Mr.Ingram:
I believe the tax rate is the same for short term capital gains and regular income (other than earned income which is also subject to FICA) here in the US so it would't matter in this case. However, if the writer had a loss, he would be subject to a limitation of being able to write off more than $3000 against his other income unless he had offsetting gains. Also, since it appears this person is not a realestate professional is is unlikely the IRS world allow him to claim his gain/loss any place other than the capital gains schedule.
