I inherited a property owned by a corporation, who only had one shareholder. I have a someone who wants to buy it, but wants to see if we can transfer the mortgage. Is it possible to just sell the shares of the corporation to him and not bother with a closing? I am sure there is something against this because this method would avoid capital gains taxes, transfer taxes, and probably a few other things.
do you mean that you inherited a corporation that happens to own a property? slight, but important difference.
yes, you can take that route as long as the corporation is the only one on the title/deed and mortgage. If there was an individual on the deed or mortgage (as guarantor, etc) then you may have trouble.
nothing illegal about it. the corporation owns it. the corporation will still own it. people buy and sell corporate stock every day on the NYSE.
may still have transfer taxes at the city/county level. depends on your local laws.
you wouldn’t have a cap gain anyway, since inherited property gives you a basis “step up” to the value of the property at death. (unless it’s been a while since you inherited it and the value has increased). Technically this applies to the gain on the value of the company, since you don’t own the property itself.