Carroll and Vincent Real Estate

Martha's Vineyard Properties for Sale and Vacation Rentals

Established 1959

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Bold Meadow home for sale in Edgartown

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Bold Meadow home for Sale in Edgartown

One of the best homes in this proven upscale neighborhood of fine properties is this low maintenance move in ready compound. Bright open family room from the summer gazebo deck to the warm brick hearth and fireplace of the renovated kitchen you will love the layout. New tile floors and corian baths is an example of recent renovation done to this home. All done with top quality new building products with old school craftsmanship quality. The one bedroom apartment over the garage is great extra income or nanny/in-law/ guest house. 4 bedrooms 4 baths 2,500 sq ft exclusive $799,000

Edgartown New Homeowner Questions

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Q: We bought a house this year! We put $133,000 down and the bank financed $428,000. Can I write this off on my 2011 taxes? How much of it?

A: First things first: Congratulations! You’ve become a homeowner, and seem to have done so using an enviable financial arrangement. But now that you own a home, you might need to shift the way you think and look at some things, including your taxes and other financial matters.

Owning a home is one of those landmarks that signify financial adulthood. And one of the things that responsible financial adults do is get professional help when the situation requires it. Taxes are one of those areas that often do warrant calling the pros in

I’m not just shilling for the tax prep industry here, either: The ultimate aim of using a tax professional is to make sure you get every deduction, credit and other tax advantage for which you qualify, without jacking up your chances at triggering the universally dreaded Internal Revenue Service audit by claiming dubious deductions.

Your mortgage debt is fairly small, as was your home’s purchase price, though I don’t know whether they are large or small in the context of your overall financial picture (i.e., income, assets, investments, etc.).

The fact that you saved or somehow came up with such a sizable chunk of change to put down makes me hesitate to assume that your finances are as simple as your mortgage balance might otherwise lead me to believe.

So, it might be the case that you can easily handle your own taxes — in fact, it’s even possible that your real estate-related deductions won’t even outweigh the standard deductions, so that filing a simple form without even itemizing your deductions is actually the financially advantageous move.

Whether that’s the case cannot be determined in a vacuum — you may have other financial and tax issues going on. But with software and tax preparation services as inexpensive as they are, starting at under $20 for simple returns, I think it behooves you to get some professional advice and ensure you get the deductions you need.

Hiring a tax preparer might be a worthwhile investment to make, even if just this year, so he or she can brief you on what records you should keep and strategies you should do moving forward, like home repair and improvement receipts, or documentation of your use of an area of the home as a home office.

Now, let’s talk more substantively about the deductions that are available to you, in the event you do decide to itemize your taxes (IRS Publication 530 offers a more nuanced view into Tax Information for Homeowners):

1. Mortgage interest deduction. Assuming this home is your personal residence, 100 percent of the mortgage interest you owe and pay before Dec. 31, 2011, is deductible on your 2011 taxes. In January, your mortgage lender will send you a form documenting the precise amount of interest you paid, although most lenders also now make this form immediately available to borrowers online.

Chances are good that you paid some amount of advance interest on your home loan at closing — expect to see that on your statement from your lender, but you should also be able to find it on the HUD-1 settlement statement you received from your escrow agent at closing.

2. Property tax deductions. Again, assuming that this is the home you live in most of the time, you should be able to deduct 100 percent of the property taxes you’ve paid to your state and/or local taxing agency this year.

3. Closing-cost deductions. Discount points and origination fees paid to your mortgage lender and/or broker at closing are frequently deductible, but there are rules around this, which tax software and/or professionals can help you make sure you meet. Note that, according to Internal Revenue Service Publication 530, “You cannot deduct transfer taxes and similar taxes and charges on the sale of a personal home.”

There are various home improvements (especially those that increase your home’s energy efficiency), state and local tax credits for buying a foreclosure, and other tax advantages that might be available to you.

My advice is to work with an experienced, local tax preparer or, at the very least, use reputable tax preparation software to ensure that you get the maximum tax advantages available to you as a result of your new role as a homeowner.

