BUYERS GUIDE
Starting your search for property in pine mountain lake?
FHA Loans Surge in Popularity
Good acreage is hard to find
Interpreting classified ads for real estate for sale
Market Update and Buyer Credits
Community property with Right of Survivorship
Incredible, affordable acorn home loans
1031 Tax exchanges for vacation homes 2009
Pine Mountain Lake Disclosure Form (pdf)
Ways to Hold Title to Real Property (pdf) |
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What are the current prices and Pine Mountain Lake homeowner dues?
Contact one of our Realtors to provide you a current list of ALL houses or lots for sale in our Multiple Listing Service. It takes them just a couple of minutes to print or e-mail a list in your price range. The list can show the # of bedrooms, baths, and levels; house, lot and garage sizes; whether it is on the lake, golf course, or greenbelt; and just about any other feature of the house. They can give you a 19 inch by 24 inch Pine Mountain Lake map showing all the streets, units and lot numbers, and locations of amenities. The current monthly PML Homeowners Association dues are $149. We can (and will!) show you any property listed by other brokers, including discount brokers and For Sale by Owners (with their permission). You can also see our house ads in the Pine Mountain Lake News monthly newspaper. Or online go to our area homes for sale page for current listings. If you're curious about what is selling, see this updated list of recent Groveland sales.
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Www.REMAX.com now has all of our area’s listings for sale, as well as most of the country’s real estate. Just enter our zip code, 95321, and a there they are, along with photos of every house. The next best place is www.Realtor.com , if you can stand to look at all the advertising. This site shows up to 24 photos of each house or parcel. Most other real estate searches on MSN.com or Yahoo.com, etc. just re-direct the browser to Realtor.com and you get exactly the same data.
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Can we just drive around and look at the outside of homes for sale?
Once you have a list and a map you can explore different neighborhoods and see the houses on your own, as long as you do not bother the occupants. The exception is if there is an Open House sign out front, which are allowed on weekends. There are 52 miles of roads in PML, and lots of wonderful hidden courts and side streets. There may be a fabulous view from a house up on a hill hidden in the trees. Some pictures just don’t do a house justice, and of course others frame the nice part and don’t show the 3-story house looming next door. So it is useful to get out and look if you are not ready to go with a Realtor yet.
What are all these numbers for each property?
Each lot in PML is located in one of 15 UNITS, shown on the PML map by thick black dividing lines. Each LOT has its own number, from numeral 1 to 598. The unit and lot are commonly shown as “13/260” for example, and must be on a sign at every lot or house. In addition, the County requires the address number to be on every house to aid firemen and police in finding it. The address number is a 5-digit number. Each property listed for sale also has a 5-digit MLS number that shows up on web searches.
Why are there no FOR SALE signs on properties?
Since 1996 almost all of the real estate brokers agree not to have company signs anywhere on the property. We agree with the Homeowner’s Association that it looks much nicer that way, and protects vacant homes from mischief. In exchange for our voluntary cooperation to eliminate signs, PML puts our company signs at the main entrance gate and puts a link to each of our websites on PineMountainLake.com. Individual sellers who choose not to use an agent can put up a 12 X 18 inch standard PML FOR SALE by owner sign.
How can we tell where the property lines are?
Since fences are not allowed on the lot lines in PML and each lot is a different size, it can be hard to see the boundaries. Look for water meters and power poles. These are placed near the street close to the side lines dividing each lot. Concrete Christy boxes holding water meters are placed on every other lot line, and each serves the two lots on either side of it. The latest 19 X 24 inch PML maps show which of the 500+ lots have been merged together with another to create one lot. If the owner of lot 201 bought 202 and combined them into one lot, the lower number is used to identify it, or lot 201. (PML was developed in 1969 with 4,181 lots, but the number is closer to 3660 now, after all the mergers). The front boundary of each property is usually set back from the street curb or asphalt between 5 and 25 feet. The paved streets are only 22 feet wide, but the PML-owned rights-of-way are 50+ feet wide. Where there are cut embankments above the road, or dirt fill banks below the road, PML owns and maintains that property, too. So the front lines of the private lots usually start at the top of the cut banks or the toe of the fill banks. Where direct driveway access from the street is impossible because of the terrain, there are hundreds of driveway easements providing access across the front 20 feet of neighboring lots. The property corners are marked by ¾” diameter re-bar iron posts that extend 2 feet into the ground but may only show above the ground a few inches (or may be buried by leaves and silt). |
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What utilities are available?
