If you work from home, you may qualify for a home office tax deduction. It’s a bit complicated though, so make sure to get advice from your accountant or a qualified tax professional, which I am not. But I do know a little bit about the home office tax deduction, and I don’t mind sharing: The home office tax deduction can only be used for space that is used exclusively for work. I didn’t say “almost exclusively”. I said “exclusively”. So if your kitchen island is your office by day and your dinner table at night, that doesn’t count. If your coffee table is your workspace by day and your kids’ chosen homework spot in the evening, that doesn’t count either. If you use your guest room as an office all week long, but someone sleeps in there once in a while, that doesn’t count either. Exclusively means exclusively —… read more →
When does most New Inventory Hit the Real Estate Market? As it turns out, that question has a simple answer: April. According to the National Association of Realtors®, most people list their homes in April. In fact, in 2016, April 1st was the day on which the most homes were listed. April 15th came in second. If you think about it, April is a pretty good time to list a home, especially in Illinois. The weather has usually turned the corner by then, and people are making plans to move. If a home is listed in April and gets an offer in April or early May, the closing will probably be in May or June. Families are looking to close around that time because they don’t want to take their kids out in the middle of the school year. According to the National Association of Realtors®, the next most popular… read more →
If you are a tenant who is also serving our country as part of the military or national guard, you may find yourself in a situation where you are called to duty unexpectedly. The good news is, under the military orders clause of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”), if you are called to active duty for more than 180 days, you can terminate your residential lease. No sense in paying if you’re not staying, right? In order to terminate the lease, you will need to notify your landlord that you have been called to active duty. You must actually provide your landlord with a copy of your military orders. No matter what time of the month you give your notice, and regardless of when you move out, you are still responsible to pay the rent for the rest of the month you gave your notice in, as well as… read more →
A national apartment-search site, Zumper, did a study last December which concluded, among other things, that Chicago has the ninth highest rent in the country, despite an overall 3% decline in rental prices. In fact, because of the decline in rental prices, Chicago actually dropped down a slot in the rankings. We used to have the eighth highest rent in the country. Who has the highest rent? San Francisco, of course, followed by – no surprises here – New York City. Boston, San Jose, California, and Oakland, California round out the top five, followed by Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Seattle. Zumper even separated out Chicago neighborhoods by rent prices. The most expensive rents in Chicago are in River North, Streeterville, the West Loop and in the Rush and Division area. By contract, the cheapest rent can be found in the neighborhoods of Garfield Park, Hermosa, Chinatown and Gage Park.… read more →
You took the plunge, you bought a home! And now you’re going to be filing your taxes for the first time as a brand new homeowner. Make sure you take advantage of the tax benefits you are allowed as a homeowner. Some example of tax benefits for home owners are: 1. You get to deduct your property taxes. You know that huge bill that comes out twice a year from the county? Yep, you get to a claim a deduction for property taxes, as long as you claim the deduction the year you actually paid the taxes. For example, in Cook County and the collar counties, we pay our taxes twice a year, but the bill is for the previous year. You paid 2015 taxes in 2016, and in 2017, you will pay the taxes for 2016. So when you file your 2016 tax return, you can claim the taxes… read more →
The Illinois Housing Department Authority (IHDA) has recently stepped up its programs to make home ownership more affordable. One example of this is the new IRefi program. To qualify for IRefi, you must meet the following criteria: Your credit must be good enough to qualify with a participating lender. If you are applying for a VA loan, USDA loan or conventional loan, it must be at least 640. If you’re applying for an FHA loan, your credit must be at least 660. And if you’re applying for a conventional loan where you’re putting down less than 5%, your credit must be at least 680. Your existing mortgage must be current during the last 12 months. Before IRefi’s assistance, the loan-to-value ratio of your home must be 110% or greater. The goal is for IRefi’s assistance to bring the loan-to-value ratio of your home down to 90-97%. That means you would… read more →
An interesting case, Perron v. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 15-2206 (January 11, 2017) S.D. Ind., Indianapolis Div., recently decided by the Seventh Circuit Appeals Court, started out when the homeowners neglected to tell their mortgage servicer that they had switched their home insurance carrier. Since their mortgage servicer paid the insurance out of their escrow, their new insurer didn’t get paid. As a result, in 2011, the plaintiffs sent two letters to the bank accusing them of paying the wrong insurance company out of their escrow account. Since Chase had not received any notice of the switch in insurance carriers, Chase, not surprisingly, paid the old insurance company. Chase told the plaintiffs that the old insurance company would send them a refund, and that they should send that refund on back to Chase so that Chase could replenish the homeowners’ escrow account. The old insurance company did send… read more →
The Super Bowl is over, Valentine’s Day is over, and despite the fax that the groundhog saw his shadow, it seems that our Chicago winter has been relatively mild as far as winters go. Spring is definitely in the air. And spring means. . . . .tax season. As you get ready to do your taxes this year, keep in mind you may qualify for some tax breaks you didn’t expect. If you have made certain home improvements, they may pay off in more ways than one. For example, installation of the any of the following energy efficiency items or appliances make your home more green and save you some green at the same time: Central air conditioning can get you a $300 credit. Insulation can save you up to $500, or 10% of what it costs – whichever is less. A solar water heater can save you 30% of… read more →
An interesting case, Cantrall v. Bergner, 2016 IL App (4th) 150984 (December 19, 2016) Sangamon Co., started out as a breach of the Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, and turned into a fee-shifting dispute. Here’s what happened: The plaintiff entered into a contract to purchase the defendants’ home in March of 2011. The defendants provided the Illinois Residential Real Property Disclosure, which stated that they were not aware of leaking or material defects in the chimney, ceilings or roof. During the home inspection, the inspector found damage and rotting wood. The parties entered into an addendum which stated that the defendant could complete the repairs himself, if he was competent to, or he could hire a contractor. The defendant chose to make the repairs himself, even though he had no knowledge of roofing. Although her inspector suggested that she have a roofer make sure the work was done correctly,… read more →
Some new bills have been proposed in the state legislature this year. It remains to be seen whether they will pass, but if they do, they will tweak existing laws and regulations affecting real estate in various ways. Here’s a quick summary of some of the proposed legislation: Of course, foreclosures are on everyone’s mind, at least for the last 8-10 years. One of the proposed laws takes some of the burden off of the bank. Specifically, the proposed legislation would create a prima facie case of foreclosure if the bank can admit the following two items into evidence: the mortgage and the note. That’s really all the bank would need. After that, the burden would shift to the mortgagor to contradict the prima facie case of foreclosure. The mortgagor would have to prove the amount still outstanding on the note and also make any affirmative defenses. The bank will… read more →