Mortgage Deduction

[LivingAlmostLarge]

If they do away with the mortgage deduction how will this affect investing in RE? Will it make it less lucrative or doesn't matter because of depreciation.

[amarowsky]

I bet a lot of people will start considering paying off their houses sooner than other debts/saving.

[amarowsky]

Also.... is this comes to fruition it may lead to higher renting demand, as home ownership will be one large interest deduction farther away from affordable.

[msomnipotent]

It will definitely suck for me. The mortgage deduction is the only reason why we get any taxes refunded.

Are you able to claim the mortgage deduction if it is an investment?

[creditcardfree]

As you know, LAL, we are currently renting. But the last home we owned between 2012-2015, our mortgage interest was so low that it didn't make sense to itemize. In other words the things we could itemize were not more than the standard deduction. I figure we came out ahead in this case.

I will still plan to own a home again at some point even if a mortgage interest deduction goes away. I also only plan to purchase what I can afford and not count on a deduction to make it work, if that make sense.

[AJ444]

As you know, LAL, we are currently renting. But the last home we owned between 2012-2015, our mortgage interest was so low that it didn't make sense to itemize. In other words the things we could itemize were not more than the standard deduction. I figure we came out ahead in this case.

I will still plan to own a home again at some point even if a mortgage interest deduction goes away. I also only plan to purchase what I can afford and not count on a deduction to make it work, if that make sense.

Same here, when I owned the standard deduction was always more than itemizing.

I hope they do away with the mortgage interest deduction.

[StormRichards]

The mortgage deduction never entered our minds when we decided to buy a house. Nor has it had a major impact on our financial situation.

I am perfectly fine with it going away as long as it just doesn't go to subsidize some other BS program. It sure would be nice if our country wasn't a gazillion dollars in debt.

[cypher1]

I'm going to definitely miss it as well.

[MooseBucks]

Is this something that is actually in the works? I'd think it would crush the middle class and therefore not going to happen.

[YULACU]

I read that Trump's plan was to cap the mortgage interest deduction indirectly by capping how much taxpayers could itemize. Then I read elsewhere that the Congressional GOP is planning to raise the standard deduction to the point that it wouldn't be worth it to itemize for most taxpayers, which would effectively render the mortgage interest deduction meaningless. Who knows. It's speculation at this point.

[StormRichards]

Is this something that is actually in the works? I'd think it would crush the middle class and therefore not going to happen.

If the elimination of this deduction crushes a homeowner, they bought too much house to begin with.

[disneysteve]

Is this something that is actually in the works? I'd think it would crush the middle class and therefore not going to happen.

Why would it crush the middle class? Is the deduction really that big a deal to the average person?

Our mortgage balance is small at this point so the interest paid each year is minimal making the deduction pretty insignificant.

[feh]

Why would it crush the middle class? Is the deduction really that big a deal to the average person?

Our mortgage balance is small at this point so the interest paid each year is minimal making the deduction pretty insignificant.

The bigger the mortgage balance, the more absolute dollars are deducted. So, folks that bought mansions and folks that live in really expensive real estate markets would be most affected.

[disneysteve]

folks that bought mansions and folks that live in really expensive real estate markets would be most affected.

True, but the comment said the middle class would be crushed. I don't think of the middle class when I think of mansions and really expensive markets.

[MooseBucks]

If the elimination of this deduction crushes a homeowner, they bought too much house to begin with.

Not a new concept at all. The majority of Americans live beyond their means.

Don't forget:

In a recent survey, 56 percent of Americans said they have less than $1,000 in their checking and savings accounts combined, Forbes reports. Nearly a quarter (24.8 percent) have less than $100 to their name.