Something to think about when Selling Property

Sometime we forget about the net gain of a deal when we sell property. Especially in times like these where it seems that prices are going down. But a few people are still making good money in real estate. At www.InvestSmarter.com we have tried to bring everyone together to help give solid facts to what we are working with on a daily basis. We know we are limited on primary residents to 250k or 500k in tax free money when selling our primary home, but if a condo is your primary home, don't forget about the assessments and the improvements made to the building. Below is an interesting article that was just published talking about this exact fact:

Daily Real Estate News June 24, 2008

A Commonly Missed Tax Break

Condominium or cooperative residents often miss the fact that upgrades to the common areas of communities can affect the amount of tax an owner pays when the home is sold.If the property is a principal residence and the owner has lived in it for two of the previous five years before the sale, a big chunk of the profit is already exempt from federal tax — $250,000 for a single person and $500,000 for a married couple. But the seller will owe taxes on any profit beyond that, and he will owe taxes on the whole amount if the property isn’t a primary residence.A proportional share of the amounts spent by the condo or cooperative association on improvements to the property — not simple maintenance — can be added to the amount paid for the property, or in tax lingo, “the basis.” The basis is subtracted from the sales price to determine any taxable profit.“It surprises me that many community association owners are not aware of this tax benefit. Particularly for older home owners who have watched real estate profit build up over many years and now have a profit of more than $500,000, every dollar of capital improvements they can document is valuable,” says Benny L. Kass, real estate attorney.Source: The Washington Post, Benny L. Kass (06/21/2008)

Feel free to search any of the sites below for more information on real estate in the Panama City and Panama City Beach Florida areas:
www.Panama-City-Beach-Florida-MLS.com
www.Panama-City-Beach-Florida-Condominiums.com
www.RandBCoastalRealEstate.com

100% Mortgages...do they still exist?

They do exist..but there are limitations. As published in The Washington Post there are some people that do qualify:

Daily Real Estate News June 9, 2008

No-Downpayment Loans Still Out There

Despite banks’ reactions to the foreclosure crisis, it’s still possible for a potential homeowner to buy with no money down.Some options come from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and are aimed at making homeownership possible for buyers with limited credit and savings, including teachers, firefighters, and members of the military. Some of the loan programs, which are available through cooperating lenders, even allow 105 percent financing to cover closing costs.Freddie Mac says such loans have lower delinquency rates because borrowers are required to complete homeownership education.Earlier this year, Fannie Mae experimented with a policy that demanded a minimum of 10 percent down in markets where home prices were declining. In May, it modified the policy to allow buyers in declining markets to borrow up to 97 percent of the purchase price with a conventional mortgage and meet any other need with a second mortgage that that lenders are required to forgive after five years of successful payments.Source: Washington Post, David S. Hilzenrath (06/09/2008)

For more information on what is available in the Panama City Beach Market please visit
www.RandBCoastalRealEstate.com
www.InvestSmarter.com
www.Panama-City-Beach-Florida-MLS.com
www.Panama-City-Beach-Florida-Condominiums.com

Weekly Trends-June 5th 2008-Panama City Beach Florida

Here is the weekly trend data for Panama City and Panama City Beach Florida:


FLORIDA

Panama City
2008 Resale Housing Trend Report
2007 Resale Housing Trend Report

Panama City Beach
2008 Resale Housing Trend Report
2007 Resale Housing Trend Report

http://www.investsmarter.com/
http://www.randbcoastalrealestate.com/
http://www.panama-city-beach-florida-mls.com/buying-panama-city-real-estate/
http://www.panama-city-beach-florida-condominiums.com/buying-panama-city-beach-condominiums/