7 Best Tax Deductions and Credits for Home Owners

Monday, January 9, 2017

Hello Hampton Roads,

With tax season upon us (the IRS starts accepting returns as of Jan. 23, 2017), there are certain benefits to being a home owner which can save you money!

Here is a list of the 7 best tax deductions and credits you should know:

#1:  Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID)
You can write off interest for your primary and vacation residences. If you're a new home owner, you've probably noticed that most of your monthly mortgage payment goes to interest not principal
and now you can turn that into a benefit when you take the deduction.

#2:  Property Tax Deduction
Real estate tax rates in Hampton Roads range on the low end from $0.99 per $100 in Virginia Beach to the high end of $1.30 per $100 in Portsmouth (side bar) and most home owners pay a little over
$2000/year in taxes. A couple of tips to know are that real estate taxes can be deducted only in the year they are paid and if you've recently bought a home, look on your settlement statement and see if
you paid any real estate taxes at closing and you can deduct this as well.

#3:  Points Paid for Mortgages and Refinancing
If you paid points on your mortgage or for refinancing, this is treated by the IRS as prepaid interest and depending on your situation you can either deduct the full amount up front or spread it out
over the life of the mortgage.

#4:  Interest Paid on home improvement loans
To qualify for the deduction, the loan must be used for capital improvements and not repairs on your main home.

#5:  Interest on home equity loans
This deduction can be used either on your primary home or on a 2nd home.

#6:  Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)
If you bought a home and put less than 20% down, chances are your pay PMI. PMI may be deductible based on the income you make. You can deduct PMI if you make less than $54K as an individual & less than $109K  as a couple filing jointly.

#7:  MCC (Mortgage Credit Certificate)
If you recently bought a home and were lucky enough to get a MCC, this acts as a dollar for dollar credit against the taxes you have to pay.  For more details, read my blog post "A Mortgage Credit Certificate Just Made Home Buying a Little Easier!"

Hope this information helps save you money on your taxes!

Thanks for Reading,

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Serving your Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach Real Estate needs. Liz Schuyler on Google+

The Top 10 Most Expensive Homes Sold in 2016

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Hello Hampton Roads,

As the new year begins, I thought it might be interesting to do take a look at the top 10 most expensive homes sold in 2016.

Reviewing sales in all the 7 cities, we find that all 10 homes were in Virginia Beach with the top 5 representing the North End and Alanton neighborhoods.

Here's a quick video showing all 10 homes:

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy 2017!

Thanks for Reading,

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Serving your Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach Real Estate needs. Liz Schuyler on Google+

A Mortgage Credit Certificate Just Made Home Buying a Little Easier!

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Hello Hampton Roads,

A mortgage credit certificate (MCC) just made home buyer a little easier!

If you are buying your first home, this could save you potentially thousands of dollars on your federal income taxes.

It gives buyers a 20% dollar for dollar credit based on the total amount of mortgage interest paid for the year and every year thereafter that the buyer owns the home!
In addition, the remaining 80% of the mortgage interest can still be deducted on your return.


Since the early years of a mortgage is front loaded with interest, meaning you initially pay more interest than principal, this is a huge savings!

Check out this video explaining the process:

There are many things you can do to put yourself in the best position to buy a home from taking advantage of MCCs, special home buyer financing and 1st time home buyer grants.

I specialize in knowing about a variety of these products from a federal, state and municipal level and have helped many home buyers use these programs to help them buy a home.

If you have any questions or want to know what your options are, please contact me.

Thanks for Reading,

 
_________________________

Serving your Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach Real Estate needs. Liz Schuyler on Google+

The Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads Area is Growing!

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Hello Hampton Roads,

The Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads Area is growing!

As Bob Dylan said, "the times they are a changin" and one of these changes I'll be telling you about today deals with the moving habits of Americans.  Did you know that the average American moves 11 times in their lifetime?

This recent  blog article from Abodo  analyzes the numbers from 2014-2015 and talks about the top 10 MSAS (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) losing the most residents and the top 10 MSAs with the most New residents.  Suprisingly our area (VA Beach- Norfolk - Newport News- VA-NC) made the number 1 spot for both lists but had an overall gain in terms of folks moving here.

QUOTE: "Our recent study shows that people are moving into the Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Newport News area at a rapid rate. Experts have noted that the growing cost of housing has pushed a large number of residents out of major cities across the country, but this analysis shows that this is not the case in Virginia Beach, with 10.53% of people having moved into the area between 2014 and 2015."---Sam Radbil, Sr. Communications Manager at ABODO

As more people move to area, this will put upward pressure on home prices and already we are seeing higher trends in mortgage rates.  Looking at BankRate.com, we see 30 year interest rates in the low 4% range.

We live in a popular area and more and more people seem to agree as the number of new residents grows.  If you are considering buying a home, this is a good time to make your move!

Thanks for Reading,

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Serving your Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach Real Estate needs. Liz Schuyler on Google+

February 2016 Hampton Roads Real Estate Market Update

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Hello Hampton Roads,

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! :)

The housing numbers are out for February 2016! What’s the market telling us this month and how did each of the 7 cities do compared with last month?

Let’s take a look:

City	Homes Sold	Median Sold Price	Absorption Rate
Virginia Beach	447	$233,000.00	4.12
Norfolk	206	$169,000.00	5.25
Chesapeake	230	$247,000.00	4.69
Portsmouth	92	$101,550.00	6.98
Suffolk	83	$244,000.00	6.56
Hampton	118	$126,000.00	6.89
Newport News	125	$153,500.00	5.18

From the overhead view, the general trend is towards a seller’s market.  

We see a strong seller’s market in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Newport News which all have an absorption rate of less than 6 months.   On the other hand, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Hampton show absorption rates of over 6 months, but under 7 months.  Six month is an evenly balanced market and anything over 6 months favors buyers which means that there it takes longer to sell existing inventory, and less than 6 months favors sellers which means that the selling period is shorter.

The highest median sold price belongs to Suffolk at $244,000.00 and this city also had the biggest increase in median sold price as compared to last month :  $215,325.00 to $244,000.00, an 11.7% increase.  Portsmouth has the lowest median sold price as well as the largest decrease as compared to last month’s numbers.  The median sold price in Portsmouth, which went from $123,250.00 to $101,550.00, a 17.6% decrease from the prior month.

If you would like more information about the home values in your neighborhood, feel free to visit http://www.YourHomeWorth.us  and feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thanks for Reading,


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Serving your Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach Real Estate needs. Liz Schuyler on Google+