It’s late on Thursday night, but I thought I would share this article before I head off into an incredibly busy weekend.

Would you sell your home this year if it meant you would save $440,000 in taxes?

Some wealthy people would.

Last April, at our Washington REIA meeting we told you about the top end of the market, and especially with second homes, the mortgage holders were strategically defaulting at a rate more than twice the average across the country.

Wealthy people are still choosing to walk away from homes that are underwater.  This spring we introduced you to the attorneys that are helping them through the process.  (Banks have a habit of negotiating better deals for the homeowner when attorneys are involved.)

Well, what if that same group of wealthy people hold a property without a mortgage?  If they face a capital gain when they sell their property, some members have decided that now is the time to sell.  This article does a great job of explaining why.

You can also find the article at  http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/08/07/an-end-to-bush-era-tax-cuts-could-push-high-end-properties-onto/
Saving $400,000 is a pretty good incentive to sell this year, vs. next year.  You see, in 2013 capital gains will jump from 15% to 23.8% once you include the new 3.8% healthcare tax.

Please remember – I am just delivering you the news here.

I see it every year – people make crazy decisions.  Especially when it comes to taxes. For some reason, the word just seems to make some people irrational.

Take advantage of that.

If you don’t know how to connect with this crowd of high end motivated sellers – or any group of motivated sellers, you need to join us on Sept. 17th at our next WREIA meeting.

I am going to share a guest speaker that Monday night.  He just gave me a list of the topics we are going to cover at our meeting.  It includes updates on :

• Email Marketing
• Direct Mail Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Mobile Marketing
• Reputation Management

He will also be sharing some insight into topics I don’t completely understand, but he loves to work with every day including:

• Search Engine Optimization,
• Search Engine Marketing,
• Mobile Ads,
• Test Results

When we talked today, he wanted my permission to share some results from some of our recent campaigns.  I approved all of them.

I know most of you are going to be shocked by the results of a few campaigns where the total ad budget was just a hair under $10.

 That’s not a typo – you will see ad campaigns with a budget of less than $10.   

 Don’t forget – At our meeting, I want you to bring in your Smartphones, fire up Twitter, Facebook, and make sure you have a LinkedIn account.

You may not believe in these sites. You may not believe that as a professional they can help bring you more leads than you know what do with.  That’s fine.  I used to think the same thing.   

If you are willing to hustle, work hard – and learn how to help a LOT of people in the next 2  years – join me on Sept. 17th at WREIA.

John Peterson

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