Good Reasons to Buy a Home Part 3

Every day this week we are sharing with you good reasons why you should buy a home.

Today we are continuing to discuss the tax breaks for buying a home:

3. Real-estate taxes. You can deduct the local property taxes you pay each year, too. The amount may be shown on a form you receive from your lender, if you pay your taxes through an escrow account. If you pay them directly to the municipality, though, check your records or your checkbook registry.

In the year you purchase your residence, you probably reimbursed the seller for real estate taxes he or she had prepaid for time you actually owned the home. If so, that amount will be shown on your settlement sheet. Include this amount in your real-estate tax deduction. Note that you can’t deduct payments into your escrow account as real-estate taxes. Your deposits are simply money put aside to cover future tax payments. You can deduct only the actual real-estate tax payments made from the account by your lender.

New for 2008: For the first time, homeowners who take the standard deduction instead of itemizing can deduct part of their property taxes. Joint filers can add in up to $1,000 of property taxes paid to the amounts shown above. Singles can add in up to $500 of real estate tax payments.

4. PMI premiums. Buyers who make a down payment of less than 20% of a home’s cost usually get stuck paying premiums for private mortgage insurance (PMI), an extra fee that protects the lender if the borrower fails to repay the loan. For mortgages issued after 2006, PMI premiums can be deducted by home buyers.

At HOPE we help our client’s everyday in making wise decisions regarding their credit. If you would like to know more about how the HOPE program works please give us a call at 704-503-3669. We are looking forward to hearing from you.