Selling your home can be an exciting and challenging experience, particularly if you’re attempting to simultaneous settle on one house and purchase another.

The numbers spinning through your head at this point include principal and interest payments, closing costs, down payment funds and moving costs. Unless you happen to be making this move right around April 15, when federal income taxes are on everyone’s mind, you may not have given much thought to taxes on the sale of your home. In most cases, that’s okay, because for the vast majority of people no taxes are due on a home sale.

Taxes and Home Sellers

Federal tax law allows home sellers a tax exclusion on the capital gains from the sale as long as they meet certain criteria, the most important of which is that the home must be the primary residence for at least two of the previous five years. Single taxpayers can exclude a profit of up to $250,000, and married taxpayers who file joint returns can exclude a profit of up to $500,000.  You can use this exclusion more than once in your lifetime as long as you haven’t taken the exclusion within the past two years for another house.

The Internal Revenue Service spells out certain circumstances in which you can take the exclusion on your profit, even if you don’t meet the two-year requirement. If you couldn’t live in the house because you’re divorced or your spouse died, or if you were deployed overseas by the military or by the U.S. Foreign Service, you may still be able to qualify for the full exclusion.

A partial exclusion may be possible if you sold your house before two years of residency due to a job loss or transfer, illness or because of other unforeseen circumstances, such as a divorce or multiple births from a single pregnancy.

Consult with a tax professional to determine your eligibility for the exclusion.

Calculating Your Tax Bill

If you’re certain that you’re not required to pay taxes on the sale of your home because you meet the exclusion eligibility requirements, then you aren’t required to report the sale of your home on your federal tax return.

If you do have to pay taxes, you and your tax professional will need to calculate the adjusted basis of the house. The adjusted basis is the original price of your home, plus capital improvements, minus any depreciation. Capital improvements mean things like adding a deck or finishing a basement or remodeling your kitchen, not routine maintenance. Depreciation refers to tax credits you took such as for a home office, a first-time home buyer tax credit, or a credit for energy-efficient improvements.

Your taxes will be based on the calculation of the sales price of the home, minus deductible closing costs, minus your basis. Some examples of deductible closing costs include the real estate broker’s commission, title insurance, legal fees, administrative costs and any inspection fees paid by you instead of the buyer. If you made any home improvements specifically in order to sell your home, such as new landscaping or repairs or replacing the carpet in some rooms, you can deduct those costs – as long as you did them within 90 days before the sale.

You may also be able to deduct moving costs from your tax bill if you’re moving at least 50 miles because of a job change.

While these are potential tax implications of selling your home, you should always consult a tax professional to make sure you are meeting current IRS requirements.

Originally posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

It’s no surprise that Louisiana is by far the largest producer of crawfish in the United States.  In fact, the Crawfish Capital of the World is nestled right in the heart of Acadiana.  Breaux Bridge, Louisiana was given the title in 1959 by Governor Earl K. Long.  Each year since then, Breaux Bridge and all of Acadiana have celebrated the success of the crawfish industry in Louisiana at the Annual Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival!

The festival is one of the biggest parties in Cajun Country, receiving around 30,000 attendees each year.  This year’s installment will be held next weekend, May 6th through May 8th, and is expected to be a huge turnout as always.

Can you guess what’s on the menu?  That’s right: crawfish, crawfish, and even more crawfish!  And it’ll be available in every imaginable form – fried, boiled, in an étouffée, bisque, boudin, pie or jambalaya, and crawdogs, along with other Cajun favorites.  (Other foods will also be available, but who goes to the Crawfish Festival and doesn’t eat crawfish?!)

The annual crawfish eating contest will be held for those who have major appetites for the mudbugs.  If you’d rather not eat the crawfish, you can enter one in the crawfish race instead!  

In addition to all the food is the crawfish étouffée cook-off, where contestants cook up their best étouffée recipes in hopes of winning the title of Cook-off Champion.  Patrons will be able to sample the entries after judging!

There will be enough live and local music to go around all weekend, provided by 30 Cajun, Zydeco, and Swamp Pop band on three different stages.  So put on your dancing shoes, especially if you plan on competing in the Cajun and Zydeco dance contests!

Kids of all ages will love experiencing the fun and exciting carnival rides and games, all safely enclosed in a fenced-in area.  A highlight of the weekend is the Festival Parade, honoring the festival royalty and featuring festive floats and energetic music performances.

Be sure to check out all the arts and crafts booths for unique and creative items, ranging from clothing and accessories to wood work and furniture!  Official Crawfish Festival merchandise will also be available for purchase.

If crawfish has a special place in your heart, you won’t want to miss out on the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, a weekend full of fun for the whole family!

Visit the event’s website for the full weekend schedule, lineup, and more general information.  

Originally posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

Short sales have become the only way out for some sellers who owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth. For struggling borrowers, it’s a chance to avoid foreclosure.

While helpful, short sales can be stressful, time-consuming and may lead to harsh consequences if not done properly.

Many sellers think the biggest challenge they face in a short sale is persuading the lender to take a haircut and allow the property to sell for less than the mortgage balance. That’s only the first step.

Here are five tips you must know when short selling your home.

Choose an agent experienced in short sales

If you needed heart surgery, would you put your life in the hands of a surgeon whose first surgery would be on you? Probably not.

