Some real estate investors use a 1031 exchange to purchase a residence and defer federal income taxes, but the IRS rules for this type of transaction can be tricky. The IRS recently changed the 1031 law to include a 5 year ownership requirement. When using a 1031 exchange, plan ahead and consult a good accountant.
An installment purchase of a home is a process by which you sign a contract to buy a home over time. The seller keeps the title to the home and when you fulfill the requirements under the contract, the seller is supposed to transfer the title to you. To protect yourself with an installment contract for a home, you need to make sure the contract has protections for you as the buyer.
Neighbors may not have rights when it comes to your fence, but good neighbors will work to keep the neighbor involved. Different parts of the country have different laws regarding rights to your neighbor's yard to work on your fence. You should talk with your neighbors before changing anything they will look at every day.
Under certain circumstances, creditors have the right to file a lien against a person's home for money that person owes them. A seller is having difficulty settling a lien held against the property. There are a few options to try to release the property from a lien, including paying off the lien, posting a security bond and hiring a real estate attorney.
These home buyers wonder if they can cancel a contract with a builder because the builder's affiliated lender is moving too slow. The buyers will have to look at the details in their contract to determine if they can cancel it. Most contracts would require you to give the sellers written notice that you didn't get financing and tell them that you are terminating the deal.
Holding title in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship means that each owner of the home owns an equal undivided share of the home and in case one of the owners dies the remaining owners automatically own the property together. Changing the title to a tenants in common ownership would allow people to own a property in percentages.
Can a divorce settlement override a quit claim deed? Unlikely. If one spouse pays the other spouse his share of a property and he signs a quit claim deed, the first spouse does not owe the other one any money for a home. But when you're going through a divorce with assets, the judge will look at all the assets when deciding how to divide up property.
One way to set up a real estate business is using a limited partnership, corporation or limited liability company (LLC). For real estate purposes, most people agree that a limited liability companies gives its organizers the most flexibility in terms of structure and for income tax purposes. An LLC shields its members from claims from creditors and litigation matters and permits the tax benefits of the LLC to flow directly to its members.
What do you have to do in terms of taxes if you gift your share of a property using a quit claim deed? It depends on how much equity you own in the property. If you have less than $11,000 in equity in a property you likely don't have to do anything. If you own more equity than that, then you may have to file forms with the IRS describing the value of your share of the property that you quit claimed. An accountant or estate planner should be able to help you determine the tax implications of signing a quit claim deed.
Most states have seller disclosure laws. These laws require a seller to disclose to a buyer known material defects in the home. The first issue is to determine whether the seller knew of the leak and should have disclosed it.
