No more Taxes after Short Sales for California Home Sellers

Ben Nicolas

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 at 5:24pm. 437 Views, 0 Comments.

Sellers that short sale Los Angeles Real Estate no longer have to pay California state income tax on debt forgiven in a short sale, foreclosure, or loan modification.  Enacted into law April 12th 2010, Senate Bill 401 generally aligns California's tax treatment of mortgage debt relief income with federal law.  For debt forgiven on a loan secured by a "qualified principal residence," borrowers will now be exempt from both federal and state income tax consequences.  The existing federal exemption is for indebtedness up to $2 million, whereas the new California exemption is for indebtedness up to $800,000 and forgiven debt up to $500,000.

"Qualified principal residence" indebtedness is defined as debt incurred in acquiring, constructing, or substantially…

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Approved Short Sale Library Court Building Downtown Los Angeles $249k Open House 12/6/09 11am-2pm

Ben Nicolas

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 8:46pm. 541 Views, 0 Comments.

Seller wants to accept offer by 12/9/09 and open escrow 12/11/09

The Library Court is a modern building in downtown Los Angeles.  The unit is a 1 bedroom 1 bathroom.  The Library Court Building was originally built in 1955 and renovated in 2004 by the Greystone Group.  The unit has hardwood floors, Granite Counters & floor to ceiling exterior windows.  HOA amenities include 24 hour study area, workout room and business center.  On the ground floor of the building there is a Wolfgang Puck Express and a popular watering hole called the Library Bar.  The Library court building is across the street from the downtown Standard hotel.  This is a great Location in heart of financial district.  There has only been 1 owner of this unit since the…

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Los Angeles Short Sales Flooding the Market in late November 2009

Ben Nicolas

Thursday, November 26th, 2009 at 4:08pm. 277 Views, 0 Comments.

Los Angeles Short Sale Market Report

As of 11/26/09 there are over 1,000 short sales being sold publicly via the SoCAL MLS/CARETS IDX data feed in Active status in the city of Los Angeles alone, 1,015 to be exact (this does not include anything listed in Los Angeles County).  790 of the 1,015 are listed below the Fannie Mae traditional conforming loan amount of $417,000 and 945 of the 1,015 are below the new super conforming loan amount limit of $729,000.  Of these 1,015 listings 310 are priced below $200,000.  Only 25 of the properties are listed at $1 million+ price range.  My takeaway:  Short Sales are typically much better suited for the first time FHA approved home buyer than REO's because

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Short Sale Negotiation: From an agents perspective

Ben Nicolas

Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 4:28pm. 115 Views, 0 Comments.

Want to feel frusturated and Raise your stress level? Click this link and read

Found this blog post on Active Rain.  Reading this post is the best way I think for the average layman to understand the frusturation with dealing with Lenders Loss Mitigation Departments.

This article did not surprise me though.  I've been waiting > 2 months for a Loss Mitigation Department to give me an updated approval.  I have a buyer willing to purchase property on terms approved by investor (based on Febuary 2009 BPO).  All I need is updated approval with new buyers name.

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Do I have to pay taxes after my Short Sale/Foreclosure/Loan Modification/Short Pay Refi/Principal Reduction?

Ben Nicolas

Sunday, April 12th, 2009 at 8:12pm. 997 Views, 0 Comments.

For liability reasons it "wouldn't be prudent" for us to give you direct advice on this topic but here are some excellent sources of information for you to review with either your CPA or Tax Lawyer.

IRS Links:

IRS FAQ re: The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and Debt Cancellation

IRS News Update: Mortgage Workouts, Now Tax-Free for Many Homeowners; Claim Relief on Newly-Revised IRS Form

IRS Publication 4681 re: Canceled, Debts, Foreclosures and Abandonments

IRS Form 982

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FHA "Hope For Home Owners" Program Update - As of Febuary 2009 25 Households Helped...Nationwide!!!

Ben Nicolas

Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 7:25pm. 240 Views, 0 Comments.

Interesting article, it says that only 25 people in the whole country have qualified for the "Hope for Homeowners" program...25 in the whole country... with the guidelines setup as they were though I'm surprised its even that high.  Despite its name this program has not exactly been what I would call a "light at the end of the tunnel" for US Households.

I do think there will be some major changes in lender willingness to do loan mods between now and end of 2009, especially with regard to their willingness to reduce principal balances, stay tuned...

Update 3/24/09:  Here is a new article from Inman News with some…

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