I stopped in yesterday, to drop my taxes with my accountant at, The Epstein Group. As you might expect of a conversation between a Realtor and an accountant, we quickly got to market conditions and potential tax changes that may effect the market.
Victor Epstein, as would befit an accountant, has always been very good about keeping up on changes and potential changes in the tax code, and how they might effect his clients. I am thankful for his attentiveness as I often eke a good little tidbit out of a discussion with him.
"Tell your investor clients to sell", he said. Now mind you, I am a "buy and hold" sort of a gal, so those are pretty strong words. The longer version goes something like this. The "Bush tax cuts" are set to expire, and may or may not be extended. The Obama health plan (of which I am an ardent supporter) is scheduled to be funded in part by a slight increase in the capital gains tax, and Oregon may be taking a bit from folks' capital gains also.
What Victor was saying, or what my conservative ears heard, was that taxes on capital gains (such as those incurred by the sale of investment property) taxes will be going up. And though we think the real estate prices will be increasing in the next few years, we expect increases in capital gains taxes will outpace any increases in real estate prices. So if you have an investment property you are planning to sell in the next few years, now may well be the time. Call me.
Oh, and take a second to go to Victor's website and check out the "Irreverent" tab, showing the fictional accountants' Hall of Fame. And scroll down for songs about accountants. Very fun.
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