All lots have public water from Groveland Community Services District (GCSD) and fire hydrants every 300 feet. About one-third of the lots have public sewer hookups, and the rest use individual septic systems. Electricity is from Pacific Gas & Electric and phone service from AT&T. Cable television is available to all lots. Individual propane tanks on each lot are used because piped natural gas is not available. Moore Brothers Scavenger Service provides several levels of garbage pick-up, or some people take their own loads to the dump on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Fire protection is provided by a full-time department, also administered by GCSD.
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Are there townhouses, condominiums, manufactured homes or apartments?
Country Club Village is a complex of 32 multi-story townhouses near the pool, tennis courts, and Country Club restaurant and Pro Shop. Four condominium complexes are located nearby on Dyer and Salvador Courts. The age, condition, sizes, and amount of homeowner’s association dues are all different. The big advantages are no yard maintenance and great location. Manufactured homes on permanent foundations are allowed in PML if they meet certain design guidelines regulating roof pitch and length of eaves. Mobilehomes that aren’t on foundations are NOT allowed. No apartments or duplexes are in PML.
What if we want just lake frontage or golf course properties? These websites don’t allow that kind of search choice
If you are only interested in specific features, such as parking for a 32 foot long RV, a fireplace in the living room, or airport access, or at least half an acre, or full Southern exposure, you should call us to help you. We’ve usually seen all the houses for sale, and we also have access to much more detailed SEARCH functions through the MLS. If you come in the office we can show you all the interior pictures of each house, and if it is our listing, sometimes dozens of photos of the property. Our job is to weed out the unsuitable houses and save you time.
If I buy a vacant lot, what are the costs to build a new house?
The Tuolumne County building permit fee is based on the size of the house. The fee for a 2000 square foot house costs $975. For this fee you get a check of your plans for building code compliance and five inspections. But the County won’t check your plans until you pay the biggest fee: the SCHOOL MITIGATION. Started in 1986, this fee is also based on square footage and varies with each school district. Our Groveland-Big Oak Flat District charges the maximum allowed, $2.05 per square foot. So on a 2000 sq ft house, that is $4,100. It goes directly to the County Schools Office.
The next largest fee is to maintain our County roads. The Traffic Mitigation fee is divided into two single-family residential categories:
2+ acre parcels pay $3,080 and < 2 acre parcels pay $2,279, which is the amount you would pay for a PML house.
The next fee is for every other County service and makes up for the lost property tax increases that Proposition 13 took away in 1978. It is called the County Service Impact Mitigation Fee. If you are in the GCSD fire protection district, as PML is, you pay $1,463. Both the Traffic Mitigation and the Service Impact Mitigation fees are due prior to issuance of a building permit.
To get water from GCSD you will pay $1,700, which includes the application, meter, and “participation” fees. A standard sewer connection is $7,000. If the sewer main has to be extended to “add” your lot on to the existing system, you will pay for the engineering and extensions costs, several thousand dollars more. Be very sure when offering on a vacant lot whether it is already served by a sewer line in the ground, or is an “add-on” lot.
Two-thirds of PML lots are served by individual septic systems with their own holding tank and leach lines. For a standard septic installation, County fees are $450. The septic system itself may cost between $5,000 and $7,000 to install. If it requires an engineered design, it could cost $8,000 to $20,000 to install. Pacific Gas & Electric has a minimum charge of $250 for electricity hookup, but they can charge up to $14 per linear foot of distance to the nearest power pole.
Pine Mountain Lake has another layer of fees, plan checks, and inspections, and that is the Environmental Control Committee, or ECC. The fee for a new home is a bargain at $295, and the turnaround time on your plans is fast, usually one week. They also collect $1,000 to ensure your compliance, but that is refundable when the house is completed.
The total for all the dollar amounts above in bold? About $18,000.
You actually get direct value from portions of these fees, and that is for the inspections of the building project. A new house gets inspected about 12 times by the County Departments and Pine Mountain Lake Association. Before it is complete, your lender, the title company, an appraiser, PG&E, GCSD and the insurance agent will look at it, too.
