Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

We can't give you specific and personalized tax advice here, and certainly not without a lot more information, but as a general matter, someone who sells property and has net gains will incur a tax liability, while if the net result is a loss, the person gets a credit. The gains and losses are classified as short-term or long-term based upon how long the asset was owned, and the tax rate on long-term gains is lower. So, liability for capital gains taxes can be reduced or eliminated by realizing offsetting capital losses of the same kind (short or long term) in the same tax year. Whether this is a good strategy in the long run is a more difficult question.

I should also point out that you are only taxed on your gain (selling price minus acquisition cost and capital improvements) and the tax rate for long-term gains is rather low.

Someone with multiple rental properties should have an accountant and a tax advisor, who could be the same person.