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Cover story: Is now the time to buy a second home?

By Michele Lerner SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

If you long to retire within sight of the Chesapeake Bay, by the shores of Deep Creek Lake or atop the mountains at Wintergreen, you may be thinking about taking advantage of today’s low interest rates and affordable prices to buy your golden-years dream home right now.

Financial advisers and Realtors suggest that while this might be the right move for some homeowners, the decision to buy a second home should be made only after careful consideration of the impact the choice would have on finances and lifestyle.

“The first and most important consideration is to make sure that buying another home doesn’t compromise your overall financial plans,” said Ronya Corey, a financial adviser with Merrill Lynch in the District.

More here.

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International Interest in U.S. Homeownership Increases – Reuters

Reuters – US Edition (NY,NY) via World Wide Web 07/07/2010
Source Website: www.reuters.com

International Interest in U.S. Homeownership Increases, Realtors(R) Report

Wed Jul 7, 2010 2:24pm EDT

WASHINGTON, DC, Jul 07 (MARKET WIRE) — International home buyers are increasingly attracted to property in the U.S., according to the National Association of Realtors(R)’ 2010 Profile of International Home Buying Activity. Several factors, including the strength of the dollar, the value and desirability of U.S. real estate, and the emerging economic recovery, continue to drive international interest in owning a home in this country. “While all real estate in the U.S. is local, the same is not true for property owners,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox Real Estate in Tucson, Ariz. “The U.S. continues to be a top destination for international buyers from all over the world. Foreign buyers understand the value of owning a home in this country and can rely on Realtors(R) to help guide them through the complex process of buying property in the U.S. With expertise, knowledge and experience, Realtors(R) have a global perspective.” The survey, released today, covers the period between April 1, 2009, and March 31, 2010. During that time foreign buyers, including those with residency outside the U.S. as well as recent immigrants and temporary visa holders, are estimated to have purchased $66 billion of U.S. residential property, or 7 percent of the residential market. Slightly more than a quarter of Realtors(R), 28 percent, reported working with at least one international client in the past year. This is a significant increase from the 2009 report, when 23 percent of Realtors(R) worked with foreign clients. Eighteen percent of all Realtors(R) were estimated to have completed at least one sale, compared to 12 percent last year. “Several factors have contributed to an increase in international buyer interest in the U.S.,” said Golder. “A large majority of Realtors(R) report the changes in value to the U.S. dollar have had a strong impact on the international real estate business. In addition, perceptions abroad about trends in the U.S. real estate market have led many international clients to believe purchasing a home in the U.S. is more affordable than in their country and holds more value.”

Read more here.
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Spotting trends in cottage sales and vacation rentals

Spotting trends in cottage sales and rentals
March 22, 2010 by cloeffler

Looking for a fresh twist on the residential real estate story? There is always the second-home specialty as reported in this article.

We’re 10 weeks out from Memorial Day – summer’s unofficial start – so how about a look at the vacation home and cottage niche? You can take the consumer tack, illustrate how this market reflects your region’s economy – or both – for a readable and picturesque package.

For many cash-strapped homeowners, juggling two mortgages isn’t quite as easy as it seemed to be earlier this decade. Many cabins and cottages are on the block, but it’s clearly a buyer’s market, with inventory up and median prices dropping by around 25 percent. The National Association of Realtors reported a year ago that sales of second homes had dropped 30 percent from 2007 to 2008. An update to the trade group’s Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey is due out in a few weeks. Meanwhile, the association’s “field guide” to the second-home market includes past articles and other resources that will help you organize your feature.
Check up on the cottage and cabin scene in your region’s resort areas. Sources include sellers, real estate agents, county assessors. Are people in financial straits failing to pay property taxes on vacation homes? What’s the foreclosure situation? Talk to do-it-yourself sellers who are advertising in classifieds – what gimmicks are they using to sweeten the deal? Are rental rates dropping?

Look for unusual tactics – I recently noticed a half-page ad one homeowner placed in my local coupon-clipper publication; it touted a single lavish vacation property hundreds of miles away.

Cottages by their nature are heavily invested with nostalgia and emotion; keep an eye out for interesting human interest stories, such as multi-generation cabins being sold off or abandoned. Also check into the economic effect on area businesses; fewer weekenders translates to less trade at mom-and-pop establishments that depend on seasonal business. How hard has this vicious downward spiral hit your state’s recreational spots?

Some industry sources say cheap prices and plenty of inventory are attracting investment buyers who plan to flip or rent out vacation properties.

And others note that homeowners who normally keep the cottage in the family are instead leasing out their second homes in a bid to boost cash flow or at least make the property pay its own way.

HomeAway.com, which operates several vacation-rental Web sites, says some markets are showing double or more the number of listings compared to a year ago. They’re up 178 percent in Telluride, Colo., for example, and 206 percent in Sunset Beach, N. Carolina, according to Victor Wang of HomeAway’s media relations staff.

While HomeAway doesn’t disclose overall listing trends for competitive reasons, Wang said generally they will try to assist journalists with data for specific markets and regions. He also has data about investment properties and buyer surveys.

If you’re focusing on rentals, in addition to local listing services and classifieds, try Vacation Rentals by Owner – it boasts 130,000 listings and very easy-to-use interface with region-specific state maps, making it a great source of “real people” for your stories.

