Real estate blog entries tagged with taxes by Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy (Century 21 Results Realty)

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taxes: The ultimate income redistribution... - 10/17/08 07:59 AM

On a couple of my recent politically focused blog posts, there have been a couple of writers that have decided it was the time and place to talk about distribution of wealth and using personal tax policy to create balance. Of course, the problem was that NEITHER of these posts were about personal income taxes and their role in "appropriately" distributing wealth.
I deleted one of the comments since it was so completely off subject it just wasn't worth keeping...
But I am a fair guy...
So, here you go.
There are going to be some ground rules.
Be ready … (24 comments)

taxes: If Joe the Plumber had only said... - 10/15/08 08:21 AM

Do you know who Joe the Plumber is? If you don't, in three minutes, you will. Here he is...

I love that Joe doesn't back down... but Joe could have gone one step further... I know, easy for me to say. I probably would have stepped on my own face in the same situation, and Joe handled himself honorably. I doubt if half of our representatives in DC would have been willing to go toe to toe with Barrack in a crowd.
But here is what Joe could have said...
"Yo, Skipper (insert name of employee), I was hoping that … (47 comments)

taxes: The way it will go down... - 10/15/08 05:24 AM

These are my predictions for the next few years...
Obama is likely to be the next President. He is only going to serve one term. The race will tighten, but it won't come down to just one state like the last few elections. McCain only have about a 1 in 5 chance of winning the election. The popular vote will be in the 49-48-3 (the also rans) range. Obama will announce that the country has spoken and this is the solid signal that the country needs a change. The media won't speak up and declare that Obama only barely cleared half … (16 comments)

taxes: Why tax business? - 10/14/08 04:27 AM

I often wonder about this. I hear all of this campaign rhetoric... "Don't cut taxes for 'big oil' or 'fat cats on Wall St', instead, we need to raise taxes on big business."
That is when it becomes obvious that most of our politicians have NEVER run a business. They simply don't understand that increased expenses lead to increased prices. Like Hillary Clinton talking about a "Windfall Profits Tax" on "Big Oil" to be used to send money to the consumers (oddly, at the time, Obama said it was a gimmick, now he has proposed something similar)... Did she not realize … (9 comments)

taxes: Taxes on the rich and how it affects everyone - 10/07/08 08:06 AM

While having a conversation with one of my high end clients recently, we started talking about taxes. I will state u front that he is NOT in the 95% that one candidate claims won't be affected by tax increases... he is a top earner. He wasn't born rich... he made it himself.
This is what the conversation about tax increases came to...
If the tax increases that Obama has stated he wants come to pass, he will HAVE to cut his staff.
That means that the increased taxes will cost jobs. He is actually looking at an expansion, but because … (17 comments)

taxes: It's $1,000,000,000,000... - 09/20/08 01:42 PM

A billion here, a billion there... pretty soon we are talking about real money.
And yes that seems to be the thought process up in DC these days. Bail-outs beget bail-outs. And now we are talking about one trillion dollars. $1T... heck, that should be bold. $1T.
Without getting into the ethicacy of the "Mother of all bail-outs", this has got to be a giant wake-up for politicians, regulators, banks and everyone else. The country is literally a different place today. We now have a government that owns "private corporations." And we are soon going to have a government that … (8 comments)

taxes: The deeper issue in this election... - 09/19/08 03:23 AM

We are currently sitting on the edge of a dangerous precipice. This is in addition to the threat of global terrorism and the meltdown of our financial system. And this is a precipice that both the Democrats and the Republicans seem unwilling to face, much less do something about...
In fact, neither of the parties would even think about steering us away from this danger because they think it would be political suicide. And it is fundamental...
Income taxation and "the majority"
As of 2005 (the IRS was able to deliver the numbers in October of 2007 for the 2005 tax … (10 comments)

taxes: Stop the crying or cry it out? - 09/10/08 08:38 AM

Regular readers may know that in addition to the 4 year old (hockey boy), my wife and I are also blessed with a 6 month old baby boy. And, they both are amazing little teachers.
The little one was teaching me something today...
At nap time, he was quite tired... too tired. So tired that he was fighting sleep with every fiber of his being. Both Mom and I know that the best course of action is for him to go to sleep... but he doesn't want to do that. He also doesn't really want to stay awake.
How many parents … (4 comments)

taxes: Obama's Housing Plan - 08/26/08 11:10 AM

It is pretty easy to start out by saying that I am NOT a fan of Barak Obama for President. As I have watched his candidacy unfold, I have noticed it long on rhetoric and short on reality, forethought and responsibility.
Yesterday, Inman had a story about the Obama Housing Plan. I'm not shocked...
The first thing is that I came up with stated costs of $330,000,000,000. By the way, that means that what he is proposing will cost $3,000 for every single household in the country. Of course, the Obama camp is well aware that 97% of income taxes are … (23 comments)