Hello Good Buy- Sold $475,000

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This Edgartown home is one of the best buy’s today. This property has what today’s buyer is looking for. Master bedroom on the first floor, brick fireplace, hardwood floors, open sunny kitchen dinning living room set up. Full basement with walkout access, oil heat, covered rocking chair porch looking over quiet country lane. Two large bedrooms with ample storage on second floor. This home could connect to town sewer if you wanted to have more bedrooms. Room for garage and or garage apartment on this private lot. Exclusive $595,000

Absolute Edgartown-Sold $1,600,000

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This is a multi generational home that brings families together. Recently built with all the best materials and today’s design you will want for nothing more in this one of a kind property. First floor master bedroom with a master bath includes a jacuzzi tub, separate tiled shower. marble sinks, stone floors, walk in closet, wood floors, your own outside entrance to pool. All 6 luxury bedrooms have ceiling fans, all 4.5 baths have tile floors and marble sinks, fireplace, bright open chefs kitchen dining room, sunny porch and a 16 x 32 pebble tec heated pool with hot tub. 2 car garage, 2 dishwashers, 2 washers and dryers, 2 kitchen sinks, 2 refrigerators,  extensive professional landscaping. $150k of rental income in place for this year. $1,789,000

Martha’s Vineyard Real Estate

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Foreclosures Drop to 3 Year Low

Foreclosure activity dropped to a three year low in February as mortgage servicing companies slowly resumed their repossession procedures. In the 26 states that have judicial foreclosure processes, where lenders temporarily called-off foreclosures as a result of faulty egal paperwork, default notices decreased 19% for the month and were down 48% from year ago figures.

Default notices, scheduled auctions of homes and bank repossessions were reported on 225,101 U.S. residential properties during the month, marking a 14% drop from January, and a 27% decline from a year ago. The drop marks the biggest year over year decrease since RealtyTrac has been keeping track of foreclosure activity in 2005.

“While a small part of February’s decrease can be attributed to it being a short month and bad weather, the bottom line is that the industry is in the midst of a major overhaul that has severely restricted its capacity to process foreclosures,” said RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio. “We expect to see the numbers bounce back, but that will likely take several months. And monthly volume may never return to its peak in March 2010 of more than 367,000 properties receiving foreclosure filings.”

Some 63,165 properties received default notices for the first time in February, a 16% decline from the previous month and a 41% drop from a year ago as default notices hit a four year low.

Edgartown Real Estate for Sale

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56 Whalers Walk Edgartown

You must see for yourself why this great home on almost one acre has something for everyone. A nice screened in porch for outside living room for 3 season living. A great wood stove for cold winter nights. A large island in the kitchen for the serious cook who needs prep space and a gas stove. Basement play are for ping pong table and more for the kid in all of us. Large maser bedroom, 2 living rooms with bonus space for overnight company. Asphalt basketball court and large shed for outside storage. Central location and easy access to town, beach, bike path, bus route.

Exclusive $649,000

Martha’s Vineyard Best Place for Second Homes

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Seven miles off the coast of Massachusetts, Martha’s Vineyard entered the popular imagination around 1993 when then-President Clinton and family vacationed at the home of his friend Vernon Jordan. President Obama has twice vacationed on the island since he took office. The vineyard is now a full-fledged international destination. Modest summer homes have been replaced by massive luxury manses, but local officials have wisely decreed that 2% of every real estate sale go to a land bank that buys up and preserves open spaces. You can’t go wrong buying into Chilmark or Edgartown. Chilmark prices:

Median 2009: $1.34 million

Median 2010: $1.35 million

see the full article below

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052970203979804576152351515182700.html

Cash Buyers Lift Housing

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Buyers in markets around the U.S. are snapping up homes in all-cash deals, betting that prices are at or near bottom and breathing life into some of the nation’s most battered housing markets.

Cash buyers represented more than half of all transactions in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area last year, according to an analysis from real-estate portal Zillow.com. In the fourth quarter of 2006, they represented just 13% of deals. Meanwhile, downtown Miami prices rose 15% in 2010 from a year earlier, according to the Miami Downtown Development Authority.