Home Owners to Congress: Leave MID Alone
More than half — 53 percent — of home owners recently surveyed say they want Congress to leave the federal tax credit for home owners alone, according to a recent opinion poll at HousingPredictor.com. Those surveyed also say they want Congress to instead focus its efforts on instituting other tax advantages to stimulate the real estate market.
Some congressional leaders have raised the issue of trimming the mortgage interest deduction as a way to increase federal taxes and alleviate the ongoing budget crisis.
The mortgage interest deduction allows home owners to write off the mortgage interest and state taxes paid as itemized deductions on their personal federal income taxes.
The National Association of REALTORS® has strongly opposed any cut to the mortgage interest deduction and has lobbied Congress to protect it. For the latest, visit REALTOR.org.
Source: “Majority of Homeowners Want Federal Tax Credit,” American Banking News (May 2, 2011)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC
Parents Should Consider Homes as Gifts
Parents who are looking for a gift to give their kids this holiday season should consider a house.
With prices in the cellar, this could be a terrific year to give a down payment or even the whole home.
The Internal Revenue Service says a married couple can each give gifts of $13,000 of money or property without triggering taxes for the gift givers or the recipients. That means a married couple can give another married couple a total of $52,000 a year. To maximize that they can give $52,000 in December and another $52,000 in January for a total of $104,000 to be used on a property before the federal tax credit expires.
This would buy a house in some parts of the country and be sufficient for a down payment in most others.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher (11/27/2009)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.
Cloudy Future for Solar Power
Solar power could be the answer to a cleaner and healthier world, but most American homeowners haven’t embraced it.
Installing a solar system that would produce enough energy to meet the needs of a three-bedroom, single-family home would require an initial investment of about $30,000. Of that, adopters will immediately get back $8,010 as a federal tax credit.
Many states, including California and Florida, also provide financial assistance in the form of significant grants and credits. This reduces the payback to eight to 10 years, says Ian Wofenden, a senior editor at Home Power magazine and a representative of Solar Energy International.
Wofenden says he believes that recent economic events are changing people’s minds. “I think it is changing in places where people get off their butts, pull out their wallets, and do it,” he says. “Then neighbors, friends and relatives see the value and follow suit.”
Here are the 10 U.S. cities where there are the most users of solar power:
1. San Jose, Calif.
2. San Diego
3. Sacramento
4. Denver
5. Riverside, Calif.
6. San Francisco
7. Orlando
8. Los Angeles
9. Miami
10. Las Vegas
Source: Forbes, Lauren Sherman
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.
Luring First-time Buyers – 5 Tips to Beat the Competition, Sell Your Home
RISMEDIA, June 19, 2009-(MCT)-A federal tax credit of up to $8,000 is nudging many Americans into buying a home for the first time, good news for those trying to sell one.
Still, selling a home isn’t easy in most markets today. To get the typical first-time buyer to bite and submit an offer, a house has to stand apart from the competition – and there’s a lot of it, including foreclosure homes that are selling at hefty discounts.
One big thing working in favor of the traditional seller: A lived-in, maintained home is easier for buyers to imagine themselves living in than a vacant foreclosure. That has great appeal for someone buying a home for the first time, for practical and financial reasons.
“First-time buyers are skeptical of buying homes that need improvement. Sellers certainly don’t need to remodel the kitchen, but they want to make sure that their home showcases very well,” said Eric Mangan, a spokesman for ForSaleByOwner.com. Full Story..
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.
Luring First-time Buyers – 5 Tips to Beat the Competition, Sell Your Home
RISMEDIA, June 19, 2009-(MCT)-A federal tax credit of up to $8,000 is nudging many Americans into buying a home for the first time, good news for those trying to sell one. Still, selling a home isn’t easy in most markets today. To get the typical first-time buyer to bite and submit an offer, a house [...]