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US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

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Re: US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

#51

Post by scarface74 »

nostromo wrote: post #47
jeffbax wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is all true, but the mortgage interest deduction should be $0, particularly in the rich cities that refuse to let enough homes get built and fix things like zoning. It's an awful distortion that's a handout to the wealthy to the penalty of renters (generally less well off)

State and local taxes should also not reduce your federal taxable income at all. High tax states can tax themselves all they want to, but that shouldn’t reduce their federal tax burden.

Why not? The high tax states are also paying more in Federal taxes than they receive. The low tax states are already subsidized by the federal government.

Re: US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

#52

Post by scarface74 »

ntkachov wrote: post #35

I can put some perspective on this. We got priced out of the market in Feb. According to the bank, we can't get a mortgage where the overall cost of the payments on all our debt can't exceed 41% of our pre-tax income. Given that our student loans eat about 20% of our pre-tax income, that means we only have 20% of our income left for housing. Rising interest rates means that more of our house payment goes to interest…

Why would you want to? Is a house really worth it?

Re: US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

#53

Post by twoheadedboy »

danjoc wrote: post #9
CamTin wrote: post #8

Just today (in Austin) I saw a banner by the road outside a bank offering "100% financing" for homebuyers. If banks breathlessly pitching to lend buyers the entirety of a home's price is not a sign of an overheated debt-led housing market, I don't know what is.

It gets worse than that, https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/interest-only-mort...

What the hell did I just read..?

Re: US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

#54

Post by tomrod »

paulie_a wrote: post #17

Redfin didn't exactly do anything interesting or unique. It was literally yet another real estate app/website. It's not surprising.

They seek to decrease the realtor fee for homes by employing rather than commissioning realtors, as well as decreasing the information search costs to buy and sell homes. It's a solid approach if they play the details right -- become a platform for home sales.

Re: US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

#55

Post by tomrod »

debacle wrote: post #45
paulie_a wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked in that industry. It really is a pretty "meh" company. Also there is no MLS, there are a lot of them.

Though the MLS is pretty distrubuted, these days you can consider it as a single entity for the most part, though the shenanigans from the early 2000s still happen every day.

Shenanigans from the early 2000s?

Re: US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

#56

Post by astura »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #49
astura wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a homeowner and I think it's an absolute crime my mortgage interest is tax deductible yet rent isn't. If we believe, at a philosophical level, that interest payments should be tax deductible, ok, then make ALL interest paid tax deductible - credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, payday loans, etc. It's shameful. That being said, with the new tax bill, 90+% of both owners and renters will be taking the standard…

Some states do permit tax deductions for rent. Indiana, New Jersey, and possibly others.

Looked into this real quick.

The maximum rental deduction in Indiana is capped at $3,000 and the income tax rate is a flat 3.23%. So a renter in Indiana only pays $97 less in taxes.

Re: US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

#57

Post by paulie_a »

debacle wrote: post #45
paulie_a wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked in that industry. It really is a pretty "meh" company. Also there is no MLS, there are a lot of them.

Though the MLS is pretty distrubuted, these days you can consider it as a single entity for the most part, though the shenanigans from the early 2000s still happen every day.

You absolutely cannot consider it as a single entity. It is not distributed, it is fractured. There is zero consistency. I got out of that industry a while back and I still have the local MLS phone number memorized.

It's a complete shit show as of 2013. Basically anything that is on any MLS I've seen is probably incorrect.

Re: US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

#58

Post by klipt »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #49
astura wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a homeowner and I think it's an absolute crime my mortgage interest is tax deductible yet rent isn't. If we believe, at a philosophical level, that interest payments should be tax deductible, ok, then make ALL interest paid tax deductible - credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, payday loans, etc. It's shameful. That being said, with the new tax bill, 90+% of both owners and renters will be taking the standard…

Some states do permit tax deductions for rent. Indiana, New Jersey, and possibly others.

California has a (very small) tax credit for renters.

Re: US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

#59

Post by seanmcdirmid »

raincom wrote: post #43
r00fus wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cant rental (ie, passive) income be used to secure additional funding? I know that was the case when I considered buying property to rent back before the 2008 crash (I ended up not doing that, luckily).

Yes, 75% of rent can be used. It is called "market rent", according to Fannie Mae. Remaining 25% is used for Vacancies, etc. In California markets, rental properties are not profitable, when you consider 20% downpayment, 75% rent, etc. There are 4 kinds of buyers in this market: 1. First home buyers: renters becoming buyers. 2. Second home buyers: thanks to the appreciation of their primary residence, people have bou…

Right, flippers aren’t taking conventional housing loans on the properties they are flipping. They are getting short term lines of credit instead because they don’t expect to have the house for more than a few months.

Re: US housing market hit a ‘significant slowdown’ in recent weeks, Redfin CEO says

#60

Post by dantheman »

scarface74 wrote: post #51
nostromo wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

State and local taxes should also not reduce your federal taxable income at all. High tax states can tax themselves all they want to, but that shouldn’t reduce their federal tax burden.

Why not? The high tax states are also paying more in Federal taxes than they receive. The low tax states are already subsidized by the federal government.

The high tax states drive the federal tax policy and spending. When California and New York push large federal programs and higher federal taxes and then are able to exclude themselves from the cost it's wrong.
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