Why More Investors Are Turning to Real Estate Investment Advisors

Written by:

Steve Marcinuk

Date:

05 Aug 2025

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The financial advisory landscape is undergoing a significant shift as high-net-worth investors increasingly seek specialized expertise beyond traditional stock and bond portfolios. This change has created opportunities for professionals who understand the complexities of real estate investment and capital gains tax planning, particularly for those managing substantial asset exits.

Brett Swarts, host of the Expert CRE Secrets Podcast and founder of Capital Gains Tax Solutions, represents this emerging category of real estate investment advisors. With over half a billion dollars in investment real estate transactions, Swarts has positioned himself at the intersection of real estate expertise and advanced tax planning strategies.

“Most financial advisors focus on stocks, bonds, and mutual funds,” Swarts explains. “Where I’m really smart is real estate investment advising, whether it be brokering, whether it be raising capital, whether it be structuring deals, or capital gains tax deferral.”

The Multi-Million Dollar Exit Challenge

Today’s real estate investment advisory work centers on what Swarts calls “massive exits,” transactions involving multi-million dollar real estate holdings, businesses, and increasingly, cryptocurrency assets. His recent transactions illustrate the scale: a $13 million car wash in San Diego, an $8 million apartment complex in Colorado, a $7.6 million multifamily property in Georgia, and over $45 million in land exits for a single client.

The common thread among these transactions isn’t just their size, but the tax implications they create. “Think massive capital gain, which means massive capital gains tax,” Swarts notes. “We step in and build a plan where they can exit and defer that tax, invest the funds pre-tax, and then they can live off the interest while slowly paying tax over time.”

This approach addresses a fundamental challenge facing successful real estate investors and business owners: how to unlock the value they’ve built without triggering significant tax consequences that can consume 30-50% of their gains.

From Transactional to Transformational

The change from traditional real estate brokerage to comprehensive investment advisory reflects broader market demands. Swarts began his career at Marcus & Millichap in 2006, learning traditional investment real estate fundamentals during the challenging 2007-2008 period. However, he recognized that purely transactional relationships focused on increasing cash-on-cash returns or completing exchanges weren’t addressing clients’ deeper needs.

“What we really focus on is what’s called transformational exit planning, where we focus on what matters most to these individuals and families,” Swarts explains. This approach considers factors beyond financial returns: diversification, time flexibility, liquidity, debt reduction, and the ability to pursue entrepreneurial ventures or retirement on their own terms.

The shift reflects a broader understanding that many successful investors find themselves “asset rich but cash flow poor,” with substantial wealth tied up in illiquid investments that demand constant attention and management.

The Truly Passive Income Solution

Central to Swarts’ advisory approach is the concept of “truly passive income,” what he describes as “no shoes, no shirt, no problem” cash flow that doesn’t require active management or constant attention. This differs significantly from many real estate investments that, while profitable, require ongoing involvement from owners.

“What we found is that the big problem entrepreneurs and investors make is they have diluted focus, so they get diluted results,” Swarts observes. “They look for seven different income streams or three different income streams, and they spend all their time and energy starting and stopping things.”

Instead, his approach focuses on identifying a target passive income number, whether $10,000, $30,000, or $50,000 monthly, and structuring exits to achieve that goal efficiently. For many real estate professionals, this means transitioning from active property management to passive real estate investments with experienced operators, often doubling or tripling cash-on-cash returns while dramatically reducing time commitments.

Strategic Flexibility in Implementation

One key advantage of advanced tax planning is combining multiple strategies based on specific circumstances. Swarts frequently structures transactions using partial approaches, for example, completing a partial 1031 exchange while simultaneously implementing a deferred sales trust for the remaining portion.

“You don’t have to do one or the other. You can do a little bit of both,” he explains, citing a recent $6 million Texas land sale where the client used a 50-50 split between a 1031 exchange and a capital gains tax solutions plan. “Sometimes, depending on your fact pattern, you need both tools, you need a screwdriver and sometimes you need a hammer.”

This flexibility extends to addressing failed 1031 exchanges, where timing constraints or market conditions prevent completion of traditional like-kind exchanges. “We can save a failed 1031 exchange,” Swarts notes. “Sometimes you run out of that 45-day and 180-day timeline, but we can be that backup plan.”

The Expanding Asset Universe

While real estate remains the primary focus, the advisory model increasingly encompasses other high-value assets. Cryptocurrency exits represent a growing segment, with Swarts handling over $20 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions for multiple clients. Business sales constitute another major category, with recent transactions including an $8 million automotive business in Massachusetts.

“Our model works for Bitcoin, works for business sales, and works for real estate,” Swarts explains. This versatility reflects the reality that many high-net-worth individuals have diversified holdings across multiple asset classes, all potentially subject to significant capital gains taxes upon exit.

Beyond Financial Returns

The transformational approach extends beyond optimizing financial outcomes to consider broader family and legacy objectives. Swarts’ personal experience with family financial stress informs his understanding that wealth creation without proper planning can strain relationships rather than strengthen them.

“The number one reason for divorce in America is money fights and money problems,” he observes. “If there’s a way to create an environment where money fights and money problems decrease, is there an opportunity to keep more families together?”

This perspective leads to planning that considers not just tax efficiency and cash flow optimization, but also impact investing and charitable giving strategies that can involve multiple generations in meaningful wealth deployment.

Market Implications

The rise of specialized real estate investment advisory services reflects several broader market trends. The increasing complexity of tax regulations and investment options requires deeper expertise than traditional generalist financial advisors typically provide. Second, the concentration of wealth in real estate and alternative assets demands advisors who understand these markets well.

The maturation of many real estate investors who built wealth over the past two decades has created a substantial market of individuals seeking to transition from active management to passive income strategies while preserving their wealth for future generations.

For real estate professionals, this change suggests opportunities to expand service offerings beyond traditional brokerage or property management into comprehensive advisory relationships. It also highlights the importance of developing deep expertise in tax planning, investment structuring, and wealth management to serve increasingly sophisticated client needs effectively.

The change from transactional real estate services to comprehensive investment advisory represents more than a business model evolution, it reflects a fundamental shift in how successful investors think about wealth, time, and legacy in an increasingly complex financial landscape.