Between 2002 and 2007, real estate investors and developers built tremendous wealth and preserved significant equity by using tax-deferred exchanges under Section 1031 of the IRS Code. Section 1031 exchanges became commonplace in most transactional real estate planning and resulted in exceptional tax-mitigation opportunities. During the past three years of economic downturn, however, exchanges were [...]
This is the time of year parents are rushing around, frantically buying up supplies for their children returning to school. I remember the days of cutting up brown paper bags to make neat, clean covers for all our precious schoolbooks. Do you still do that? Recently, we talked about the tax-free days in certain states, [...]
IRS released the new mileage rates for business use of your car, effective July 1, 2011. From July 1 – December 31, 2011, your new mileage rate is 55.5 cents per mile. From January 1 – June 30, 2011, it was 51 cents per mile. The rate for moving and medical mileage increase to 23.5 [...]
With or without the Tea Party, people have disliked and continue to dislike paying real estate taxes on their homes. The good news is that you can always try to get your property taxes reduced. There’s just one major problem you’ll have in fighting to have your property taxes lowered. Municipalities use a convoluted method [...]
Life can be complicated, and today everyone is busy running from one place to another at lightning speed. In some cases, people may try to keep up with their lives by driving faster and by disregarding the basic rules of the road in order to save a few minutes. But does running that yellow light [...]
I recently met a 24-year-old who started a new business. Jeff was a pleasant surprise. He had a business plan. Jeff knew exactly what kind of customer base he wanted to have – and how to reach those customers. Of course, he was open to some additional ideas…but he was on exactly the right track. [...]
Did you join real estate expert Ilyce Glink on the last Live Chat? If you missed out, here’s an excerpt with common questions about qualifying for a mortgage and paying your mortgage. Sign up for the next Live Chat on the Equifax Facebook page. Q: Is it possible to double mortgage payments without paying a [...]
As a real estate investor, you have the choice between either buying and holding your properties or turning around and selling them. If you’re going to buy and hold, it’s important to attract quality tenants who will care for your home as if it were truly their own. And finding great tenants means understanding the [...]
Back in 1999, when I returned to the family business with my dad and sister, our business was not incorporated. The Internet was a budding phenomenon at the time, so I offered to take responsibility for using it to find out how to incorporate our business. I found a site that provided the steps to [...]
Don’t you love vacation time? Well, you’re not the only one getting a vacation. Some states are giving their taxes a vacation, too. Sounds preposterous? Not at all! Everyone’s always complaining about sales taxes. So some states offer a brief vacation from sales taxes on certain purchases each summer. Does your state offer one? 17 [...]
