Tax planners to New York City real estate families understand that real estate should never be sold.  Rather, it should be exchanged in a tax-free, like-kind exchange.  The exchange can be bifurcated into two independent transactions – one a purchase and the other a sale – without affecting tax-free treatment, provided certain well identified rules are followed.  Moreover, the replacement can be acquired before the sale of an existing parcel is effected.  In a recent advisory opinion affecting property in New York State, the Department of Taxation and Finance issued a taxpayer-friendly advisory opinion involving real estate transfer tax exposure in a reverse like-kind exchange.  Rusudan Shervashidze and Nina Krauthamer explain the ruling.