REAL ESTATE
What to Do When Love Gets Complicated Is It Time to Sell Your House (or Rent)?
house on the market when demand is greater than supply and that can happen at anytime of the year, that’s just a matter of having your Realtor look at the numbers. If your house is one of the few that is coming on the market and dealings being done are above average, even December can be a good time to put your house on the market.
By Mark Pruner This being Valentine’s Day week, I was thinking of things that people love and figure that most people love their homes. The memories made there are often some of the best of their lives; family holidays, baby’s first steps, some great parties, just sitting down to dinner with family night after night makes for a wonderful bond with your home. But what do you do when the house is too small, too large, or too expensive? When is the Best Time to Sell Your House? If you are thinking about a move more than a year out, you have some time to do some planning to maximize the return on your house. Right now, we are at the beginning of the spring market and as well as love, many people’s hearts turn to relocation in the Spring. So, is the spring market always, the best time to put your house on the market? For many people the answer is yes as that is when we see the largest number of deals made, but that’s not always the case. We do have a good, a lbeit smaller, fall market that starts right after Labor Day. However, what you want to ideally do is put your
will add to the value of the house and to its future salability. Taking a traditional floorplan and opening it up and putting in the new kitchen that you have always wanted, makes you happy and also makes the house easier to sell. The one caveat is not to go to far in customization. I had a client who had customized bathroom tiles made in Italy for the boys’ bathroom. They had frogs, Planning Ahead Th i n k i ng i n adva nce a l s o snakes and undersea creatures in gives you time to fix up the house, full relief; cute, but they creeped out declutter the inside and stage it, some people. either with mostly your own stuff or Can You Afford to Sell with furniture that the stager brings Your House? in. Painting the exterior and interior In the pre-recession days, people can really help a house look more nearly always sold their house for a presentable and well cared for. While nice gain and had plenty to pay costs most houses sell better when they and have a nice downpayment for have furniture in them, houses that their next place. In today’s world, are very cluttered or whose interior and particularly for those people that doesn’t match today’s buyer for that bought at the height of the market house may sell better when lightly in 2004 – 2008 that may not be the staged or even empty. Another nice case. For sellers, you need to be able feature of moving first and selling to payoff the mortgage, pay your second is that you don’t have to keep attorney and broker and pay two your home ready to be shown at a taxes many sellers don’t think about. moment’s notice. CT Conveyance Taxes Should You Renovate Your House? In general, you don’t want to do major renovations to make the house more saleable. I one time had a prospective seller proudly show me before and after pictures of a just renovated upstairs guest bathroom as a key selling point. The problem was the kitchen and the other bathrooms were badly dated, so the money might have been better spent on redoing the floors and brightening what was a dark house. If you are planning on staying in your house for several more years, but are considering doing renovations, consider how they
Connecticut imposes a conveyance tax on sellers of homes. The tax is 0.75% under $800,000 and 1.25% over that amount plus a 0.25% town tax or a total of 1% below $800K and 1.5% over $800K. On our median $1.8 million dollar sale that comes to $23,000. Starting in July of this year the state will impose an additional 2.25% tax on the sale amount over $2.5 million. If you stay in the state after you sell your house, you will get back the additional tax starting in 2023. What we will clearly see this year is bump up on in June sales and a drop in July sales just as we saw in 2011, when the state conveyance tax was increased
by 0.25%. U.S. Capital Gains Taxes The other tax that most people don’t pay on the sale of their home is the federal capital gains tax. This is because of the $250,000 tax exemption for each person and $500,000 for a couple. For anyone who bought in the Greenwich in the 1980s or before they almost certainly have this much gain even for our lowest priced houses. For our higher priced houses sellers may find that that in addition to the 20% capital gains tax they are also paying the additional 3.8% Obamacare surcharge. Now as my mom used to tell my dad, not everything is about taxes and even in worse case situation you still keep over 75% of the gain above the $500,000 exemption. One th ing that sometimes surprises people is that you don’t get to deduct the mortgage payoff in calculation your gain. So if you bought a house a long time ago for $100,000 and you sell it this year for $1,100,000 and you refinanced several times up to say an $800,000 mortgage, you still have to pay taxes on a $1,000,000 gain even though you are only netting $300,000 after the mortgage is paid off. If however you used the money from the refinancings to do $500,000 of improvements over the years, you would owe no capital gains taxes. This is because your basis is $600,000; your $100,000 purchase price plus your $500,000 of capital improvements. Just make sure you have your invoices for capital improvements in case the IRS wants to see them.
know have to delay paying the capital gains on your house is to take the taxable portion of the proceeds and reinvest them in an opportunity zone fund. We really should have a one time unlimited exemption for the gain on sale of your primary residence when you retire. For many people, their house was their primary way of savings for their retirement. How to Make Money While Downsizing Now if you are downsizing many people think of their new home as the last home that they will ever own. This has led to tennis buddies of mine in their 70s who are highly mobile on the tennis court insisting that they only want me to show them downsized houses with a first f loor master, because eventually they aren’t going to be able to do stairs. The $500,000 capital gains tax exemption does lead to a good opportunity for retirement planning. Simply, buy a house that needs work, fix it up and live in it for a couple of years, or more, and get up to $500,000 of capital gains tax free, then you can retire to Edgehill or Florida with a better nest egg.
