Real Estate Guide

John Harris asked:


It is always beneficial during tax season to own real estate, which gives you many annual deductions. If you purchased residential real estate during this year, however, you can look forward to even more generous savings at tax time.

Mortgage Interest

Though there are several real estate deductions you will be able to take this tax year, the largest is the interest you paid on your mortgage. According to Kiplinger’s (August 31, 2006), you may write off up to $1 million in mortgage interest for your primary or secondary home (does not apply to third home real estate, unless it is a business or rental property). This can be an enormous tax savings, especially within the first years of ownership with most of your monthly payments going to interest.

Property Taxes

Each year, you may deduct the property taxes you paid. If you recently purchased your home real estate, you also may deduct any taxes the seller paid in advance that were applied to your property tax debt. This applies even if you did not reimburse the seller for these real estate taxes.

Points Paid for Mortgage

Even if the seller paid your points, you may deduct them on your tax return within the year of purchase of the real estate. Each point is worth one percent of the real estate mortgage. For a loan principal of $250,000, you may deduct $2,500 for each point. For a loan face value of $500,000, you may deduct $5,000 per point.

If you refinanced your real estate, you also may deduct these points paid. However, the deduction must be spread over the life of the loan. If you sell the real estate or pay off the loan early, then the remaining deduction may be taken within the year of sale or loan payoff.

Home Equity Debt

You are allowed to deduct up to $100,000 of home equity debt each year, regardless for what you used the money. This makes home equity loans low-interest alternatives for purchasing cars, paying student tuition, underwriting your dream vacation, and so on.

Home Business Use Deductions

If you run a business out of your home or use the real estate for business purposes, such as rental property, you have many deductions for the use of this space. For home offices, the percentage of space you actually use may incur the same percentage in deductions for mortgage payments, utilities and home insurance. Improvements made to accommodate the business, such as bringing the real estate up to standard as rental property or installing a private bathroom when renting out a room, may qualify for a deduction against your profits.

Property Damage

If you incurred uninsured real estate damage due to a qualifying disaster (especially within a presidential declared disaster area), you may qualify for a tax deduction. There are limitations, however, and the deduction generally must be taken within the year the disaster occurred.

What You Cannot Deduct

If you recently purchased or sold real estate, you incurred many costs but not all may be deducted from your taxes. Examples of nondeductible expenses are closing costs, major home improvements to attain a higher sales price, title insurance, appraisal and inspection fees, or attorney fees.

Don’t forget, deductions that lower your federal tax debt also decrease your state tax obligation! As with all financial advice, always check with a qualified accounting professional.

Real Estate Advisor asked:


Buying a home is a big-time real estate investment and has to be done with great prudence. Knowing where not to buy a home is as important as are the dos and don’ts of buying a home.

Of the many top ten lists on CNNMoney.com, there is listed the top ten overvalued cities in America where it is better not to buy a home for the next two years or so. The report states a variety of reasons for the unfavorable market conditions.

Five cities in California – Bakersfield, Fresno, Merced, Sacramento and Stockton, figure among the top ten cities that have the least possibility of home price appreciation. Home prices have reached a new high (by nearly 60%) in these areas over the past two years. With an economy driven by agriculture and relatively higher unemployment rates anticipated for that area, the real estate market is predicted to slump in the region.

Although three cities in Florida are recommended as good real estate buys, the report also cites four others in Southwest Florida that fall among the very bottom of the list. With home prices here expected to plummet very soon, cities like Fort Myers, Naples, Punta Gorda and Sarasota are those that one would do best to avoid for a year’s time or so, while buying a home or a condo.

Market prices are expected to decline in the Jersey Shore (New Jersey) area that saw a radical boom in the last two quarters. Although home prices in the third quarter have rebounded from the slight drop during the second quarter, the bubble is expected to burst soon and the overpriced market is likely to stabilize. The popular seaside cities of New Jersey, Atlantic City and Ocean city are anticipated to fall under the unfavorable list.

In Phoenix, Arizona, a hot favorite among investors last year, sliding home prices may to be an unavoidable occurrence in the next 12 months. With home prices dropping by more than $100,000 in some residential developments and investors trying to sell off their property, it is safer to wait for a year or longer before investing here.

Economists at Moody’s Economy.com also predict a sharp decline in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, California’s Inland Empire.

The bottom ten cities that are likely to see major drops in median home prices during the coming year are Stockton, (leading the list with a predicted fall of 9.7%), Merced, Reno/Sparks, Fresno, Vallejo/Fairfield, Las Vegas, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Washington, D.C and Tucson.

Given these fluctuating real estate market conditions, one should exercise a great deal of caution when investing in real estate. It makes sense to get the expert advice of a real estate agent to advise you about your next home purchase, since agents often have access to the most up-to-date real estate market data and neighborhood pricing trends.

Vikram kuamr asked:


It is an undeniable fact that there are several ways available around us that are enough to make us king or even beggar any time depending upon the situations. There are some options that can make wonders for one person, on the other hand can prove really fatal for the other. One such option that offers the immense opportunity to make good money is by buying liens.

 It is important to note that a person can become very rich by buying liens, but the homeowner on whom the tax liens is imposed by the county gets into serious troubles. To know fully the concept of tax liens, it is important to first understand what exactly it is.

Actually every homeowner is required to pay the real estate tax on the property he owns. However because of financial constraints or because of any other reason if they fail to pay the real estate tax, the county puts a tax lien on their property.  With this the county gets a sort of guarantee that they are going to get back their money. But as they are more interested in getting back their money in no time because of the simple reason that they generally operate with a very tight budget, so they prefer to offer other people buy tax liens. It is here the real problem of home owner starts that may sometimes lead to foreclosure of their house.

So if you are also suffering from such problem and if you want to reduce your real estate tax then there are several companies available that can offer you their services. However if you want to go for taking services from one such company that can ensure as high as 91% success rate with Offers in Compromise then Tax Solutions Group is the name you must opt for.

Tax Solutions Group is a company established in the year 1994 that has a group of CPA’s and Enrolled Agents who are simply specialists in solving all issues related to tax liability. It is one such company that is considered as the best company of its kind in Southern California and is even licensed by the State. It is because of the extraordinary services that it offers as well as the proven results that it is termed as the number one company in Southern California.

The best part of Tax Solutions Group is that it believes in offering that solution which is permanent. It is for this reason, for having a permanent solution on various tax related issues Tax Solutions Group is considered as an inevitable option. If you want to know more about this company and why it is considered as better than all other companies then it is advisable to have a look on some of its most important features. Some of the most important features of Tax Solutions Group are as under:

1. Best services: the first and the most important feature of Tax Solutions Group is that it is one such company that offers the best services. The word better is not available in the dictionary of the experts of TSG and that is well proven in thousands of cases that its experts have solved successfully. 2. Reliability: The second most important feature of Tax Solutions Group is that it is one such company that is best in terms of reliability. Unlike other companies where the troubles of the clients are increased by them to earn more money, such thing is next to impossible at Tax Solutions Group.