Cost Segregation for Commercial & Short-Term Rental Owners
Contractor Partner Program
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NEW!   CONTRACTOR PARTNER PROGRAM: Stop quoting the price. Start handing owners the money already trapped in their building.   Watch the free training »   No tax knowledge required. We will never ask you for money.  

Stop quoting $60,000 projects. Start handing owners $60,000.

Not a loan. Not a discount. Not our money. It's tax cash already trapped in the owner's building. We show it in a free preliminary estimate. Their CPA confirms it and files it.
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The close that flips a price fight into a yes, plus the client handouts you send your customers. We will never ask you for money.

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9 in 10
Deals Close When You Show The Owner Their Number

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Serving contractors and
the owners they
work with.

We Work With

Commercial service
contractors across every
trade, and the building
owners they serve.

Nearly every commercial and short-term-rental owner you quote has tax money trapped in their building. Our study frees it up: a large year-one tax saving that, on a typical commercial building, runs well past the cost of the project. Stop asking the owner for their budget. Start handing them the money already sitting in their building. Show them that number and the conversation stops being about price. You become the contractor who found them money, not the contractor asking them to spend it.

The deal does not die on the walkthrough. It does not die on the scope. It dies at the invoice, the moment the number the owner wants collides with the budget they have.

Our Study Pays for the Project

The project is never the deduction. Our cost segregation study on the building is, and it frees up a year-one tax saving that, on most income property, runs past what the project costs. That freed cash is what pays for it. Here is how it looks across the three kinds of property you sell into.

 Short-Term
Rental
Long-Term
Rental
Commercial
Building basis$214,000$1,010,000$2,000,000
Cash our study frees, year one$22,300$59,300≈$140,000
Study fee (value → engineered)$495–$3,500$1,295–$4,375$3,000–$15,000
The project (example)$15,000$40,000$60,000
Owner ends year one+$3,800+$14,900+$65,000

STR and LTR cash-freed figures come from actual cost segregation runs. Study fees run from a value study (from $495) to a fully engineered study (up to about $12,000 on large commercial); residential prices are firm, commercial figures firm up as we finalize the schedule. "Owner ends year one" is shown at the top of the fee range, the value study leaves more. Project costs are examples. LTR owners generally need real-estate-professional status or passive income to use the savings the same year; STR and commercial owners who materially participate can use it now.

$378,000
Year-1 Deduction (Commercial)
×
37%
Owner Tax Rate
=
≈$140,000
Freed This Year

How the freed number is built: our study reclassifies part of the building into fast depreciation, and 100% bonus depreciation deducts it in year one.


Show the Owner Their Number in 30 Seconds

Enter the property and get a preliminary year-one estimate on the spot. You are not asking the owner to accept a quote. You are handing them a number, and that is what turns a price conversation into a yes.

Preliminary and illustrative, from the Basis estimate engine. The owner's final number comes from our engineered study and their CPA.


How Contractors Use It

1 You Spot the OpportunityCommercial, rental, or short-term-rental. If they own it to make money, it likely qualifies.
2 You Show the NumberPull the free check and hand the owner their number on the spot. You are not asking for money. You are bringing it.
3 You Close the DealThe project partly pays for itself. Price stops being the fight.
4 We Deliver the StudyLicensed engineers produce our IRS-aligned study under the Basis name. You never touch the tax side.

The pitch is not another number for the owner to justify. It is money you are handing them. You stay in your lane, whatever that trade is. When you register, we send you the plain-English pitch and the owner-facing materials: the one-pager, the estimate request, and the leave-behind FAQ.


Watch the Free Sales Training

The exact close that flips a price fight into a yes. Your reps learn to stop quoting a $45,000 roof and start handing the owner $45,000 in tax cash already trapped in their building. The training is free, and so are the client handouts you send your customers.

We will never ask you for money.

This is a free resource for contractors, not a pitch to you. The training, the owner one-pagers, all of it, at no cost. Enter your details and unlock it right here.

Free training and client handouts. We will never ask you for money. Unsubscribe anytime.


Proof It Works

Client Example

James bought a building for $310,000. Our study identified $68,000 trapped inside it. At his 37% tax rate, $20,000 came back in cash that same year. He put it into a hot tub and a finished basement, raised his rate 30 percent, and the building now pays him an additional $14,000 every year.

(Client example. Individual results vary.)

And that is on a $310,000 property. Commercial buildings run bigger numbers. A $2 million commercial building runs the same math to roughly $140,000 in year-one cash, more than double a typical project cost. See the math above. The bigger the building your customer owns, the bigger the number you bring them, and the easier the deal gets to close.


The Minimum 30:1 Guarantee

Our study identifies at least 30 times its fee in first-year accelerated deductions, or the owner does not pay for it.

At our $1,295 starting fee, that means at least $38,850 in first-year deductions identified in the building, or our study is free.

How we can promise this. The free check screens the building before the owner ever pays a dollar. If the projection does not clear 30 to 1, we tell them not to buy the study. We decline buildings that will not clear it. We would rather turn down the job than deliver a weak one.

The guarantee applies to first-year accelerated deductions identified in the completed study relative to the study fee. It is a warranty on our work, not a projection of the owner's personal tax outcome; deductions interact with income, participation, and filing position. The owner's CPA confirms application. Not tax advice.

