UPDATED, 3:02 p.m., Oct. 19, 2018: Real estate developers and fund managers with questions about how to invest in the Opportunity Zones program are beginning to get more detailed answers. The U.S. Treasury Department today released more guidelines. The program, enacted late last year as part of the Trump administration’s tax overhaul, provides tax deferments and tax breaks for developers who invest in projects in designated low-income neighborhoods across the country. Among the new guidelines … [more]
Opportunity Zones: What You Need To Know (VIDEO)
As the Opportunity Zone program stirs greater interest among developers and investors, what exactly is the federal tax incentive measure and who stands to benefit? Check out the video above for what you need to know about the new program, its rules and how to get in on the ground floor. Read more here. Nathan Bickell contributed graphic design to this video. … [more]
New Yorker’s buying Florida homes with Trump’s tax reform in mind
New Yorkers are moving to low-tax states like Florida or seeking out properties with tax abatements in order to mitigate the impact of President Trump’s tax reform. “I work with a lot of clients in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey — so all high-tax states — and we are seeing a lot of them move south, especially to Florida,” Robert Westley, a certified public accountant based in New York City, told the New York … [more]
WATCH: How much you need to earn to live comfortably in the 5 most expensive ZIP codes in America
It might surprise some that there are costlier places to live than New York City. From the Hamptons to Aspen, these are the five most expensive ZIP codes in the country. The list comes from a study by GoBankingRates, which calculated the household income needed to afford a comfortable lifestyle. … [more]
Millennials are buying homes with their pets in mind
Millennials love their pets so much that accommodating their four-legged friends’ needs is a top priority when buying a home. According to the American Pet Products Association, 73 percent of millennials own a pet, CNBC reported. But when it comes to millennials who bought a home this year, 89 percent owns a pet. Rental buildings have long catered to pet owners with dog runs and pet salons, and millennials are looking for the same kinds … [more]
Trump is considering a tax break that would be a boon for real estate
President Trump is considering a tax break that would link capital gains to inflation. Such a change would cut tax bills for investors selling real estate or stock by adjusting the original purchase price for inflation. For example, under current law, corporate stock with dividends held for a decade would be subject to a tax rate of 24.3 percent. When indexed to inflation, that rate falls to 21.4 percent, according to estimates by the Congressional … [more]
Forget flipping houses: Here’s how much flipping offices can net
Office-flipping is taking off in Hong Kong and New York as a reliable way to make quick–and sizable–returns. Flipping office space is done through strata-title office transactions, wherein ownership is parceled out over several sections of a building as opposed to the entire building. With just a few floors to consider, investors are increasingly finding office-flipping to be a good way to make a quick a buck, according to Bloomberg. Hong Kong-based investor, logistics heir … [more]
How to close a real estate deal using Bitcoin
Daniel de la Vega is a Bitcoin believer. But his faith comes with a catch. As president of One Sotheby’s International Realty, he had seen the potential of the cryptocurrency and others like it to shake up the real estate market. But de la Vega’s research also gave him pause. Concerns over the currencies’ extreme volatility and vulnerability and the potential lack of transparency among cryptocurrency buyers have so far kept him on the sidelines. … [more]
Foreign investment in South Florida homes totaled $7B in ’17. Here’s where the money came from.
Despite the residential market’s lackluster year, foreign investors spent $7.1 billion on South Florida homes in 2017, up nearly 15 percent from the previous year’s $6.2 billion. Leading the pack in South Florida was Argentina with 15 percent of all foreign purchases last year, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. Venezuelans spent the second most in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties with 11 percent, followed by Canada and Colombia with 9 percent … [more]
Blockchain-powered listing network is ready to take on traditional portals
Amid ongoing tension between agents and third-party portals over who controls listing data, a New York-based startup is launching what it says is the first blockchain-based multiple-listing service. Founder Stephen King, a former commercial broker, said his company — imbrex — is a global MLS that is the first to syndicate data via the Ethereum blockchain. The decentralized, open-source system is billed as an alternative to traditional MLS networks and third-party sites like Zillow and … [more]