Real estate investor has trouble shaking depreciation recapture tax

Real estate investor has trouble shaking depreciation recapture tax DEAR BOB: If I move for 24 months into a rental house I’ve owned for 15 years, can I then sell it as my principal residence to avoid the recapture tax on all the depreciation I’ve deducted? –Elinor W. DEAR ELINOR: Sorry. The only way to …

Equity cushions flat for newest buyers

Equity cushions flat for newest buyers Billowing appreciation rates have been the hot news in home real estate for much of the past three years. But now, with many of the most effervescent local markets in a cool-down phase, the focus is turning to something much more fundamental: homeowners’ equity stakes. How big is your …

Tax traps await homeowners, landlords

Tax traps await homeowners, landlords Tax time provides an opportunity to cash in many of the rewards of dabbling in last year’s red-hot real estate market — but there are numerous tax traps if you sold a home, refinanced your mortgage or bought an investment property in 2005. Although the rules are too twisted to …

Real estate market flooded with sellers

Real estate market flooded with sellers Conventional wisdom has held for months that the meteoric rise of the real estate market couldn’t continue in Southwest Florida. Year-end sales data shows that in some south Lee County and Collier County ZIP codes, median single-family home prices doubled or nearly doubled from 2003 to 2005. In Bonita …