Comments on: Buying Real Estate In Another State

By: Tax Lawyer

Tax Lawyer — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:47:43 +0000

I’ve been active in taxes for lengthier then I care to acknowledge, both on the personal side (all my working life history!!) and from a legal stand since passing the bar and pursuing tax law. I’ve rendered a lot of advice and righted a lot of wrongs, and I must say that what you’ve posted makes utter sense. Please carry on the good work – the more individuals know the better they’ll be armed to comprehend with the tax man, and that’s what it’s all about.

By: Brainerd Minnesota Dispatcher

Brainerd Minnesota Dispatcher — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:53:57 +0000

median price of a home in the Seattle area peaked around $400K. WOW!! That is an incredibly high median price. It is more than double what it is here in Minnesota.

By: vmo

vmo — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:01:23 +0000

Be careful purchasing a home in Arizona. I have a friend that lives in a newer development where about half the homes are either unsold, foreclosed, or simply abandoned. He said copper thieves already hit two of those homes. Make sure you have a very good security system and that you have neighbors willing to keep an eye on things.

By: Hazzard

Hazzard — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:09:59 +0000

Thanks for the comment Mike. Yeah, I’ve been reading about that, although your explanation was really easy to understand compared to some of what I’ve read. I wasn’t aware that they added all the years that you used it as a secondary residence. When I first read it I thought it said that I’d only get penalized a fraction of the 5 years. So, if I was only in it two years out of 5, I’d have to pay 60% of the capital gains. I’ll have to go back and read it again.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:59:45 +0000

You’ve heard about the new unfavorable tax change in the new housing act that was passed recently, right? It might affect you in the future. In the past, you could move into your lake house, live there for 2 yrs, then sell it w/o paying any capital gains tax. Now any property sold after 2008 will fall under the new rule. Say you used it as a vacation home until 2016 and used it as a primary residence in 2017-2018 and sold it at the end of 2018 with a $400k profit. You’re now only allowed a certain ratio of the capital gains tax shelter. My math might be a little off, but now you’re only allowed to take 2/10 of the 400k tax-free. The 8 years you used it as a vacation home force you to pay taxes on the 8/10 of $400k. With democrats coming back to power, a 25% capital gains tax by the year 2016 is not out of the question. Just a FYI.