| What moves someone to buy or sell a home? Four new RE/MAX TV ads depict life-changing moments that spark a move -- and reinforce the message that RE/MAX agents can help in any situation. Here, weeks before it debuts on national TV, is one of the new commercials: "Anthem." You can embed the video on your website or blog, or share it via social media and show it to clients and your sphere. The 2012 RE/MAX advertising campaign, "For All the Things That Move You," centers on the pivotal life moments – a marriage proposal, a new baby, a student leaving home for college – that drive the decision to buy or sell a home. The four new TV ads will appear in 15- and 30-second versions on major network and cable programming. In a fifth, 30-second TV ad in the U.S., RE/MAX CEO Margaret Kelly thanks buyers and sellers for helping RE/MAX earn its two trophies from J.D. Power and Associates. That ad debuted in December during the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship on ESPN. Web, radio, print and outdoor ads, which will vary in exposure from region to region, will complement the TV ads and reinforce the campaign’s message. The national radio spots, which include RE/MAX ads during the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl, feature the new messaging, too. Customizable Design Center resources will be available in March, after RE/MAX R4. |
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
RE/MAX 2012 National Ad Campaign
RE/MAX 2012 National Ad Campaign
Friday, January 6, 2012
TAX GUIDE 2012 -- Claiming property expenses from Real Estate Wealth Magazine
To see the full article click Here
Written by Joel Kranc
The tax code for property investors can be tricky, and, as Joel Kranc explains, they've got to plan accordingly.
As investors look ahead into the New Year it is not too early to start thinking about tax season and the areas that are appropriate for expensing. Staying organized, understanding which category investments fall under and when money spent is for income or future capitalization are key elements to a smooth tax experience.
According to Shawn Stern, Tax Partner in KPMG’s Real Estate Group, real estate can fall under three separate categories and depending on which category an investor falls in will dictate the types of expenses they are permitted to make.
The categories are:
Existing rental property
Development stage of rental property
Development of resale property
Existing rental property
Existing rental property, notes Stern, refers to a house, building or commercial property that has already been built. Deductions and expenses that occur in this category come with several moving parts: operating costs, leasing costs, repairs and maintenance, and specific costs such as landscaping and disability.
Operating costs
Within existing rental property, operating costs are generally deductable as long as they are incurred to earn the rental income. These would be items such as:
interest
property taxes
insurance
property management fees
legal fees associated with tenant issues
Leasing costs such as broker commissions or legal fees to help draft leases are generally expenseable. So are cash allowances and inducement payments to rent property such as tenant-specific leaseholds (landlords who build partitions, for example, in an empty office space).
While these costs are generally deductable over the term of the lease, Stern says sometimes they can be deducted upfront when the costs are incurred. “A very general test that can be used to filter it would be to ask ‘are these costs being incurred just to get one tenant or is there an argument that these costs were incurred to do something other than to gain a tenant’.”
If one can make the argument that these costs are deductable upfront, then the deduction can be made today, and because the owner is getting the leasing over the next number of years, they will drive down their tax bill upfront and ultimately the money saved can be used to do other things.
Repairs and maintenance
Repairs and maintenance within this category creates some complications. Building owners have to ask themselves are they extending the useful life of the building or is it just maintenance?
Stern offers the example of an office tower as an explanation. “If you take a big office tower, for example, the building will be up for 100 years but over those 100 years you may have to replace the roof, probably have to replace the doors, the elevators and things like that. When we look at this and we say you are repairing a roof on a building, are you extending the useful life of the building or is that just maintenance?”
Because those types of repairs do not extend the useful life of the building, they can be deducted immediately. The big benefit, according to Stern, is that they provide an immediate tax savings for the owner. If the owner has to capitalize it to the cost of the building they are going to save tax over a long period of time and the immediate benefit is lost.
Dennis Anderson, a Tax Partner with Ernst & Young’s Real Estate Group, says repairs and maintenance can be a tricky part of tax filing. “Repairs and maintenance is one of the bigger potential pitfalls that potentially the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) may audit. Because it’s always a question of fact whether a repair or maintenance expense is capital in nature or currently deductable.”
Anderson notes that generally, the currently deductable pieces are what would be referred to as “putting it back into its original state,” such as painting walls and replacing carpet.
To read the rest of this article and learn more about taxing questions for investors, pick up a copy of our January issue, now on newsstands.
Written by Joel Kranc
The tax code for property investors can be tricky, and, as Joel Kranc explains, they've got to plan accordingly.
As investors look ahead into the New Year it is not too early to start thinking about tax season and the areas that are appropriate for expensing. Staying organized, understanding which category investments fall under and when money spent is for income or future capitalization are key elements to a smooth tax experience.