The same applies to your financial life. Hire a real estate agent experienced in short sales.

Ads of real estate agents who claim to be short-sale specialists are widespread these days. But some of these agents have closed only a handful of short-sale deals. Many have taken short-sale courses and are certified in selling distressed properties. That’s not enough; certifications help, but nothing counts more than experience.

Interview agents, ask how many short sales they’ve closed and ask to talk to some of their clients.

A short sale is a time-consuming transaction and can take months to close. You want an agent who will stay on top of the game until the deal is closed.

Understand potential consequences of short sale

Underwater sellers are so anxious to get rid of their mortgage payments, they often don’t think about what comes after the sale. Then, months or even years later, they receive a collection letter for the difference between what the house sold for and what was owed on the mortgage.

Laws vary by state, but many states allow lenders to go after that balance once a short sale or foreclosure is completed. That’s why it’s crucial for borrowers to understand whether the lender agrees to waive the deficiency, or the balance that will be left on the loan after the sale. This needs to be discussed verbally and represented in documents. It shouldn’t come as a surprise.

One way to avoid a deficiency judgment is to do the short sale through the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, or HAFA. Lenders who approve short sales through this federal program have to release the borrower from a potential deficiency judgment.

Lenders are not obligated to approve HAFA short sales. They may choose to do the short sale based on their own internal rules and the guidelines set by loan investors. In that case, it’s really up to the lender to decide whether it will pursue the deficiency against the borrower.

You can negotiate your way out of deficiency

When negotiating a short sale, many lenders don’t voluntarily offer to release you of liability on the remaining balance of your loan – at least not for free. But you can ask to negotiate a waiver.

Some lenders may ask you to sign a promissory note for at least a small portion of the balance, usually cents on the dollar, or they may ask for a lump sum. Sellers often are outraged when first presented this settlement offer; they sometimes forget they actually borrowed that money.

In many cases, it is usually worth paying upfront to avoid future headaches. There is a price attached to the waiver of deficiency, but most of them are very tiny.

Talk to an attorney

Real estate agents who are experienced in short sales can coordinate the transaction with the bank and tell you what to expect of the process, but remember they are not lawyers.

Most of the people who do short sales are doing it through the Realtors or people who claim to be short-sales specialists. But there are many issues that borrowers need to discuss that cannot be discussed with a short-sale specialist.

Those issues range from potential tax implications to protecting other assets the borrower may own if the lender tries to collect the balance of the loan in the future.

If you don’t understand the contract you are signing or the potential consequences of a short sale, you should consult with a lawyer.

Keep up with HOA payments

If you are thinking about short selling your home, don’t stop paying your homeowners association dues. The fees can turn into a snowball and kill the sale, even if the buyer is willing to pay for the delinquent dues at closing.

In short sales, there are a few problems that money cannot fix. In a regular sale or even with foreclosures, the seller or the bank pays any past dues owed to the HOA at closing so the buyer gets clear title of the property. But in a short sale, the seller’s lender wants to get every penny out of the transaction.

Plus, you want to make sure the association is able to maintain the common areas so your house is sellable. A short-sale property needs to be maintained. The power needs to be on; the grass needs to be cut. You don’t want your home to look like a foreclosure.

Originally posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

When you start your computer, Windows isn’t the only program that loads. For instance, you may have noticed icons in the notification area (also known as the system tray) in the far-right portion of the taskbar. These icons often represent programs that start when the system starts. You also may have seen certain programs, such as software for syncing your phone or MP3 player, launching themselves along with Windows. Additionally, some applications begin running silently in the background every time you boot the PC.

All of these automatically opening programs consume system memory, and can drag down performance. Fortunately, managing startup programs isn’t difficult; by taking a few steps, you can find out what is running on your computer and disable the items you don’t need.

Method 1: Configure a Program Directly

If you’ve noticed a program starting automatically, and you want the behavior to stop, sometimes the easiest solution is to explore the program’s settings directly.

1. Open the program.

2. Find the settings panel. Typically it will be available under a menu labeled Settings, Preferences, Options, or Tools.

3. Find the option to disable the program from running at startup. The language for this type of option varies, but it should be easy to find if it exists.

When you restart the computer, the program will no longer launch. You’ll still be able to start it manually, so don’t be deterred if the application asks you if you are sure you want to disable its automatic startup.

Method 2: Use the Task Manager

The Task Manager is a useful tool for understanding and controlling startup programs.

1. Open the Task Manager by searching task manager in the search bar, right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Task Manager, or holding Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard.

3. Click the Startup tab. You’ll see a list of programs that start when your computer starts.

4. To stop a program from automatically launching when you boot the PC, right-click on the program and click disable, or click the disable button at the bottom of the window.

5. Restart your computer to put any changes you’ve made into effect. You aren’t required to restart your computer immediately, but no changes will be observed until you do.

You may find that once you’ve disabled certain programs from opening at startup, your computer may startup significantly faster, depending on how many programs have been disabled.

Warning: Use caution when disabling items in Task Manager. Many entries have names that aren’t self-explanatory. Research each entry before disabling it; use the Web to search for the name of the entry, and to get an idea of its function. Without doing your homework, you could end up disabling an important application such as your antivirus program.

Conversely, if you would like a particular program or set of programs to run at startup, simply follow the same directions as above, instead enabling the program to run at startup.

Originally posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News