Henry, with your income around here you could get a Bill Gates style mansion built. It's all a matter of scale. I'm sure a local relator would be happy to "pre-qualify" you with only 5% down :o).
Your email pal,
Tom L.
"Henry C.K. Liu" wrote:
> Not only that; the income from alternative investment is subject to income
> tax, so it becomes a wash with mortgage interest deduction for tax
> purposes. And if the income from alternative investment is higher than the
> mortgage payments due to the assumption of a higher risk exposure, the
> extra income is also taxed at 35%, meaning that the investor is taking 35%
> extra risk for the government.
> With income producing assets, unlike a home, there is the additional tax
> benefit of depreciation.
> So again, hocking one's home in order to participate in speculation ranks
> near using alcohol to boost confidence.
>
> Henry C.K. Liu
>
> Enrique Diaz-Alvarez wrote:
>
> > Greg Nowell wrote:
> > >
> > >(interest paid on
> > > the mortgage is deductible from income taxes in the
> > > U.S., which means that your real interest cost is
> > > determined by your marginal tax rate, which in most
> > > middle class cases will be about 35% state 'n' federal)
> >
> > Yes, but in order to get the deduction you have to give up the standard
> > deduction, which for a married couple is around $7,500, right? So you
> > are only getting 35% on any interest above and beyond $7,500. If you
> > have a mortgage under $100,000 (which is above the average morgage,
> > actually), you get no benefit from this tax scam, which is directed
> > exclusively towards the upper middle classes and the rich. In an
> > innumerate country, you can pass it off as
> >
> > How many mortgage-related calculations actually take this little detail
> > into account?
> >
> > --
> > Enrique Diaz-Alvarez Office # (607) 255 5034
> > Electrical Engineering Home # (607) 272 4808
> > 112 Phillips Hall Fax # (607) 255 4565
> > Cornell University mailto:enrique at ee.cornell.edu
> > Ithaca, NY 14853 http://peta.ee.cornell.edu/~enrique