How to avoid paying capital gains tax on inherited property. Minimize the potential tax consequences of transferring property from parent to child. Q: I have a question about a recent answer you gave to a reader. The question relates to a daughter that acquired her share of the home from her mom while her mom [...]
How capital gains tax on the sale of a property held in a trust works. This reader wants to know if they can claim a capital loss on the sale. Q: I enjoyed your column in the Washington Post. I am trustee of my father's trust. Upon his death, his 50 percent interest in the [...]
How do I get rid of PMI on my mortgage? What can you do if you don’t want to pay private mortgage insurance on your mortgage loan? Q: I appreciate your articles and landed on your site after reading your article on prepaying your mortgage. I have a question for you about mortgage loans, private [...]
How do I avoid paying taxes when I sell my rental property? This reader wants to know if they can avoid capital gains taxes without doing a 1031 exchange. Q: My wife and I are about to sell a Chicago rental property we purchased together. The house was our first home and when we moved [...]
Is property sold in a trust taxable? Inheriting a home through a trust usually simplifies the selling process, until you consider capital gains taxes. Q: I need some advice about selling a home held jointly in a trust in my name and my brother’s name. This was my mother’s house originally and she has since [...]
Estate planning and capital gains taxes: What you need to know before selling high value property that could be inherited. Q: My parents are elderly and live in Virginia. They own a rental house in California. Since they bought it, the home has increased greatly in value to about $1 million. They are trying to [...]
Do appliances increase the cost basis of your home? The short answer: it depends on your situation. Q: How can you say, as you did in a recent newspaper article, that putting in a new washer and dryer is an expense that would increase your basis in a condo? Aren't appliances simply replacements rather than [...]
Tax rules when buying a condo for your college student can get complicated, especially with capital gains taxes. Here’s what you need to know. Q: We bought a condo in our name and paid for it with cash. Our son moved into the unit and paid no rent for 18 months. He was working on [...]
Will a 1031 Exchange help avoid capital gains tax on an inherited home? When you inherit a home and use it as a rental property, you could face major tax implications when it comes time to sell unless you use a 1031 exchange. Q: Will a 1031 exchange help avoid capital gains tax on an [...]
While you can’t always predict future tax liability on investment property, here are issues that many real estate investors struggle with when structuring an inheritance. Q: We have a rental property (titled in the name of our trust) which shall pass to our three sons upon our deaths. When our sons sell the property [...]
