House lotteries are illegal in most states. Some states allow lotteries of home but are generally organized by groups to benefit charitable organizations. You'll have to check with your state to determine if a house lottery is legal.
In simple terms, when people talk about the term "basis," that term refers to the cost of the property adjusted for improvements and can be adjusted up or down for other reasons. If the property was vacant land when you bought it and it cost you $5,000, your basis at that time was $5,000. If you put a home on it at a cost of $35,000, the basis of your property would have been $40,000 even though the home might have caused the land and home to be worth much more than the $40,000.
Selling a home through an auction or a real estate agent is up to the seller. It takes some investigating to decide if an auction or a real estate agent will get a higher price for the home. Auctions aren't cheap, but can be quick.
The IRS allows homeowners to avoid having to pay any taxes on the gain from the sale of their home up to $250,000 for a single homeowner or $500,000 for married couples if the homeowner has lived in the home as his or her principal residence for 2 years out of the last 5 years.Is there any way to keep the profits of a home sale tax free if you've lived in the home less than two years? The IRS allows some circumstances to avoid capital gains.
Seller's property disclosure statement is supposed to list all known problems. If you buy a home and discover problems that weren't mentioned in the seller disclosure you may decide to sue the seller. Seller disclosure cases are tough to win because you have to have proof that the seller knew of the problem in order to win the lawsuit.
Home sellers used to have to choose between a full service real estate brokerage and the help of a real estate agent or selling a home themselves, in a for sale by owner scenario. Discount real estate brokerages have emerged to fill the gap between for sale by owner sales and full service real estate agents. Learn what kind of services discount real estate brokerages offer and how they can help in a for sale by owner transaction.
When you get divorced you may still own property with your ex-spouse, perhaps as tenants in common. If one of the partners sells the property without the permission of the other, that spouse is committing fraud. What are the options for the other spouse?
A homeowner wants to know how to calculate the cost basis on a home he received through a quit claim deed that has appreciated greatly in value. When it comes to calculating cost basis, you can include anything that was a structural fix. Also included in the cost basis are costs of the purchase and sale, including commission, advertising and marketing costs and any other fees you paid.
When you've bought a home and you owe more that the home value it may become difficult to make mortgage payments. Instead of falling behind on your mortgage payments you may want to contact your mortgage lender to set up a short sale. Be aware that when you sell your home through a short sale the IRS will treat the difference between the sale amount and what you originally owed the lender "phantom income."
A homeowner owns her home with a friend who wants to move on and take the equity in the home, but the other isn't ready to leave. If the friend wants to buy her interest in the home, she could take out a home equity loan. A real estate attorney can help the two friends work out a deal that could work for them both.
