Manufactured home can be lousy investment

Real estate news By Bob Bruss publications
Feb 22, 2007, 4:00 am PST

DEAR BOB: In 2003 we bought a modular home and had it set up on a lot we owned. After all the expenses of having a foundation built, plumbing and wiring installed, etc., when we sold it in late 2006 we barely got our investment out. We learned modular homes can be lousy investments. Do we have to report this sale to the IRS? --Thomas R.

DEAR THOMAS: If your sales proceeds did not equal the amount you invested in the modular home and the cost of the lot, then you had no capital gain profit. But the sale must be reported on Schedule D of your income tax returns, although no tax will be due if you had no profit.

Purchase Bob Bruss reports online.
However, if the home was your principal residence for at least 24 of the last 60 months before its sale, then Internal Revenue Code 121 does not require you to report the sale unless your capital gain exceeded $250,000 (or more than $500,000 for a married couple filing a joint tax return). For full details, please consult your tax adviser.

NO EASY WAY TO FORCE A PROPERTY SALE BY FIVE OWNERS
DEAR BOB: My dad died in 2005. No will. Mom passed away in 1999. He left his house worth around $500,000. There are five adult children. His estate has been in probate almost two years, with no sign of any conclusion soon. Dad left debts of about $125,000. The estate executor has sold off dad's car, furniture, etc., to pay the unsecured debts. But there was a $40,000 mortgage on the house. I think we should sell the house to pay off the mortgage and then split the proceeds. But two sisters refuse to agree to the house sale. What can we do? --Ralph S.

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