What can you expect to pay a contractor for a 2000 square foot custom home? Some are keeping it around $120 for the livable square footage. At this low cost it will be very basic quality. For higher quality or more difficult building sites, expect to pay $150 to $200 per square foot. This usually includes everything but the lot: permits, site prep, utility connections, garage, light fixtures, etc
When a builder quotes you a figure for “permit costs”, ask what he is including. The utility connections for sewer and water and PG&E are not “permit fees”. Site preparation costs for the septic system, driveway, or tree removal aren’t either. If he pays the fees for you, be sure to get the receipts.
The total for the 2,000 square foot house at $150 price PSF is $300,000 + $18,000 (utility connections, PML fee, County fees) + the cost of the lot. Do the math based on the price of your lot and the anticipated quality of the house.
If you want a new house, but don’t want to hassle with the lender, contractor, and selecting everything, buy a “spec” house. It is built “on speculation” by the contractor, or an investor who hires a contractor. |
What are the RE/MAX Yosemite Gold sales office hours?
Our office at 18688 Highway 120 is open every day, 7 days a week from 9 am to 5 pm, and often later in the summer. Call 962-4080 to make an appointment to see property with one of our Realtors.
Why should we choose your company to help us buy a home?
- RE/MAX is the top real estate franchise in the world. It leads the industry in technology, innovation, and quality of its 100,000 agents in 63+ countries. We here in Groveland have access to an incredible array of tools from RE/MAX International and our region, RE/MAX of California and Hawaii.
- RE/MAX agents work harder and smarter because we get 100% of the commission after paying a fixed office fee. This system attracts more independent agents who are committed to their careers.
- We respond quickly on offers, follow up diligently on the paperwork, and solve problems creatively.
- We are NOT beginners, part-timers, or semi-retired! To serve you better, we never stop learning.
- Our rental department has the most vacation and full-time rentals. If you want to put your new home on our vacation or monthly programs, we can help you maximize your income.
- Our goal is to give you all the information to make the best decision for you. Our reputation for integrity is our greatest asset. We hope that when you are ready to sell your property, whether in two years or twenty years, you’ll come back to us. In the meantime we will welcome you to the town we love.
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At Pine Mountain Lake we are surrounded by thousands of acres of undeveloped land. It is forest, river canyon, brush and pasture. So when someone decides they want more personal space and freedom to build a new home, they might think that acreage parcels are easy to find. However, if you were looking right now, in December 2003, you’d have nine parcels to choose from those listed with the Hetch Hetchy Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The area I am referring to is east of Highway 49 to Yosemite, and bordered by the Tuolumne River to the north, and the Mariposa County line to the South. The other criteria for these parcels are: at least one acre, and zoned for residential or agriculture, but not commercial or industrial. In 2001, twelve such acreage parcels sold. In 2002, it increased to seventeen parcels sold. In 2003, with our robust real estate market, 30 parcels sold. Some of these were difficult pieces of property that finally had some demand for them.
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A frequent question I hear is “How much per acre does it usually cost?” The answer ranges from $842 an acre paid this year for 19 acres (with no legal access), to $29,000 an acre for a 2-acre parcel (with a well and septic system already in). Another low per acre price paid was $914 for 41 acres (with a steep dirt road and the 17,000-volt transmission line through it). The second highest was $25,000 an acre for 5 acres with well, fencing, and paved road. So you can see prices are “all over the map”.
The main reason there aren’t lots of acreage parcels to buy is the Federal government. Stanislaus National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management probably own about 90% of the land in this area (not even including Yosemite!). In addition to USA holdings, several large historic cattle ranches are in low-tax agricultural preserves, and the families aren’t selling. The notable exception to this was back in 1980 when the 1200-acre Graham Ranch was divided into 40 and 80-acre parcels. It is located on the ridge above the Tuolumne River canyon north of PML, and all of the parcels still have favorable tax treatment as agricultural preserves. Of these 21 parcels, 13 have residences on them.
Another subdivision created in the late 1970’s is Yosemite Acres, consisting of 57 five-acre parcels. Of the 57, 40 already have dwelling units on them. These parcels just southeast of PML have the advantages of power lines and paved roads. You may have one or the other, or neither, when you get acreage in remoter areas like Sawmill Mountain, Second Garrotte Ridge, Hells Hollow, Boneyard, Punchbowl, Jackass Creek, and Priest-Coulterville Road. The cost of extending power lines has gone up tremendously in the last twenty years. In the 1980’s, when we built on 10 acres, we had to bring in power lines 1600 feet to two new houses. PG & E gave free footage based on the number of electric heaters and appliances in new houses, so we ended up paying only a pittance of around $100 total. I think we got 200 feet free just for an electric dryer. Not anymore! A friend had to bring in power lines 1800 feet to his new home and paid $18,000 for the installation. His $10 per foot was pretty reasonable compared to PG & E’s usual estimated cost of $14 per foot. And that’s for overhead lines and poles. Underground power is much more expensive and is required for any new subdivision lots less than 3 acres in size.
