Will I Owe Income Tax if I Sell My Home for More Than I Paid for It?

 

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Will I owe any income tax if I sell my home for more than what I paid for it?  I have to ask a question of you to be able to answer it and the answer’s probably no.  Have you owned the property and resided in it for two out of the past five years?  If so, you can then exempt from any sale $250,000.00 and if you own it with another party or husband and wife, you can exempt up to $500,000.00.  The sale does not have to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. However I believe on your tax return there is a box that you have to indicate whether you sold your residence.

 

You also have to state that you haven’t taken this exemption also in the past, I forget how many years, but you can’t double dip if it’s a second marriage or a second home or residence.  So usually you do not have to pay it, however if you have not owned it and lived in it for two out of the past five years and you sell your home, then you will have to pay long term capital gains on it if you’ve owned it for more than I believe it’s six months or a year.  But you do have to pay tax.  Unfortunately if you sell it for less then what you paid for it, well then you do not get to take a loss because it’s not an investment property.  You only have to pay on the gain.

 

Also this is a question that comes up many times when someone short-sells their property.  And so if you sell it for less than what you paid for it and then your lender gives you a 1099 of whatever the gain is, you can offset the whatever gain the lender gave you a 1099 for against the sales price and your loss so you won’t have any income tax liability and you also may be able to exempt the transaction under the two year living there and owning it for two out of the past five years.

 

So if you have any questions on it or want to sell your home, well give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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Why is My Mortgage Lender Asking if My Bank Accounts Have Been Seasoned?

 

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Why is my mortgage lender asking if my checking account and bank accounts have been seasoned?  This is all as result of the crash and the Dodd-Frank bill and that there’s any number of requirements now, the lenders to make sure there’s no fraud involved.  They want to make sure that this is your money and they want to know the source of it, so that someone just doesn’t lend you the money temporarily and you put it in your account a day or two before the closing to show that you have sufficient funds.  It’s getting more difficult to get a loan, and sometimes a gift of equity or a gift of the deposit, is something that’s going to be scrutinized by your lender.

 

So that is the reason for the lender to ask if your account has been seasoned.  They are checking on everything as a result of the oversight and the underwriting requirements after the real estate crash and all the problems involved and it’s to try and avoid any kind of fraud involved.  So going through and obtaining a mortgage now from a conventional lender is very time consuming and tedious mainly because of the additional regulations that have been imposed on the lenders in this particular market.

 

So if you have any questions about your loan and the closing process, well give me a call at 727-847-2288.

 

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Does an FHA Mortgage Have More Costs and Requirements Than a Conventional Loan?

 

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Does a FHA mortgage have more cost and requirements than a conventional loan?  There are no additional costs involved, as far as an FHA loan that a seller must bear as far as the closing is concerned.  In some instances they may require them to pay a $79.00 tax service fee, but other than that, there are no particular additional costs that must be borne by the seller if he sells to someone who’s getting an FHA loan.

 

FHA loans however do have a contingency that if the property does not appraise for the amount necessary to obtain the loan, then the deposit must be fully refunded.  So whenever you see that a buyer’s getting an FHA loan you really need to be concerned about the appraisal and the deposit needs to be fully refunded.

 

As far as the buyer is concerned they have to, of course, be credit worthy and they will have the additional cost since it’s a high cost loan so they charge for the insurance or the cost of the high priced loan in that you can get a 97% and possibly even higher percentage loan. That’s the primary increase in the closing cost, is the mortgage insurance if you will or what is charged by FHA for the high percentage loan to value which you may have to pay, continue to pay or there may be a lump sum amount in your monthly payments or there may be a lump sum amount in the front end of an FHA loan. But as far as the seller is concerned there are no additional costs. However, if there are any, it’s nominal; the same thing with the VA loan. I may have that confused at the $97.00 or $76.00 for a tax service fee, something that a seller has to pay.

 

So the biggest thing is whether or not the people will qualify money-wise and whether the property will appraise for the amount necessary to get a FHA loan.  So if you like to sell your house or need some help with financing or closing the transaction, well give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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How Long Do I Have to Wait to Qualify for a New Mortgage After a Short Sale?

 

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How long do I have to wait before I can obtain a mortgage if I sell my property in a short sale?  You have to wait at least a minimum of two years before you are able to apply for a mortgage if you have been foreclosed by a federally insured lending institution.  Some lenders may require a longer waiting period than two years but that’s the minimum and you need to of course have your credit recover since that period of time.  There is certainly no harm in applying to refinance or obtain a mortgage on your home after a short sale.

 

So if you have any questions about that, well give me a call at 847-2288.

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Can I Pay a Family Member to Be My Caregiver?

 

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Can I pay a family member to be my caregiver?  The answer is yes you can and it’s called a personal services contract and is used to help qualify people for Medicaid.  If you would like to see about qualifying for Medicaid I suggest that you give my office a call and ask to speak to Jaleh or Thomas Mitchell.  They do elder law and are familiar with and can provide you with a personal services contract.  It’s important that you do sign a contract for paying a relative for your personal care because if you do not, and then when you pass away, they will have a difficult time receiving any compensation from your estate for their services because they are not liquidated. We do not know how much you have agreed to pay them and furthermore it is presumed, if they are a family member that they were doing it for love rather than for money.

 

So, if you would like to set up a personal services contract, give my office a call and ask to set up an appointment with Jaleh and/or Mr. Mitchell and they will be glad to prepare the contract for you.

 

Give us a call at 847-2288.

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