According to Shawn Stern, Tax Partner in KPMG’s Real Estate Group, real estate can fall under three separate categories and depending on which category an investor falls in will dictate the types of expenses they are permitted to make.
The categories are:
Existing rental property
Development stage of rental property
Development of resale property
Existing rental property
Existing rental property, notes Stern, refers to a house, building or commercial property that has already been built. Deductions and expenses that occur in this category come with several moving parts: operating costs, leasing costs, repairs and maintenance, and specific costs such as landscaping and disability.
Operating costs
Within existing rental property, operating costs are generally deductable as long as they are incurred to earn the rental income. These would be items such as:
interest
property taxes
insurance
property management fees
legal fees associated with tenant issues
Leasing costs such as broker commissions or legal fees to help draft leases are generally expenseable. So are cash allowances and inducement payments to rent property such as tenant-specific leaseholds (landlords who build partitions, for example, in an empty office space).
While these costs are generally deductable over the term of the lease, Stern says sometimes they can be deducted upfront when the costs are incurred. “A very general test that can be used to filter it would be to ask ‘are these costs being incurred just to get one tenant or is there an argument that these costs were incurred to do something other than to gain a tenant’.”
If one can make the argument that these costs are deductable upfront, then the deduction can be made today, and because the owner is getting the leasing over the next number of years, they will drive down their tax bill upfront and ultimately the money saved can be used to do other things.
Repairs and maintenance
Repairs and maintenance within this category creates some complications. Building owners have to ask themselves are they extending the useful life of the building or is it just maintenance?
Stern offers the example of an office tower as an explanation. “If you take a big office tower, for example, the building will be up for 100 years but over those 100 years you may have to replace the roof, probably have to replace the doors, the elevators and things like that. When we look at this and we say you are repairing a roof on a building, are you extending the useful life of the building or is that just maintenance?”
Because those types of repairs do not extend the useful life of the building, they can be deducted immediately. The big benefit, according to Stern, is that they provide an immediate tax savings for the owner. If the owner has to capitalize it to the cost of the building they are going to save tax over a long period of time and the immediate benefit is lost.
Dennis Anderson, a Tax Partner with Ernst & Young’s Real Estate Group, says repairs and maintenance can be a tricky part of tax filing. “Repairs and maintenance is one of the bigger potential pitfalls that potentially the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) may audit. Because it’s always a question of fact whether a repair or maintenance expense is capital in nature or currently deductable.”
Anderson notes that generally, the currently deductable pieces are what would be referred to as “putting it back into its original state,” such as painting walls and replacing carpet.
To read the rest of this article and learn more about taxing questions for investors, pick up a copy of our January issue, now on newsstands.
GTA Market Watch for December and End of Year 2011
January 5, 2012 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,718 transactions through the TorontoMLS® system in December 2011. The December result capped off the second-best year on record under the current Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) boundaries. Total sales for 2011 amounted to 89,347 – up four per cent in comparison to 2010.
“Low borrowing costs kept Buyers confident in their ability to comfortably cover their mortgage payments along with other major housing costs,” said TREB President Richard Silver. “If Buyers had not been constrained by a shortage of listings over the past 12 months, we would have been flirting with a new sales record in the Greater Toronto Area,” added Silver.
The average selling price in December was $451,436 – up four per cent compared to December 2010. For all of 2011, the average selling price was $465,412, an increase of eight per cent in comparison to the average of $431,276 in 2010.
“Months of inventory remained below the pre-recession norm in 2011. Very tight market conditions meant substantial competition between Buyers and strong upward pressure on selling prices,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
“TREB’s baseline forecast for 2012 is for an average price of $485,000, representing a more moderate four per cent annual rate of price growth. This baseline view is subject to a heightened degree of risk given the uncertain global economic outlook,” continued Mercer.
“Low borrowing costs kept Buyers confident in their ability to comfortably cover their mortgage payments along with other major housing costs,” said TREB President Richard Silver. “If Buyers had not been constrained by a shortage of listings over the past 12 months, we would have been flirting with a new sales record in the Greater Toronto Area,” added Silver.
The average selling price in December was $451,436 – up four per cent compared to December 2010. For all of 2011, the average selling price was $465,412, an increase of eight per cent in comparison to the average of $431,276 in 2010.
“Months of inventory remained below the pre-recession norm in 2011. Very tight market conditions meant substantial competition between Buyers and strong upward pressure on selling prices,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.
“TREB’s baseline forecast for 2012 is for an average price of $485,000, representing a more moderate four per cent annual rate of price growth. This baseline view is subject to a heightened degree of risk given the uncertain global economic outlook,” continued Mercer.
For Monthly Sales PDF report click HERE
For Annual Sales and Average Prices PDF Click HERE
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)