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By Julie Cazzin on January 13, 2015
Estimated reading time: 1 minute

How to make a killing selling burial plots

By Julie Cazzin on January 13, 2015
Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Have a gravesite you no longer need? Follow these selling tips

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Burial plots have skyrocketed in value in recent years. So if you bought one years ago, but no longer have a use for it—either because you want to be cremated, your marital circumstances have changed, or you simply need the money—you’ll want to cash in and maximize your returns. Here’s how. RETURN TO SENDER Call up the cemetery you bought the plot from and tell them you don’t want it anymore. Sometimes they’re legally required to buy it back at fair market value—and the windfall could be huge! For example, we know of a burial plot at Toronto’s Pine Hills Cemetery that sold for $340 in 1985. Today, the same grave site sells for $4,445. MAKE A MINT ON KIJIJI Off-loading burial plots online is trending hotter than Kim Kardashian these days. Just recently, two side-by-side plots in British Columbia’s Ocean View Burial Park were listed on Kijiji for a cool $25,000. WHEN TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE If you and your spouse aren’t fussy about burial options, some cemeteries will accommodate one casket and one crematory urn in a single plot. You’ll never be parted from your sweetie, and you’ll save thousands of dollars to boot. THROW SOMEONE A BONE If you’ve changed your burial plans, why not will that valuable but unwanted plot to someone you love. Maybe it’s your favourite niece or an old army buddy. Just remember that if it’s someone other than your spouse, there may be a capital gains to pay on your final return. Even in death, no one escapes the tax man.

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