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I ran across this excellent article by Lew Sichelman on tax benefits for second homes and how the laws have changed regarding those homes. The article touches on topics such as primary home vs vacation homes, tax benefits of renting out your vacation home, a vacation home that you rent out but still use personally, and vacation home write off expenses.
Here’s an excerpt:
Primary Home vs. Vacation Home
Obviously, if and when your vacation property becomes your primary residence, you are entitled to all the benefits ownership entails. You can write off the interest paid on your mortgage and your property taxes, and you can add the cost of any improvements you make to your basis, or cost.
Moreover, after you’ve lived in your holiday house as your main home for two years, you can exclude up to $500,000-$250,000 for single taxpayers-from the capital gains tax when you sell the place.
If your vacation house is not your primary residence, mortgage interest and property taxes still can be written off, and you still can add the cost of improvements to your basis. But since the capital gains exclusion is limited to your main home, that benefit is not available when you sell.
Some people used to skirt around that limitation by selling their primary residence and moving into the second home. After living full-time in the former vacation for two or more years, they then could sell the place and qualify for the entire capital gains exclusion.
As of Jan 1, 2009, though, the tax law differentiates between the amount of time the house was used as a vacation home or rental property and the period it was used as a principal residence.
The rules do not apply to vacation homes purchased before Dec. 31, 2008. But after that, the rules distinguish between “non-qualified” periods of rental use and “qualified” use” as a principal residence. The minimum period necessary to qualify as a principal residence – two years out of the five years preceding the sale – still applies, but now you’ll have to allocate any gain between periods of qualified and non-qualified uses.
Again, this is complicated stuff, so be certain to consult with a tax professional. Meanwhile, let’s move on the tax benefits of renting your vacation property.
A lot of great info on this article. To read the rest, go here: Second Home Buying –
Practical Tips and Articles for Buying a Second Home
THINK OF ME, LYNN RICHARDSON, FOR ALL OF YOUR LAKE TAHOE AND TRUCKEE REAL ESTATE NEEDS!
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~By Michelle Portesi
Did you know we now have our very own butcher and fresh organic meat purveyor in Truckee? Well, you do now!
Located on Donner Pass Road in the same complex as Smokey’s Kitchen (Across from what used to be the outlet stores) is your new venue for organic meats and unusual cuts that are hard to find. Yesterday while I was in the store, they had fresh rabbit in the case. Now how often do you see that at the grocery store?
The store is closed on Monday and Tuesday so that the owners, Clint and Linda Clark, can drive to wherever they need to go to get their fresh offerings. They are also amenable to special orders, as long as you give them enough notice as to what you’re looking for.
For instance, as a hearty peasant stock Italian, one of our family recipes is for an appropriately peasant version of Polenta. Our version has lamb ribs in it, which are near impossible to find these days as most of our lamb is no longer butchered at the store. Only the select cuts are offered, and as a result, the less desirable cuts never see the light of day at your local grocers. Well, my search is over for this hard to find item. A phone call or a stop into the store for a request is now all that is needed. Now if I can only locate those even harder to find little Italian sausages…
The store carries beef, lamb, pork, chicken and the most awesome applewood smoked bacon you’ve ever tasted, hand cut on the spot to the thickness you desire. They were setting out fresh chorizo sausage when I was there. And all are nitrate-free, organic and USDA-approved. In addition, they buy locally from small Northern California, family owned ranches who practice good animal husbandry. AND it’s all surprisingly reasonably priced for organic meats. With more and more studies pointing towards non organic meat practices underlying a myriad of health issues, a focus on quality meats instead of quantity dovetails nicely with our local outlook towards healthy living…and good eating.
The Tahoe Tribune wrote an excellent article on the store and the new owners, so I’ll just direct you there to read more about them.
From Ranch to Market- Truckee Meat Company
More info
What: Truckee Meat Company
Location: 12030 Donner Pass Road, Truckee
Phone: 530-414-8585
Online: Find them on Facebook
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By Tim Hauserman
Start of Ironman
You’ve been seeing them all summer, but especially the last month. Riding the Kings Beach-Tahoe City-Truckee Triangle with their beautiful Tri bikes. Swimming along the shoreline of Lake Tahoe. Or running on the bike trail between Tahoe City and Squaw Valley. They are Ironman athletes, training for what is regarded as one of the toughest Ironman competitions in the world, the second annual Ironman Lake Tahoe, on September 21st.
The Lake Tahoe Ironman begins in Kings Beach. The racers step into the chilly waters of Lake Tahoe at 7 am for a 2.4 mile open water swim. They emerge from the water and try to quickly transition to their bike. A bit of a challenge since they are freezing cold. There is plenty of time to warm up, however, as now they face a 112 mile bike ride. They head towards Tahoe City, then down the Truckee River corridor to Truckee, where after wondering around Truckee they ride back to Kings Beach. Ah, but first they have to take a tour of Northstar and climb over Brockway Summit. From Kings Beach they do another complete lap, and then continue on from Kings Beach to Tahoe City again before heading into Squaw Valley.
Cycling along Lake Tahoe
Now it’s time for the athletes to run a Marathon. That’s right. After swimming nearly 2 and a half miles, and riding a grueling 112 miles, they have to run a marathon. The run takes the racers through Squaw Valley and a tour of the Resort at Squaw Creek before heading down the bike trail towards Tahoe City. They run several laps to get in the necessary number of miles before racing or stumbling to the grand finale in Squaw Valley. But they don’t have much time to stumble, because the clock is ticking and they have to finish before midnight to be Ironmen.
The last leg
If racing in the Ironman is not in the cards, you definitely want to watch it. You can join the thousands of volunteers helping the athletes, or pick a spot along the course to cheer them on. There are a number of traffic restrictions and road closures in the Tahoe-Truckee region on September 21, so be sure and find out all the details at the official Ironman Lake Tahoe website. http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman/lake-tahoe.aspx#axzz3Bb7W5CpK
(Photos from the Ironman Website)
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