How It Works for You

1 Send the Check, or Run It On-SiteText the owner the free check link, or pull it up together during the walkthrough. You are not asking what they can spend. You are handing them money already trapped in their building.
2 Owner Gets Their Estimate FreeNo cost, no obligation. Just their preliminary number, in writing.
3 We Handle the StudyIf it clears our 30:1 bar, Basis delivers our engineered study and works directly with the owner's CPA to file it.

Where the Money Is Hiding

Our study carves the building out of the slow 39-year bucket and into faster ones. Any major project on the building is the moment to look.

Fixtures & Equipment
5-year propertyLighting, wiring for equipment, specialty finishes.
5 yr
Fast
Interior Furnishings
7-year propertyCabinetry, certain fixed furnishings.
7 yr
Fast
Site Improvements
15-year propertyPaving, curbs, landscaping, exterior lighting.
15 yr
Fast
Building Shell
39-year propertyStructure and long-life components.
39 yr
Slow

Our study typically pulls 20–30% of the building into the fast lanes. Settled law since 1997, not a loophole.


Deals You Close

Close rate: price quote vs. the tax-benefit pitch (illustrative)
9 in 10
Competing on pricethe cheaper competitor wins
Showing the tax moneyyou win

Illustrative of the shift contractors report when they lead with the owner's tax benefit instead of a flat number. Replace with your real numbers once we have them.


Which Trades This Program Is For

Any trade selling a five-to-six-figure project to a commercial or short-term-rental building owner qualifies. If your customer owns the building to make money, the building likely qualifies too.

Roofing
HVAC
Paving
Solar
Electrical
General Contracting
Restoration
And similar trades

Which of Your Customers' Buildings Qualify

  • Commercial & industrial: retail, office, warehouse, restaurants, medical.
  • Rental & multifamily: apartments, leased buildings held for income.
  • Short-term rentals: Airbnb and VRBO properties in vacation markets.
  • A primary residence: not depreciable, so it does not qualify.

This is a program for contractors who work commercial, rental, and vacation-market buildings, not primary residences.


The Lowest Price, Full Protection

Because of how Basis is built, we carry the lowest pricing in cost segregation. So you bring the owner an option at any budget and never lose the deal over the fee. You set the price; we meet the owner wherever they want to be.

Lowest Price
The Value Study
The most affordable study on the market. The owner gets the deduction, with audit support behind it.
Full Protection
The Engineered Study
Fully engineered, with full audit protection and E&O coverage. The bulletproof version, defended end to end.
Full Audit
Protection
Licensed
Engineers
IRS-ATG
Aligned

The guarantees on the engineered study.


Contractor FAQ

Is the project itself the tax deduction?

No. The deduction comes from our cost segregation study on the whole building, not the project you are selling. Our study frees up a year-one tax saving that, on a typical building, runs well past the cost of the project. That freed cash is what covers it.

Do I need to understand the tax side?

No. You spot the opportunity and make the introduction. Licensed engineers produce our study and work with the owner's accountant. You never have to answer a tax question.

What does it cost me or my customer?

Nothing to register or run the free check. The owner pays for a study only if the estimated benefit clears our minimum 30:1 bar, and they see that number before they commit. Basis prices below the rest of the market, with options from a value study to a fully engineered one, so you can meet any owner at their budget.

What is in it for me?

You stop competing on price and you close more deals. You show up with something no other contractor brings. Register your interest below and we will follow up to talk through the partnership directly.

Is this legitimate?

Yes. Component depreciation has been sanctioned since the Service's loss in Hospital Corporation of America v. Commissioner in 1997, and the IRS publishes an Audit Techniques Guide describing precisely how it is performed.

Does this work for my trade?

Yes, if you sell a five-to-six-figure project to a commercial or short-term-rental building owner. Roofing, HVAC, paving, solar, electrical, general contracting, restoration, and similar trades all qualify. If your customer owns the building to make money, the building likely qualifies too.

Basis Property Group is a cost segregation advisory and brokerage. It is not a certified public accounting firm or a law firm, and nothing on this page constitutes tax, legal, or accounting advice. Figures shown are modeled, illustrative examples provided to help a contractor and an owner decide whether to commission an engineered study. Actual depreciation and tax outcomes depend upon the engineered study and are determined by the owner and the owner's tax advisor.

Work With Us

Contractors and platforms serving commercial and short-term-rental building owners can partner with Basis. Register your interest below and we will follow up to talk through how it works for your business. Partnership details are discussed directly, not posted here.

Free to register. We typically respond within one business day. We do not sell or share your information. No affiliate terms are posted here; those are discussed directly once we connect.

» Questions first? [email protected]

Who Qualifies
Commercial & Industrial Multifamily & Apartments Short-Term Rentals Hotels & Hospitality Retail & Restaurants
Trades We Serve
Roofing & Exteriors HVAC & Mechanical Paving & Solar Electrical & General Contracting Restoration
IRS ATG Aligned  ·  Methodology per IRS Pub 946 & Treas. Reg. §1.168  ·  Engineering-based component studies  ·  Form 3115 / 481(a) look-back  ·  Works directly with the owner's CPA
Basis analyzes commercial property using a proprietary data engine covering more than 14,000 Pennsylvania commercial and industrial parcels.
[email protected]  |  Typically responds within one business day
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Content reviewed against IRS Publication 946, Treasury Regulation §1.168, and the IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide. For educational purposes only; this page does not constitute tax advice. Consult your CPA before filing. Not affiliated with the IRS.