Crazy Sh*t In Real Estate with Leigh Brown - Episode #93 with Jamie Gregory

Tax reform is on its way...FAST. Jamie Gregory explains what’s
going on in Washington D.C. and how it negatively affects
homeowners by taxing away tax incentives. Tune in to learn the
benefits of homeownership, who is affected (hint: YOU), and what
you can do to make your voice heard before it’s too late. 


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Time Stamped Show Notes:

00:50 – Jamie is with the National Association of Realtors
(NAR) in Washington D.C.

01:45 – What is going in Washington D.C. and the world of
lobbying?

01:55 – The passage of the tax bill out of the Ways and Means
Committee

02:02 – The release of the senate bill with provisions that
affect housing, home ownership, and real estate

02:20 – On the house side, chairman of the committee Kevin
Brady says mortgage interest deduction has been retained, when in
actuality its effectiveness is nullified

2:38 – Bill will double standard deduction and eliminate
state and local tax deduction, meaning only 5% of tax filers will
be itemizing

3:00 – Incentive provided by mortgage infrastructure will be
taken away

03:13 – Homebuyers receive tax refund, see financial benefit,
and put money back into the local economy

03:45 – Renters are great but homeowners tend to invest in
and care about the improvement of their neighborhood more

04:20 – Sociologists have studied how home ownership creates
more stable, active, voting communities

04:30 – We don’t want to take that away; for 100 years, there
has been an incentive in the tax code for homeowners

04:43 – What is being proposed in Washington will take that
away and make renting and owning no different

05:08 – Other things in the tax reform: Punishment for buying
a home and watching equity values increased over time

05:25 – State and local deductions – house bill retains
reduction for state and local property tax, but 70% of deduction
is for income tax, which has been removed

05:46 – In senate bill they have eliminated state and local
deductions

05:58 – Combined with mortgage interest deduction, the state
and local deduction provide total incentive to buy a home

06:08 – In 1997 congress passed the Homeowner’s Capital Gains
Exemption: If you sell your house after 2 years you can keep up
to $250,000 tax free as a single filer and up to $500,000 if
married

06:30 – The house is proposing to change the rules on that to
more than double the time requirement

06:50 – The provision was put in place to help people unlock
home’s value and functions well for military, people who move
frequently

07:25 – The elimination of second homes; mortgage interest
deduction won’t be used on second homes

07:34 – This affects not just executives or military; many
people move regularly or have other living situations, and
changing the rules negatively impacts those people

08:32 – National average for living in a house was 5-6 years,
and has crept up to 7-9 with recession

09:44 – When the Homeowner’s Capital Gains Exemption was
passed in 1997, it simplified the process from how it was before

10:14 – Resource to understand the whole picture:
https://www.nar.realtor/ click “Federal Issues,” then “Tax
Reform,” you can see maps, statistics

11:10 –Another resource: http://homeownershipmatters.realtor/

11:30 – Need tax reform, but the National Association of
Realtors does not agree with changes proposed and they are
intentionally moving quickly

12:30 – Obamacare is an example of something that was hastily
passed

12:53 – Speaker Ryan has been telling Republican Conference
that they must pass the tax reform or else they won’t do well in
the 2018 election

13:11 – Jamie believes that, if bill is passed, people in
high homeownership rates will learn the implications of the bill
and they’ll do poorly in 2018

13:32 – It’ll impact realtors, but NAR and realtors are
really the only voice for homeowners on capital hill

13:56 – Realtors invest in communities and represent their
districts in a meaningful way

14:16 – Contact your elected officials by texting “Action” to
30644

14:30 – The NAR wants to hear the voice of consumers, too: go
to http://homeownershipmatters.realtor/ to respond to the
consumer call to action

3 Key Points The tax reform bill is speedily making its way
through the house and senate. Use the above resources to educate
yourself on the tax reform proposals and see how it impacts you.
Tax reform is needed – but not on the backs of homeowners. Credits

Audio Production by Chris Mottram

Show Notes provided by Melissa Valder