Amazon or Amazoff?

 

Do I have to pay taxes on my Home Sale if I am going to now Rent?

 Question: If I sell my primary residence for a profit of less than $250,000, do I have to pay taxes on the profit if I do not buy another home but rent instead? I have heard about the $250,000 exemption.

Answer: You won’t pay tax on the sale of your home unless you have gains that are more than $250,000 if you’re single, or more than $500,000 if you’re married and file jointly. The IRS provides a home sales exclusion that allows taxpayers to realize some significant gains on the sale of their primary residences, subject to several qualifying rules.

You used to get a one-time option of excluding up to $125,000 in capital gains on the sale of your home, as long as it was your primary residence and you’d reached the age of 55.                                That changed with the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. 

The TRA provides that anyone, regardless of their age, can exclude up to $250,000 of gains on the sale of a home—and a married couple filing jointly can exclude up to $500,000.                               That means most people will pay no tax on the sale of their home unless they have lived there for less than two out of the last five years.

You must meet the following IRS requirements to qualify for the capital gain tax exclusion on your home sale:³

The ownership test: You owned the home for at least two of the last five years.

The residency test: You lived in the home as your main residence for at least two of the last five years.

The home must be your primary residence, not a secondary or vacation home.

These rules specifically prohibit you from claiming the home sales exclusion more than once in any two-year period. 

Your ownership period and residency period don’t have to be concurrent. You could rent the home and live there for two years, then purchase it and own it for the remaining three years while living elsewhere. You can use this capital gain exclusion to avoid tax on a home sale over and over provided that you meet these rules

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Instructions for Santa

 

 

Here's a Thought

 Have you thought about refinancing?

If you are paying 4% or more and plan on staying in your home for a few more years, it may be worth looking into.

Call us if you don't know where to start.

Being Cheap can be Very Costly

 Question: We are thinking of Selling our Home by Owner. What is the reason very few sellers sell on their own?

Answer:   The multiple listing service is the holy grail of home listings. Once in the MLS, a home is sent out to hundreds of online sites and into buyer’s agents’ hands, so your home always has a steady influx of looks and showings. Large numbers of showings increase your chance to get multiple offers and a bidding war on your home. The typical FSBO home sold for $200,000, compared to $280,000 for agent-assisted home sales, according to the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Who would have the upper hand in a tough negotiation: a licensed, experienced buyer’s agent who has done this hundreds of times in their career, or a home-selling newbie who has an emotional attachment to the home? Never bring a fist to a gunfight.

Another key point: Most buyers want to be represented by a Realtor, so selling by owner virtually eliminates a great percentage of the qualified buyers not represented by a Realtor. How about your security? We live in a crazy world defined by good people and bad people. Do you want strangers possibly walking through your home looking through your medicine cabinets, drawers, or in search of home security cameras or do you want true buyers who have been prequalified by your Realtor?  

Sellers who think they can save a buck by listing for sale by owner are missing out on the countless advantages of using a licensed agent. These include less stress, a higher selling price and more security. Ultimately, the benefits of using a real estate agent are huge.     

“ It's unwise to pay too much. But it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balances prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It cannot be done. There is hardly anything in the world that someone can't make a little worse and sell a little cheaper—and people who consider price alone are this man's lawful prey.” John Ruskin.

 Home on the (not so normal) Range....

Our Opinion:

• We can't say we've seen a housing market like this in our career. Incredible demand and very low inventory make this a  "Super Sellers" Market. That's a mild way to put it.                                    Some would call it "Super Crazy" Market.

Multiple offers on homes is the norm, with some offering $30,000 over list price, hoping they will be chosen by the seller to buy their home.

Unfortunately, an appraisal probably wont agree with this inflated sales price.

• Let's face it, some of the over list price offers are buyers going with the odds that the home wont appraise and the seller may want drop down to the appraisal price. It's a chance to take because appraisal and home inspection fees can cost up to $900.                                                                           Buyers are going to the extremes to ensure they are able to buy their dream home.                                The perfect selling scenario: A seller who has kept their home looking good and who is buying in an area where prices have not seen this growth.                                               We think it's also been termed "selling high and buying low."

• Chicago area buyers are looking to the affordability of the South suburbs for their home choice. We've heard crime and covid have something to do with this. They are players in these price wars.
• Illinois buyers moving to Indiana face lower taxes, but much higher prices/sq ft. In other words they get less for a higher price. It's easier to build your dream home in NW Indiana than it is to try and find your dream home. But, building a home is not cheap.