Even more expensive now is the cost of building roads. Until the mid-70’s you could divide up land and sell it without putting in a road at all. County ordinances changed. Now most land divisions require the owner to build 20-foot wide gravel or paved roads before they can record the map and sell the first parcel. So don’t be shocked that a 3-acre parcel in the proposed Long Gulch subdivision may cost $100,000. After paying today’s costs for roads, power, water, traffic lights, environmental impact reports, archaeology studies, etc., the developers will have a lot invested.
A unique consolidation of land on North Boitano Road has removed 1070 acres from future development. It is all being put in a wildlife preserve, which requires a contract with the County and actions by the property owner to enhance wildlife habitat. After buying the first 102 acres, the owner added fourteen more adjacent parcels, including one 200-acre parcel that had approval for subdivision into 5-acre lots. That subdivision (it was just North of PML Unit 12) won’t happen now.
So if the number of new parcels being created has slowed to a trickle, how many acreage home sites are available for building now? Using County assessor data and tax codes for property types, we come up with a very rough number of 378. This number does not include parcels less than one acre in size, or zoned commercial or industrial, or government-owned. It does include situations where one legal home site has two assessor parcel numbers and may look like two home sites. And it includes those 15 parcels in the wildlife preserve under one ownership. It also includes properties a long way from power lines or with no roads to them.
The number of vacant lots in PML keeps shrinking too. Originally there were 4100+ lots. Over 500 were merged with other lots. About 2750 houses are now built. That leaves roughly 850 remaining undeveloped lots. Currently 74 lots are offered for sale, and 23 are in escrow. In 2003, 154 already sold.
The jargon of house descriptions sometimes doesn’t exactly match the property when you go to see it. Here’s what that headline might really mean
Old World Charm = Has some woodwork. Needs cleaning
Contemporary Feeling = Has no woodwork. Needs cleaning
Picturesque Setting = Abandoned cars and waist-high weeds on neighboring lots
Wide Open Floor Plan = Previous owner removed supporting walls
Updated Kitchen = Sink no longer overflows
Close to the Lake = Impossible to park near from May to September
Neutral Décor = No murals of nudes or Elvis
Move In Condition = Front door missing
Unique Design = Bizarre looking
Cozy = No room larger than 9 X 6 feet
Mint = Someone spilled mouthwash on the carpet
Motivated Seller = Has been on the market for 3 years
The agents at RE/MAX Yosemite Gold came up with some interpretations for common Pine Mountain Lake ad headlines:
ABOVE THE WORLD = The driveway is so steep, your relatives will never come back
CUTE AS A BUTTON = Tiny kitchen, no closets, only 1 bathroom
ROOM TO ROAM = You will spend most of your time clearing brush, whacking weeds and raking pine needles
LAKE VIEW = See a small patch of blue from an upstairs bedroom balcony
NEEDS UPDATING = Gold shag carpet, avocado sink, dark brown paneling, no insulation
2 MINUTES TO BEACH = If you drive 80 miles an hour down Pine Mountain Drive
ATTENTION BARGAIN LOVERS =This is a real dump
Here are some recent headlines that aren’t misleading, but don’t tell a prospective buyer anything
Nice Home, Nice View = Ho Hum
Great Home, Great View = A little greater than nice
You Deserve It = Like a kid deserves a spanking?
Cabin in the Woods = Groveland has a thousand cabins in the woods
One of a Kind = Of what?
Ranch Style Home = At least we know it has only one story
Clean & Comfortable = At least we know it’s clean
A Best Seller = If it was it would already be sold
This One Won’t Last Long=Is it going to fall over soon?
By Lauree Borup, December 2008
How do 2008 real estate sales figures compare to years past? The chart below shows you six years of statistics on single family homes in Pine Mountain Lake. The “Average Sold Price” of $323,265 this year is still higher than in 2004. But the price drop from the peak average in 2007 is 22.46%.