taxes: IRS will be looking at us... - 07/18/08 12:54 PM

If you get the REALTOR Magazine Daily News, you might have seen the story: IRS Gets Picky About Who's a Real Estate Pro.
This is interesting...
Licensed real estate agents and brokers do not always qualify for real estate professional status under the new rules, which mandate that individuals spend no less than 750 hours on qualified real estate activities: developing, redeveloping, constructing, reconstructing, acquiring, converting, renting, operating, managing, leasing, or selling property.
So... how is this going to effect the industry? Is this a big deal?
Let's face facts, the barrier to entry is pretty low in real estate. … (31 comments)

taxes: Thoughts on the Foreclosure Bailout - 12/08/07 05:31 AM

Everyone has weighed in with their opinions about the proposed government bailout of some of the 1.2 million people facing foreclosure... I guess I'll toss out my nickel (side thought... if everyone that has offered an opinion actually gave up the nickel, WE could bail out the people facing foreclosure...)
I don't like government bailouts.
I'm a libertarian (I haven't joined the party, so I'm not a Libertarian). I don't believe that government has a role in every part of our lives. I think that the US Constitution is the guideline for the structure of our laws... and the role the … (3 comments)

taxes: Dingell... YOU ARE AN IDIOT! - 12/06/07 03:51 PM

If you haven't been paying attention, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) has floated an idea to eliminate the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction for homes over 3000 square feet.
His points are:
The HMID "costs" US taxpayers $100,000,000/year. McMansions are wasteful and contribute to global warming. It would reduce sprawl, and save energy in multiple ways. So, let's take a few of these on...
First point. This is a little semantic, but it really pisses me off when the government, and those that are elected to serve OUR interests refer to the money that they DON'T get as costing them. If I pull … (8 comments)

taxes: Lane's crazy idea of the day - 10/01/07 04:22 PM

Barely after midnight, and I have already had my best crazy idea of the day...
In almost every form of motorsport, the drivers are festooned with the names of all of their benefactors. As Kurt Busch stands in Victory Lane, chugging a Coke, wearing a Miller hat, and holding a quart of Mobil1, all of us know that they pay his way. Of course those are the best products on the planet... they pay his check.
When Jimmy Johnson talks up Lowe's, or Jeff Gordon mentions his new energy drink, we know why. There is no question.
But, what I … (3 comments)

taxes: Imputed income - 10/01/07 04:08 PM

Familiar?
Let me give you a quick idea of what it is. Keep in mind that I am not a tax professional, or a lawyer... just a real estate agent.
I guess the easiest way to say it is that it is phantom income. For our current purposes, let's look at a short sale. Let's say that the seller owes $300,000 on their home. In the short sale, the property sells for $225,000. Obviously the difference is $75,000. When the bank takes the loss, they report the write-off as income to the "recipient", the seller. So, that year they get a … (2 comments)

taxes: H is for Homestead - 09/01/07 05:07 AM

Simply put, a homestead is someone's primary residence. The byproduct, for most places is the Homestead Exemption.
One of the more important functions of the homestead is that it may shield a primary residence from loss due to bankruptcy or lawsuit. We often forget about that aspect of the Homestead status, but it is very important. (Thanks Chuck for reminding me)
Here in Georgia, a portion of the value of a home is shielded from taxation. The effect of this is that it makes the rate of taxation progressive. I won't get into my feelings on progressivity in taxation, but rather … (1 comments)

taxes: D is for Due Diligence - 08/29/07 08:48 AM

Welcome to part four of my A-Z journey through real estate. Of course, this isn't a definitive glossary of real estate terminology, techniques, strategies or idea, but rather just a few answers to questions. Of course, for every question that gets answered, at least one new question is raised. I guess that makes it like most everything else.
Which brings me right back to Due Diligence. Simply put, Due Diligence is the process of gathering needed information about a property. Some of the information is volunteered, for instance the Seller's Disclosure. Here in GA, the sellers are required to disclose … (0 comments)

taxes: Since I brought up the FairTax... - 08/10/07 08:37 AM

Since I brought it up, I figured I should post up how I believe real estate would be handled.
The tax is only on new items and services. So, obviously new homes would be taxed. The tax would be included in the sale price when the home is sold the first time. Under the FairTax, the rate is 23% (inclusive), so that means if the taxed price is $300,000, the house is $231,000 and the tax is $69,000. Opponents of the tax like to paint this as actually being a 30% tax, and $69k/$231k is 29.9% so they aren't being totally … (1 comments)

taxes: It's time for the IRS to go! - 08/09/07 04:05 PM

Well, if you've wandered around my blog at all, you've probably figured out that I am opinionated, and libertarian in my views. I have tried to keep my political opinions out of this blog, but I heard something today and it just chapped my hide... I can't take it anymore.
Some of you might know that Barry Bonds recently knocked out the home run that puts him in first place for lifetime home runs. A young guy caught the ball... and he might have a serious problem. I can't tell you much about him, except that I've heard he was a … (4 comments)

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