All Posts Tagged With: "taxes"
April 15th: The Right Way To Figure Taxes
With April 15 now upon us a question lingers: Isn’t there a better way to deal with this annual effort to find receipts, stubs and numbers that balance?
My interest in taxes is both economic and genetic. My late father was a CPA for more than 60 years and at age 90 or thereabouts was renowned [...]
What Kind of Foreclosure Title Can I Expect?
With huge numbers of foreclosed properties now available for sale you have to wonder what type of title you might expect if you purchase one of these distressed homes.
The lender selling REOs (real estate owned by a bank or other lender) does actually care how you own title, What it does care about is that [...]
2009 Home Sales Up, But Values Down
Real estate sales reached nearly 5.2 million in 2009, up 4.9 percent from 2008 according to the National Association of Realtors. The increase was the first annual rise since 2005.
In terms of prices, NAR says for all of 2009, the median price for a single-family existing home was $173,200, down 11.9 percent from 2008. This [...]
Should We Dump Real Estate Investors?
When it comes to bailing out giant banks, huge companies and massive stock brokerages there’s no shortage of government interest and activity. After all, it’s in our national interest to protect investors — unless, of course, they’re folks who merely bought a house or two.
The investor double standard is hardly hidden. It appears everywhere and [...]
A Basic Guide To Real Estate, Mortgages & Taxes
Let’s be honest: April 15th is a day of reckoning, the moment when we find out what we really owe for taxes. In households nationwide wallets are drained and many who were rich on the 14th are greatly impoverished by the 16th.
But for those with real estate the load is made lighter by tax rules [...]
How To Read The HUD-1
Starting January 1st, 2010, all real estate transactions will be settled using a new HUD-1. The HUD-1 is a standardized form which allows real estate buyers and sellers to clearly understand the costs of their transaction.
The original HUD-1 was developed as a by-product of the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act of 1974 — or, [...]
Real Estate: Will Mortgage Interest Write-Offs Be Reduced?
The Congressional Budget Office has come out with a report showing 66 ways to raise money for the federal government. This sounds like dull and boring stuff until you get to Option #7: Reduce the Mortgage Interest Deduction or Replace It with a Tax Credit.
Ugh. You can see where this is going.
“The first alternative [...]
2009 Real Estate, Mortgages & Taxes
Let’s be honest: April 15th is a day of reckoning, the moment when we find out what we really owe for taxes. In households nationwide wallets are drained and many who were rich on the 14th are greatly impoverished by the 16th.
But for those with real estate the load is made lighter by tax rules [...]
Should You Prepay Your Mortgage?
Does it make sense to prepay your mortgage or buy real estate with a big downpayment?
Buying with no money down in a rising market can be — with caveats — attractive. The caveats? First, there are no guarantees that either prices or rental rates will eternally rise. Second, less down means more debt and more [...]
How Investment Discrimination Powers Real Estate Taxes
For the past several years real estate prices in my community, like many, have risen with a speed and certainty that has been a delight to behold. Now the government is getting even with vast assessment increases that will lead to steeply-higher property taxes.
What’s interesting about the projected tax rises is that they are [...]
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