REAL ESTATE
SALES CHART
2003 to 2008 |
PML
Homes
Sold* |
Average
Days on
Market |
Median
Sold
Price $ |
Average
Sold
Price $ |
Difference in Average
Sold Price from
Previous Year |
2008 |
59+ |
176 |
299,000 |
323,265 |
Minus – 22.46% |
2007 |
86 |
178 |
345,500 |
416,859 |
Plus +04.03% |
2006 |
102 |
99 |
338,250 |
400,069 |
Minus -01.20% |
2005 |
155 |
72 |
345,000 |
395,303 |
Plus +22.42% |
2004 |
202 |
74 |
279,900 |
306,683 |
Plus +14.41% |
2003 |
172 |
74 |
230,000 |
262,494 |
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*Townhomes and condominiums NOT included + Numbers in bold are referred to in the text
The peak year for volume was 2004, when 202 homes sold. This year about 59 homes will close by December’s end. The previous 20-year low volume was in 1995, when 88 PML homes sold.
PML’s “Median Sold Price is close to the California statewide median price of $311,060, but the percentage of our price drop has not been nearly as severe. California’s median plummeted 39.9% during the most recent12-month time period with available figures (from $517,240 in October 2007 to $311,060 in October 2008), and PML’s median dropped roughly 13% (from $345,500 in December 2007 to $299,000 in December 2008).
However, the statewide Days on Market average was way shorter than PML: 45 days compared to 176 days from first listing to final closing in PML.
One of the factors driving down prices is the foreclosures. Of the 59 houses sold in PML, 23 were either lender-owned, or sold on a “short sale”, where the lender agreed to take less than was owed on the mortgage. That’s fully 39%! It is hard for private sellers to compete with the low prices banks are willing to accept.
It was a lakefront foreclosure that actually generated multiple offers and a final sold price $23,000 higher than the asking price!
Four lakefront homes sold in 2008 ranging in price from $610,000 to $967,500.
Four lakefront homes sold in 2007 ranging in price from $710,000 to $1,260,000.
The lower-priced lake fronts are in the coves where the lake depths and views are not as prime.
At the low end of the 2008 market were the 8 homes sold under $200,000. With interest rates hovering around 5.25%, it is a fantastic time for first-time buyers to get into the market.
Only one “multi-family” unit sold: a condo for $130,000.
Currently there are 105 homes listed for sale, with an average Days on Market of 240 days. Vacant lots listed equal 94, with an average Days on Market of 361 days. Only a dismal 6 lots sold in 2008, with 2 more in escrow scheduled to close in December. The highest sold price for a lot was $99,500.
To keep today’s market in perspective it is helpful to remember that in 1996, there were 198 homes for sale and 317 lots for sale. Interest rates that year were 8.5% and the average sales price was $122,000.
The ECC reports that in 2008 only 4 new home building permits were submitted. The peak volume in this century was 70 new homes in 2005. In the decade before that, the high amount was 176 new homes in 1990.
The federal government is offering a first-time home buyer tax credit of $7,500 for properties purchased between April 8, 2008 and June 30, 2009. It isn’t really a credit, it is a no-interest loan for 15 years. And it is not technically for first timers: as long as you or your spouse have not owned a principal residence for three years, you are eligible. If you own a vacation or rental property only, you also are still eligible.
It is easy to get the money. There is no pre-purchase authorization or application. You simply claim the credit on your IRS Form 1040, and add new IRS Form 5405.
You don’t get the cash until you file your taxes, and then you have to pay it back over 15 years, at $500 per year. And, if you sell your home for a profit before you pay the credit back in full, you may owe the balance to the IRS in the year in which you sell the house. If the home is sold at a loss, then you owe nothing back.
So far buyers have balked at using this credit, because it can’t be used for the down payment, and because they don’t like the re-payment provision. But it could be a useful tool to get your foot in the door- your door.
The “tool” we used to get our first home in 1979 was an FHA “negative amortization loan”, meaning that to keep the monthly payments low enough for us to qualify, the principal amount actually went UP for three years. We were happy, though, because in that three years the home’s value increased much more than the principal did, plus we were living in our own home, not a rental.
The $7,500 could be used as a “tool” for home improvements that you couldn’t otherwise afford in your first few years in the home. These improvements will make your home more valuable at re-sale time. And don’t forget that money you get today is worth more than an equal amount of money in the future, because of inflation. Economists call this the “time value” of money.
