Minimum home ownership time just 24 months to claim tax break

Minimum home ownership time just 24 months to claim tax break

DEAR BOB: I am confused about your recent answer to a home seller who wants to add her mother to the title. You said the mother would be eligible for an Internal Revenue Code 121 principal residence sale tax exemption up to $250,000 after only 24 months of ownership and occupancy. How can she qualify with less than 60 months of ownership? — Donald M.

DEAR DONALD: Internal Revenue Code 121 is very generous to principal residence sellers. After as little as 24 months of both ownership and occupancy, a home seller can qualify for up to $250,000 tax-free capital gains. That is the situation for the letter writer who plans to add her mother, who will live in the house for 24 months, to the home’s title. Both daughter and mother then qualify for $250,000 individual exemptions.

Using the family silver

Using the family silver

It’s hard to find lower loan rates than at the Bank of Mom & Dad. But beware the pitfalls.

If the loan is sealed with a handshake rather than written documents, there’s a chance it might turn into a gift and create tensions among siblings. Loans improperly set up can cause borrowers who deduct interest payments to run afoul of the IRS. And should children default on an undocumented loan, parents may have little recourse to recover their money.

Are Gainesville’s homes worth the asking price?

Are Gainesville’s homes worth the asking price?

A recent national market study reports that the Gainesville housing market is overvalued – that houses cost 23 percent more than they should.

Real estate representatives, however, say homebuyers are getting a good deal, and the pace of listings and closings shows that.

Using 20 years of statistics of 299 of the nation’s largest housing markets, the latest (third quarter) housing market analysis conducted by National City Bank, a national financial holding company, in conjunction with economic analyst Global Insight, determined that 65 urban areas were deemed “severely overpriced,” costing 30 percent or more of their true value.

Tiger Woods to buy Jupiter Island compound

Tiger to buy Jupiter Island compound

Golf superstar Tiger Woods, the top-earning athlete in America, has agreed to pay “in the neighborhood” of $40 million for a 10-acre oceanfront compound on Jupiter Island, according to real estate agents familiar with the deal.

More astounding than the price, though, is that Woods, who earned $89.4 million in 2004 in endorsements and tournament winnings, intends to tear down the 13-year-old main house in the 400 block of South Beach Road, real estate agents say.

To Sell a High-End Home, Let Them Sleep On It

To Sell a High-End Home, Let Them Sleep On It

It took a sleepover to sell a $2.5 million house in Malibu, Calif., after it had been on the market for three months. The buyers “were able to experience the amazing light at different times of the day, the spectacular views and what it was like to really live there,” said Frank Langen, the real estate agent who closed the deal and a partner at Deasy Penner and Partners, a boutique real estate firm in Los Angeles.

The couple, who declined to comment, had visited the house several times. At one open house, they spent hours just milling around the property. The owners of the home were away and, with their permission, Mr. Langen asked the couple if they would like to stay for a night.

While moving back to South Florida, it was getting tough to think outside the boxes

While moving back to South Florida, it was getting tough to think outside the boxes: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Seven years ago, my husband, Ronnie, and I sold our Fort Lauderdale home and moved to Wisconsin. We stayed two years, then moved to Nashville. A few months ago, we decided to return to South Florida.

Blame it on January. After spending the winter here last year, we realized how much we missed South Florida. We knew real estate prices had risen, but we had no idea exactly how much. Sticker shock doesn’t begin to describe our condition when we learned the current value (tripled!) of our former house. I felt like someone had walloped me in the stomach with the Saturday real estate section.

Due to a good seller’s market and a terrific real estate agent, our house sold in two days.