Should Rent or Sell My House? The biggest owners of multifamily duplexes and triplexes in Greenwich are Greenwich residents. Lots of doctors, lawyers and financial people like having a steady source of income and income-producing real estate in their portfolios. What about renting your home? It can be a good source income and you can shelter some of the income with tax depreciation. Delaying Capital Gains Taxes On the flip side, you have all the One additional option that you responsibilities of a landlord. You
will also lose the personal residence $500,000 exemption after three years since you won’t have lived in the house for 2 of the last 5 years. Can I deduct a Long Term Capital Loss if I Convert to a Rental Property? One thing that you might think works, but doesn’t, is converting your house to a rental in order to take a long term capital loss on the house. Normally, losses on your personal residence are not deductible as they are treated a personal losses. If you convert it to a rental property, your basis in the rental property becomes the fair market value on the date it became a rental. If the value were to continue to drop after that date you could take that loss, however, you must first recapture any excess depreciation, which may reduce your tax loss. As a rental, your house can be a reliable source of income for years, but don’t forget that depreciation is not just a tax concept. When it come times to sell or re-rent a rental property, you will have some fix-up costs to get the best value. When deciding between renting, selling or renovating, I always tell my clients to decide what is going to make you the happiest. What’s the use of having more money, if it makes you more unhappy, because you are stuck in the wrong. If a new house will make you happier and you have the funds, why wait for years to do something that will make your life better now? Mark Pruner is an award winning Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway in Greenwich, CT. He is also a director of their New Development Group. He can be reached at 203-969-7900 or mark@bhhsne.com
Page 15 | Greenwich Sentinel | February 14, 2020
REAL ESTATE DASHBOARD Deborah Ference-Gray
REAL ESTATE DASHBOARD MASTHEAD DASHBOARD EDITOR
Mark Pruner | Mark@GreenwichStreets.com | mark@bhhsne.com
CONTRIBUTORS
One Pickwick Plaza Greenwich, CT 06830
Robert Pulitano | RobertPulitano@bhhsne.com Cesar Rabillino | CesarRabellino@bhhsne.com Pam Toner | PToner@HoulihanLawrence.com
Office: 203.618.3155 Mobile: 917.584.4903
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NEW SALES
FEATURED OPEN HOUSES
Data Compiled by Cesar Rabellino (203) 249-9866
Data Compiled by Rob Pulitano [203] 561-8092
Address
Original List
List Price
1465 Putnam Avenue 327 7 Upland Street East 87 Valleywood Road 8 View Street 6 31 Guinea Road 10 Edgewood Drive 3B 900 Lake Avenue 11 Wahneta & Nawthorne Rd 33 Willowmere Circle 147 Byram Shore Road
$385,000 $729,000 $849,000 $995,000 $1,775,000 $2,495,000 $2,850,000 $3,390,000 $4,450,000 $5,995,000
$385,000 $699,000 $765,000 $895,000 $1,495,000 $2,195,000 $2,475,000 $3,390,000 $4,225,000 $4,595,000
Address 74 1/2 Josephine Evaristo Ave #3
Area Greenwich
Price $3,000
Day/Time Sun 1-3 PM
Broker Coldwell Banker
52 Sherwood Place #5
Greenwich
$4,950
Sun 1-3 PM
Sotheby's
351 Pemberwick Road #603
Greenwich
$679,000
Sun 12-2 PM
Berkshire Hathaway
56 Caroline Place
Greenwich
$679,900
Sun 1-3 PM
Sotheby's
36 Greenwich Hills Drive #36
Greenwich
$759,000
Sun 1-3 PM
Sotheby's
14 Indian Pass
Greenwich
$825,000
Sun 12-2 PM
New England Land
Greenwich
$1,347,000
Sat 1-3 PM
Berkshire Hathaway
Greenwich
$1,495,000
Sun 1-3 PM
Sotheby's
74 1/2 Josephine Evaristo Ave
Greenwich
$1,650,000
Sun 1-3 PM
Coldwell Banker
