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The Homeowner Gain Exclusion
Deduction
It's
been 10 years since Congress
brought us the homeowner gain
exclusion deduction -- one of
the most powerful and useful
tax-saving tools ever given to
homeowners.
The deduction itself is
simple: If you have lived in
your home for two out of the
previous five years, you get a
tax break when you sell it. If
you're married and you file a
joint tax return the first
$500,000 of gain (the difference
between what you paid to buy the
property and what you sold it
for) you make on the sale is
tax-free. If you're single, you
get a tax break on the first
$250,000 of gain. What
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constitutes "living in"
is pretty flexible, too.
Those two years don't
have to be consecutive,
nor do you have to
physically live in your
home every day. The IRS
allows you to have
temporary
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Putting Zeal In Your
Curb Appeal
Curb
appeal, the first impression your home
conveys to prospective buyers, should
create an emotional desire to own the
home and enjoy the lifestyle and status
it represents.
Putting the best face on your home
also should give a lasting impression
that motivates buyers to cross the
threshold and take that first step
toward closing the deal.
Experts advise, more like a home
improvement or exterior staging job than
a cosmetic makeover, curb appeal that
sings is particularly crucial now that
more and more buyers are calling the
shots.
Give your house model home level
curb appeal for that "new" look and feel
and buyers will beat a path to your
door. That's because there's nothing
like moving into a home that's ready to
go, free of the need for initial touch
ups and free of the ghosts of owners
past.
So how do you put a new face on
your old home? With lots of attention to
detail, in not one, but all the
components that make your home stand out
on the block.
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Study Profiles Home
Of The Future
New
homes have changed dramatically over the
past five decades. Small one-story
bungalows with less than 1,000 square
feet, two bedrooms and a single bathroom
have given way to two-story homes
topping 2,400 square feet with three or
more bedrooms and two or more bathrooms.
Along the way, new homes have evolved to
levels of comfort and sophistication
that were virtually unimaginable even a
generation ago.
Given the rapid evolution of
design, configuration and products in
new homes, even a professional futurist
might be hard-pressed to determine what
the next five decades hold for housing.
But a new study by the National
Association of Home Builders provides a
telling look at the homes buyers can
expect to purchase in the nearer future.
"The Home of the Future" study,
introduced at the International
Builders' Show in Orlando, was conducted
in 2006 by NAHB's Economics Group. Based
on polls of architects, designers,
marketers and manufacturers, it provides
a detailed view of what buyers can
expect to find in an "average" home and
an "upscale" home in 2015.
According to the experts, the pace
of change in new homes will be much
faster over the next 10 years than in
recent years, and buyers can expect that
all homes will be significantly
"greener" and more resource efficient
than today. There
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Your Home "SOLD AND CLOSED" in
120-Days or I Will Buy It. Home
Buyers Receive 1% of the Sale
Price Cash-Back at Closing.
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Number
of Inspectors Makes Choosing The Best Difficult
In
the state of Illinois alone an increase in the
number of home inspector practitioners jumped
from 450 to 3,335 in the last four years.
While more competition could mean better
prices for those in the market to buy or sell,
home inspector and incoming President of the
American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI),
Frank Lesh, cautions consumers to be wary of
price cuts to save a little when such an
important task in the real estate transaction is
at stake.
"Caveat Emptor, or buyer beware, can best
be avoided by working with an ASHI Member who
follows the ASHI Standards of Practice and Code
of Ethics, which have become the industry
standard," says Lesh.
Daily News and Advice
Read about the events
shaping the Real Estate market today,
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top experts in Real Estate. Updated each
weekday.
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