in the real world the purchase goes on your balance sheet and then when you sell you first remove the asset and then take the profit through the P&L just like player sales.
so buying and selling land would only generate a profit if you bought it for less than you sold it.
fuck knows how ffp deals with it, I’d guess that the hotel Chelsea have sold has been owned for a while so was likely on the balance sheet at quite a low value compared to the sales price, regardless of any fmv shenanigans