Tax Deductions for Housing Not Always Equal

Home owners prize their tax deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes, but a study by the National Association of Home Builders shows that some people get more benefit than others.

Home owners in the 14th Congressional District in California, which includes Silicon Valley, took more in mortgage interest write-offs than all the residents of Vermont, Wyoming, West Virginia, Alabama, North Dakota and South Dakota combined. The average deduction in the 14th District was $35,000, compared with an average of $9,500 for home owners nationwide.

Owners in New York's 3rd District took $1.25 billion in property tax deductions, more than the $1.2 billion total reached by adding together all the property tax deductions from Hawaii, Wyoming, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota and South Dakota .

The bottom line: Be thankful if you’re not getting your share. It probably means you’re not being eaten alive by a huge mortgage and hefty property taxes.

Own Real Estate in an IRA

Own Real Estate in your IRA

Self Directed IRAs are a valuable way to build personal retirement wealth in your retirement portfolio. When income is generated from investments, the money stays in your IRA, which means it grows tax-free.

TYPES OF PROPERTY YOUR IRA CAN OWN
Single family and multi-unit homes, apartment buildings, co-ops, condominiums, commercial property, improved or unimproved land, whether it's leveraged or unleveraged, may be purchased by your Qualified Plan or your IRA.


FINANCING THE PURCHASE
You may finance or leverage any property you purchase for your Plan. The property is the collateral for the loan. As the property is an asset of the Plan, repayment of the underlying debt must come from contributions to or income from the property or other assets in the Plan.

Consult with your Tax Advisor then call us to purchase investment properties.

Tighter Market Brings Innovative Pricing

Thanks to changing Real Estate markets, pricing a house is getting trickier than it was a year ago. As a result, some home sellers are trying new strategies.

In a slowing market, Real Estate professionals typically recommend setting a price that's around 5 percent below what similar properties are selling at. But some are trying less-conventional techniques.

Another idea: Cutting the price quickly and continuously until the house sells. Rob Clark, a real-estate professional in Sarasota, thinks this works, especially for Sellers who have a lot of equity in a house and can afford to be flexible.

Another theory is that switching pricing blocks may help because it brings a house to the attention of home buyers searching online who only are looking between certain parameters. Buyers tend to look in $20,000 to $25,000 increments for homes under $500,000, in $50,000 increments for homes between $500,000 and $1 million, and in $250,000 increments over $1 million.

Set a price at the top of a break point, and then jump down a whole notch if the market doesn't respond, say, from $749,000 to $699,000. "The goal is to hit the top of the market, without going over the edge."