By Melissa Preddy on Mar 22, 2010

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Tax Deductions for Vacation Homes – Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County

Tax Deductions for Vacation Homes
March 12, 2010 by cloeffler

HouseLogic: NAR’s new consumer Web site, offers everything home owners need to increase, maintain and protect the value of their home.

Tax deductions for vacation homes vary greatly depending on how much you use the home and whether you rent it out. You can rent out a vacation home for as many as 14 days per year without paying taxes on your rental income.

A vacation home offers a break from the daily grind, but it can also offer a break from taxes. The IRS allows most owners to lower taxable income by taking tax deductions for vacation homes. What’s deductible depends on a number of factors, especially how often you visit and whether you allow renters.

Don’t limit your notion of a vacation home to a beach cottage or a mountain cabin. Even RVs and boats can count, as long as there are sleeping, cooking, and bathroom facilities. Tax deductions for vacation homes are complex, so consult a tax adviser.

Is your vacation home a vacation home?
If you bought your vacation home exclusively for personal enjoyment, you can generally deduct your mortgage interest and real estate taxes, as you would on a primary residence. Use Schedule A to take the deductions.

The IRS even allows you to rent out your vacation home for up to 14 days a year without paying taxes on the rental income. You might be able to deduct any uninsured casualty losses too, though you can’t write off rental-related expenses. If the home is rented for more than 14 days, you must claim the income.

Now, if you own what you consider a vacation home but never visit it, or only rent it out, other tax rules apply. Without personal use the home is considered an investment or rental property by the IRS. Time spent checking in on a house or making repairs doesn’t count as personal use.

Tax deductions for rental owners
As an exclusive rental property, you can deduct numerous expenses including taxes, insurance, mortgage interest, utilities, housekeeping, and repairs. Even towels and sheets are deductible. Use Schedule E. You can also write off depreciation, the value lost due to the wear and tear a home experiences over time.

Treat the rental property like a business, says Mark Steber, chief tax officer at Jackson Hewitt Tax Services. Keep detailed records and maintain a separate checking account. Figure you’ll spend a couple of hours a week, on average, over the course of the year managing the property.

To maximize deductions you need to be actively involved in the rental property. That means performing such duties as approving new tenants and coming up with rental terms. You also need to own at least 10% of the property. See IRS Publication 527 for details.

If your adjusted gross income is $100,000 or less you can deduct from your taxable income up to $25,000 in rental losses—that is, the difference between your rental income and your rental expenses. The deduction gradually phases out between an AGI of $100,000 and $150,000. You may be able to carry forward excess losses to future years, or use losses to offset taxable gains when you sell.

Expenses can add up. HOA fees (average: $420), routine maintenance costs ($360), and six months’ worth of utilities ($1,100) alone total nearly $2,000. By deducting $2,000 from taxable income of $100,000, a married couple filing jointly would cut their tax bill by $488.

Mixed use of a vacation home
The tax picture gets more complicated when in the same year you make personal use of your vacation home and rent it out for more than 14 days. Remember, rental income is tax-free only if you rent for 14 days or fewer.

The key to maximizing deductions is keeping annual personal use of your vacation home to fewer than 15 days or 10% of the total rental days, whichever is greater. In that case the vacation home can be treated as a rental, meaning you get the same generous deductions. To avoid going over the 10% limit, essentially you shouldn’t use your vacation home more than one day for every 10 days you rent it.

Make personal use of your vacation home for more than 14 days (or more than 10% of the total rental days), however, and your deductions may be limited. If your rental income is less than your rental expenses, for example, you can’t use the loss to offset other sources of income. There’s a worksheet that determines which expenses you can carry over to the following year.

Another big blow: The IRS requires you to divide expenses between personal use and rental use. Let’s say you have a vacation home you personally use for 25 days and rent for 75 days. That’s 100 total days of use. You can only write off 75% of the expenses as rental expenses—75 rental days divided by 100 total days of use works out to 75%. Some of the personal expenses, such as mortgage interest and real estate taxes, may be deductible on Schedule A.

IRS closes tax loophole
A popular strategy used by owners of vacation homes to avoid paying capital gains on a sale was to convert a vacation home into a primary residence. This was accomplished by living in the home for two years out of the previous five before selling. By doing so a gain on the sale of up to $250,000 for single filers ($500,000 for married filing jointly) was tax-free.

The IRS hasn’t done away with the cap-gains exclusion, but it is closing the loophole for vacation homes. Starting in 2009, you have to pay regular cap-gains taxes on the portion of the gain that’s equivalent to the time you used the home as a vacation home after 2008.

Let’s say on Jan. 1, 2010, you move into a vacation home you bought on Jan. 1, 2002. Two years later you qualify for the cap-gains exclusion and decide to sell. You’d pay regular capital gains on 10% of the gain because in 2009 the home was a vacation home subject to the new IRS rules. The other nine years—2002 to 2008, when the old rules applied, and 2010 to Jan. 1, 2012, when the home was used as a primary residence—qualify for the exclusion.

This article provides general information about tax laws and consequences, but is not intended to be relied upon by readers as tax or legal advice applicable to particular transactions or circumstances. Readers should consult a tax professional for such advice, and are reminded that tax laws may vary by jurisdiction.

Donna Fuscaldo has written about personal finance for more than 10 years at the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, and Fox Business. She one day hopes to own a vacation home in the Catskills of New York.

http://www.houselogic.com/articles/tax-deductions-vacation-homes/

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350