| |
Home owners who are having a tough time selling
their homes face a hard decision – should they drop the price in hopes of
attracting a bargain hunter, or should they find a renter and hold on until
prices go back up?
Benny L. Kass, real estate attorney and
columnist for the Washington Post,
offers these reasons why selling now is better than waiting it out.
- Tax implications.
Living in a home has its tax benefits. A
home owner who has lived in a house for at least two of the five years
before it is sold and files a joint income tax return can exclude up to
$500,000 of the gain from taxation. Single people can exclude up to
$250,000.
- Tenants can make a sale
tough. Some tenants don’t keep a
home in the same condition as an owner would. Also they may not cooperate
with showings, even if the lease says they must.
- Being a landlord can be a
challenge. Calls in the middle of
the night with demands to repair the toilet are tough.
- Carrying costs are
daunting. Some months the house
will be vacant, but the owner still has to pay the mortgage, real estate
tax and insurance. Maintenance bills don’t stop either.
- No one has a crystal ball.
The real estate market may take a long time to recover.
Source: The Washington Post, Benny L. Kass
(0510/2008)
|
|