11 B Relay Place
Cos Cob
$2,150,000
Sun 1-3 PM
Sotheby's
Greenwih
$2,925,000
Sun 2:30-4:30 PM
Coldwell Banker
Address
List Price
Greenwich
$2,950,000
Sun 1-3 PM
Sotheby's
Greenwich
$2,995,000
Sun 2:30-4:30 PM
Coldwell Banker
Greenwich
$3,050,000
Sun 12-2 PM
William Pitt Sotheby's
183 Round Hill Road
Greenwich
$3,095,000
Sun 1-3 PM
Sotheby's
8 Rockwood Lane Spur
Greenwich
$3,100,000
Sun 1-3 PM
Houlihan Lawrence
34 Annjim Drive
Greenwich
$3,275,000
Sun 1-3 PM
Berkshire Hathaway
398 Stanwich Road
Greenwich
$3,495,000
Sun 1-3 PM
Houlihan Lawrence
53 Hillside Road
Greenwich
$3,749,000
Sun 1-3 PM
Houlihan Lawrence
18 Hillcrest Lane
Old Greenwich
$3,985,000
Sun 1-3 PM
The Higgins Group
27 Evergreen Road
Greenwich
$5,150,000
Sun 1-4 PM
Berkshire Hathaway
141 Milbank Avenue
Greenwich
$5,750,000
Sun 2:30-4:30 PM
Coldwell Banker
175 Putnam Park 175 47 Valley Road B3 51 Old Kings Highway 16 1037 North Street 2 Grove Street 31 Summit Road 53 Hunt Terrace Terrace 17 Tinker Lane 114 Lyon Farm Drive 114 14 River Lane 15 Rockland Place 128 Old Church Road 41 Frontier Road 141 Old Church Road 444 Old Church Road 40 Pecksland Road 10 Serenity Lane 129 Dingletown Road 113 Orchard Drive 11 Center Road 17 Ivanhoe Lane 7 Chieftans Road 11 Hidden Brook Road 487 Lake Avenue 14 Hycliff Road 11 Bryon Road 4 Doverton Drive 275 Riverside Avenue 4 Little Cove Road 600 North Street 201 Clapboard Ridge Road 21 Hurlingham Drive
$340,000 $385,000 $515,000 $695,000 $795,000 $850,000 $1,050,000 $1,299,000 $1,350,000 $1,400,000 $1,450,000 $1,549,000 $1,600,000 $1,950,000 $1,999,000 $2,295,000 $2,495,000 $2,499,000 $2,650,000 $2,695,000 $2,985,000 $3,395,000 $3,495,000 $3,685,000 $3,999,000 $4,295,000 $4,450,000 $5,400,000 $5,999,000 $6,900,000 $8,484,000 $8,595,000
40 Crescent Road 107 Havemeyer Place
141 Milbank Avenue West 21 Kenilworth Terrace 141 Milbank Avenue 78 Baldwin Farms South
Sold Price DOM BR FB Acres 0 $365,000 119 1 1
SqFt 912
$670,000 $750,000 $800,000 $1,400,000 $1,750,000 $2,200,000 $3,175,000 $3,625,000 $3,825,000
1,614 1,440 2,592 4,722 4,365 6,016 2,581 4,007 6,439
183 219 243 811 401 328 241 282 874
Your Luxury Greenwich Movers
Beautiful building lot in North Minanus 1.41 Park Like Aces Private shared road Build your dream house or renovate the existing house Offered at $750,000 Best price land in North Mianus
2 1 2 2 3 5 2 3 3
0.12 0.19 0 2.3 0 2 0.57 0.46 1.16
NEW LISTINGS
Data Compiled by Cesar Rabellino (203) 249-9866
Call more information!
514 VALLEY RD, COS COB
(203) 990-1535 Peter Janis
4 3 3 4 3 5 3 5 4
203.249.1013 ClancyMoving.com/Greenwich-CT President's Quality Winner
Price/SqFt
SqFt
$481 $569 $401 $431 $438 $694 $302 $514 $375 $823 $556
800 905 1,734 1,846 1,940 1,512 4,304 2,629 3,736 1,762 2,788
$546 $399
3,572 5,012
$489
4,698
$430
5,800 4,500 5,000 5,531 8,594 5,317 4,607 9,291 3,054 5,869 5,509 5,271 10,540 10,509 12,988
$589 $539 $540 $395 $657 $800 $430 $1,406 $758 $980 $1,138 $655 $807 $662
AC
BR
1 2 0 2 0.41 3 0.12 3 0.3 3 0.65 3 2.15 5 0 4 0.22 5 0.17 3 0.67 5 1.39 5 1.25 5 1.03 5 2.15 5 1 5 2.02 5 0.32 5 0.27 5 1.51 6 1.76 4 0.3 6 1.84 4 8.22 6 0.44 3 2 4 0.64 6 0.3 5 2 6 5.38 5 13.03 8 0
FB
Area
1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 2 3 3 4 6 4 4 4 4 7 5 7 6 4 6 2 4 6 5 7 6 7
South of Post Road Cos Cob Old Greenwich North Parkway Cos Cob Riverside Glenville South Parkway Glenville Cos Cob Old Greenwich South Parkway Cos Cob South Parkway South Parkway South Parkway Cos Cob South Parkway South of Post Road Old Greenwich South Parkway North Parkway Riverside South Parkway North Parkway Old Greenwich South Parkway Riverside Old Greenwich South Parkway South Parkway North Parkway
Your Luxu Greenwich M
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