at Ernst & Young.
Brandon walks Jeff through why owning real estate is tax-advantaged before you ever reach for an advanced strategy, why real estate professional status is blocked for most high-earning W-2 clients, and what the short-term rental loophole actually demands. He also argues that a short-term rental is a hospitality business first and a tax play second, lays out the team a first-time investor should assemble, and explains why content marketing is almost solely responsible for his firm’s growth.
About the host:
Jeff Hamm is a real estate broker with Ivester Jackson | Christie’s International Real Estate, serving Lake Norman & Charlotte, North Carolina and Banner Elk, North Carolina. He specializes in luxury, waterfront, mountain, and investment property, with a focus on buyer representation. He is also the founder and host of The Best of LKN and Banner Elk Living.
Learn more and contact Jeff:
LKNreal.com
BannerElkLiving.com
Jeff Hamm is a North Carolina real estate broker with Ivester Jackson | Christie’s International Real Estate, serving two of the state’s most sought-after markets: Lake Norman and Banner Elk and the greater High Country. He specializes in luxury and second-home property, from Lake Norman’s waterfront, golf, and lakefront communities to High Country communities including The Lodges at Eagles Nest, Elk River Club, Farm at Banner Elk, Diamond Creek, and Echota. He also works with buyers of condominiums, homes in active adult and family-friendly neighborhoods, and short-term rental and investment properties. His focus is buyer representation, where his relationships with each region’s top listing brokers, builders, and designers give his clients a measurable edge.
Jeff is also the founder and host of two local media platforms, The Best of LKN (since 2020) and Banner Elk Living. Each includes a podcast and newsletter that spotlight the area’s most admired small businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs. He publishes the annual Lake Norman Visitors Guide and Banner Elk Guide, produces regular market reports for both regions, and hosts The Best of Lake Norman Business Network and the Banner Elk Business Network.