Tax Organizer
If you’ve ever worked on your taxes before, you’ll know that one of the most critical first steps to getting favorable results is to get your paperwork organized. A lack of organization is one of the biggest reasons why people tend to struggle with their tax returns. If you are getting ready to do your taxes, simply make sure to organize the following documents, and you will find a lot of the stress of doing your taxes will quickly disappear, not to mention the efficiency and speed with which…
Tax Consequences of Short Sales
Did you know that doing a short sale can result in thousands of dollars in tax debt to the IRS/State? In 2010 alone, more than 3 million foreclosures were expected to take place. In an effort to avoid becoming yet another statistic, more and more Americans are resorting to what is known as a short sale. A short sale is a process which allows upside down homeowners (upside down is a term that defines a mortgage that is greater than the value of the property it underwrites) to…
Loan Modifications and Taxes
When the real estate bubble burst in 2007, a property, once appraised at seven figures, plummeted to Great Depression lows and yet the interest rates on the home loans remained unaffected. In February of 2009, the Obama administration reacted accordingly by implementing the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) in order to provide economic relief to downtrodden American homeowners. As a direct response, many Americans have been scrambling to negotiate an adjustment in their mortgage…
Strategic Defaults and Tax Penalties
In its hay day, the real estate bubble allowed ambitious house-flippers with good enough credit to purchase property with borrowed money. Then came the financial crisis of 2007 when the bubble burst and those not fortunate enough to cash out in time were left with the burden of paying inflated mortgages, or in other words, having an upside down mortgage. What was once a property valued at $1million, lost $400 thousand in value virtually overnight, and yet the monthly mortgage payments…
