All Forum Posts by: Xing Zhu

If you use Turbo Tax, all these will be calculated for you.

The following article explains some of the changes of rules for 2014.

http://www.fool.com/how-to-invest/personal-finance/taxes/2013/12/19/be-prepared-for-the-capital-gains-tax-rate-in-2014.aspx

Cheap condos structure-wise are no different from apartments and they may offer you the highest investment income, while luxury condos may offer you very little income; and for this reason investors who are interested in luxury condos must focus on appreciation potentials.

People buy luxury condos for the matter of lifestyle. It has been a fad to live high for the view. Modern glass slim tower are most preferable as they offer the best view. Thus they probably have more appreciation potentials. The Wall Street Journal article "Living the high life" speaks in this regard.

Toll Brothers are doing far better in vertical constructions than in SFHs.

I use the site below for numbers for LV, but don't know similar sites for other areas.

http://www.lvcva.com/stats-and-facts/visitor-statistics/

Buy properties with high appreciation potentials and negative cash flows such as some in NYC.

I had a situation like this years ago but I was the buyer. I bought a home from a doctor and found a problem with the furnace. My agent helped me get the doctor to pay for the repair.

I think the first thing you want to make sure about is whether the car is registered.

The rental return is low as the management fee is high. The HOA is high as well.

In myrtle beach, the net return is about 3% if you buy on cash. Of course, it is a hand off investment. They don't even call you for repair. They have their own repairmen. For small issues, they don't charge for labor. Hence management fee is the main issue. They typically take 40 to 45%.

Investors are looking for appreciation. You need to do your own study for appreciation projections.

Some investors are late as usual.

One year, two years or three years ago, many stock investors were buying real estate. They talked a lot about buying real estate then on stock trading forums. They haven't talked about it for a while. It looks like they are already fully loaded.

I'd have fired my agent in such a situation, but only if the agent did the pricing. If I did the pricing or I had strongly influenced the agent for the pricing, I'd blame it on myself. Once it took me more than half year to sell a house at the last peak of the market because the initial price was too high. The pricing was done by the agent and she suggested subsequently to drop the price, three times in a row. I said yes every time and the house was finally sold. A neighbor right across the street listed the house around the same time and never had it sold.

Usually, you get some sorts of tax credits (better than deductions) on some energy efficient items such as windows, air and heat systems.