Properties other than single family detached homes qualify, including townhomes, condos, mobile homes and houseboats. There is an income cap of $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for married couples or joint filers, but there is wiggle room in this, so check
this website for more information: www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com. Or go to www.IRS.gov or www.realtor.org, and just enter the words “first-time homebuyer tax credit” in the search functions to get to their respective articles and FAQs.
TRUE: Community Property ownership of real estate reduces the capital gains tax the surviving spouse would pay if they sold it
FALSE: Joint Tenancy is the best way for surviving spouses to avoid probate.
NEW: Community Property with Right of Survivorship (CPROS) combines the automatic survivorship rights of Joint Tenancy with the tax advantages of Community Property for married couples in California. It may be the “better” way.
Joint tenancy is a popular device for avoiding probate, since upon the death of one joint tenant the decedent’s interest terminates immediately leaving the survivor holding title. The drawback is that only the decedent’s half of the value is stepped-up in basis. Under Community Property ownership, if a couple paid $100,000 for a home, and at the time of death the home is worth $300,000, the tax basis is stepped-up to the fair market value of $300,000. The surviving spouse could sell the property then without paying any capital gains tax.
Alternatively, if the property were held in Joint Tenancy, only the interest of the first spouse to die would be stepped-up and the basis would be $200,000 (Half of the invested $100,000 + half of the $300,000 current market value). The surviving spouse would pay capital gains tax on $100,000, which would be around $24,000 combined for Federal and State.
If this example were a primary residence it would make no tax difference because the surviving spouse can exclude up to $250,000 of capital gain (not $500,000, since there’s no “couple” any more). So the most tax-helpful use of CPROS is on second homes and investment properties, which abound in Pine Mountain Lake.
For example, Joe and Linda buy a second home in PML for $100,000 and enjoy it on weekends with their family for several years. Their kids go to college, and to generate income, they convert it to a rental. They start taking depreciation write-offs which reduce the tax basis to $40,000. The house would now sell for $300,000 (after paying sales commission and closing costs).
Joe becomes terminally ill. Linda needs to make some careful decisions about how to take title and when to sell. Here are three scenarios:
- Quick Sale: Linda sells the house before Joe dies. The profit of $260,000 ($300,000 minus $40,000) is fully taxable, so she pays about $75,000 in capital gains tax.
- Joint Tenants: The basis in inherited property is stepped-up to market value at the date of death. Linda inherits Joe’s half of the property, so his half is stepped-up in basis from $20,000 (half of $40,000) to $150,000. Linda’s half stays the same, $20,000, for a total basis of $170,000. When she sells after Joe’s death, only $130,000 is taxable. So she pays about $38,000 in capital gains.
- Community Property With Right of Survivorship: Linda owns the property immediately and the basis is stepped-up to 100% of market value. When she sells for $300,000, she pays NO tax.
Linda could also hold the property with the stepped-up basis as a rental and enjoy greater annual depreciation.
Be aware that the tax basis is totally separate from the loan amount. If you have refinanced a house up to the hilt, spent the money, and then sell it soon after your “joint tenant” spouse’s death, you may barely have enough money left over after paying the mortgage debt to pay the capital gains tax.
Upon a spouse’s death the survivor records an Affidavit, which memorializes the termination of the decedent’s interest in the CPROS property in the same manner as a Death of Joint Tenant Affidavit. The surviving spouse inherits the property outright regardless of what they say in their wills.
When is CPROS not appropriate?
-You hold all your real estate in a trust
-You want to dispose of real estate through a will to people other than your spouse
-The only real estate you own is your primary residence and you are not even close to exceeding the $250,000 capital gains exclusion.
Couples owning appreciated real estate may want to use the new law. Check with your attorney to ensure that it is consistent with your entire estate plan. A blank form of the grant deed for use with CPROS can be printed from the website www.wwlaw.com/cpform.htm. You must also file a Preliminary Change of Ownership form with the County after changing to CPROS. These are available from the Recorder’s Office or your title company.
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If you didn’t think you could buy a home because of poor credit or shortage of cash or spotty job history, think again. ACORN 100% loans are designed for people just like you. Even if you owned a home in the past, that’s okay. The ACORN loan is the seed that can grow your tree of equity, and is a loan you can keep for 40 years. Principal payments can be made at any time. You can also choose the 30-year term instead of 40 years if you qualify for the initial monthly payment.
