Let’s be honest: April 15th is a day of reckoning, the moment when we find out what we really owe for taxes. In households nationwide wallets are drained and many who were rich on the 14th are greatly impoverished by the 16th.
But for those with real estate the load is made lighter by tax rules which encourage the ownership of homes and investment property. Such rules are not only good for homeowners, they’re also good for the country: About 20 percent of all economic activity nationwide is related to real estate, so policies which encourage real estate activity help everyone.
It seems that almost every year changes to the tax code require the production of new forms and a re-education process. That said, the real estate basics remain in place and they’re good news for buyers, sellers, borrowers and owners.
Mortgage interest is generally deductible.
The IRS says there are three categories of deductible home mortgage interest:
Mortgages you took out on or before October 13, 1987 (called grandfathered debt).
Mortgages you took out after October 13, 1987, to buy, build, or improve your home (called home acquisition...