Income Maximums in both Tuolumne and Mariposa County are $71,120 per year. However, you can apply for eligibility based on only one spouses’s income if you make “too much”. If the problem is “not enough” income to qualify for the house you want, Acorn allows you to claim up to $1,200 per month of undocumented income. If all your income has been “under the table” you are out of luck: you must provide two years of tax returns. Co-signors are allowed, but the combined income of all borrowers must not exceed $71,120. |
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By Lauree Borup, November, 2008
Primary home, vacation home, rental home. Each has its tax advantages, and since 1997 owners have moved in and out of the three types to avoid capital gains taxes, and used the tax-deferred 1031 exchange when converting a personal house to a rental worked for them.
This year the IRS clarified how 1031’s will work with vacation homes, and the Housing Assistance Act of 2008, signed by the president this summer, took away some options for “rental-to-primary” conversions.
First, in February the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2008-16, to provide guidelines on when a second home would qualify for a 1031 exchange. Some owners had pushed the interpretation of “investment property” to the limit by claiming that a never-rented home was an “investment” because it was mainly purchased in the expectation of price appreciation, and the use for family fun was a secondary consideration. Here are the first-ever IRS guidelines on allowing you to avoid paying tax on the sale of a vacation dwelling:
For the relinquished, or sold, property:
- You have owned it at least 24 months before the exchange;
- In each of the two 12-month periods prior to the exchange the property has been rented at fair market value for 14 days or more;
- The taxpayer’s personal use of the property during the prior two 12-month periods doesn’t exceed the greater of 14 days, or 10% of the total rented days
As with any 1031 exchange, the replacement property you buy with the tax-free proceeds must also pass the “business or investment” test. The replacement property must be held 24 months after the exchange, and must meet the 14 day/ 10% test for personal use and rental for the two 12-month periods that applied for the relinquished property.
The Revenue Procedure is a guideline for “safe harbor”, meaning if you follow it your exchange will not fall under IRS scrutiny. Your exchange may still qualify if you don’t meet the guideline exactly, but you could be subject to audit.
Another strategy to avoid paying capital gains was to move into your vacation or rental home, live in it at least two years, then sell it and use the Homeowner’s Exemption under Section 121 of the Tax Code. Up to $500,000 of gain for joint filers, and $250,000 for singles, was excluded from taxation. For people with perfect timing, they could have done this:
- Buy rental for $100,000 in the year 2000
- Rent the property to others for three years, then move into it as a primary residence
- In 2005, sell it for $350,000 and avoid paying tax on the entire gain of $250,000
This scenario would still have worked in 2005 when they tightened up the law.
The 2005 legislation—H.R.4520—provided, in pertinent part, as follows:
If a taxpayer acquired property in an exchange to which a §1031 applied, §121(a) shall not apply to the sale or exchange of such property if it occurs during the 5-year period beginning with the date of the acquisition of such property.
This prevented people from buying a house with proceeds from a 1031 exchange, renting it out for just one year, then living in the house for two years, selling, and taking advantage of IRC 121
'primary home" tax exemptions.
In 2009, this changes again. To help pay for the big housing bill passed in the summer of 2008, Congress changed the rules so that some of your gain will be taxable in the future. For example, let’s say you buy the rental in 2009 (when prices will hit bottom and start to go up, we all hope), rent it for three years, move in yourself, then sell it in 2015 with a gain of $250,000. The three years that you rented (or vacationed in) the property will be considered “nonqualified use”, that is 3/5th of the gain is not eligible for the Homeowner’s tax exclusion. So $150,000 is taxable, and $100,000 is not. Ouch! This will not be an ouch if you plan to move in your vacation home and stay there for five years or more. But it highlights the danger of making long range plans based on the current tax code!
If you hurry up and move in by January 1, 2009, you could slide under these new rules. if your house is rented or a second home for the last three years, and you move in by January 1, 2009, then you could sell it in two years and get the full tax exclusion of up to $500,000.
Contact your tax consultant for details, or go to WWW.IRS.GOV.
A valid 1031 exchange must use a “qualified intermediary”, also called an accommodator, who holds your equity money and then puts it in your next escrow. Some well-known companies in California that provide this service are:
Old Republic Exchange (orexco1031.com) (800) 738-1031
Asset Preservation (apiexchange.com) (800) 282-1031
Starker Services (starker.com) (800) 332-1031
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