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Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen Finally Sell Their Massachusetts Mansion
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NFL great Tom Brady has finally offloaded his Massachusetts mansion. The quarterback and his wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, have sold their luxe Brookline estate, according to the Boston Globe.
The transaction appears to have been an off-market deal, with no price information disclosed for the transaction. Sources told the Globe that the property was offered for $32.5 million.
The custom-built,12,000-square-foot estate outside of Boston initially debuted at $39.5 million in 2019, then quickly dropped to $33.9 million.
The mansion built in 2015 came off the market in May, when luxury home sales were stalled by the coronavirus pandemic. But a buyer surfaced at the end of 2020.
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Brookline abode
In 2013, the couple picked up a prime 5-acre plot from the local cash-strapped Pine Manor College for $4.5 million.
They tapped architect Richard Landry, of Landry Design Group, to create their East Coast estate. Landry has also worked on the couple’s Los Angeles mansion, which was featured in Architectural Digest.
Landry’s design sits adjacent to the ninth hole of the Country Club in Brookline, with serene views and plenty of privacy.
The five-bedroom main house features a dining room, living room, home office, chef’s eat-in kitchen, and family room. A grand stairwell leads to the bedrooms on the second floor.
The lower level includes a rec room, playroom, wine room, gym, and spa.
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Watch: QB Drew Brees Looks to Unload His Amazing Kauai Condo
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The sprawling grounds include gardens, a pool, and a âbarn-inspiredâ guesthouse with a yoga studio, full bathroom, and sleeping loft. The property comes with a three-car garage, carport, and circular drive with ample parking.
Brady’s mansion sits just down the road from Reebok founder Paul Fireman‘s lavish property, which was finally sold in 2020 after four years on the market. That 27,000-square-foot mansion had been priced at as much as $90 million, before finally selling for $23 million. George and Manny Sarkis of Douglas Elliman represented Fireman.
The agents also sold Fireman’s adjacent 7 acres for $18 million to developer C. Stumpo Development, which plans to build luxury homes on the land.
âAfter closing on both 150 Woodland Road [the Fireman home] and the five adjacent lots, we are very excited about the current and future Brookline market,” says Manny. “Buyers continue to trend to the suburbs, seeking more land and bigger homes.”
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Manhattan move
The jet-setting duo received another Christmas gift of good news in 2020, with a reported sale of their Tribeca loft. The two had made the penthouse available for just under $40 million last November. If they got their asking price, they’ll stroll away with a large profit.
The couple had picked up the place in 2018 for $25.46 million. The five-bedroom, 5.5-bath unit features a 1,900-square-foot terrace and Hudson River views. Building amenities include an 82-foot lap pool and a private drive-in entrance.
The couple still own a lower-floor unit in the same 14-floor building.
New year, new homes
Brady left Brookline after he signed with the Buccaneers. The QB has since put roots down in South Florida. In October, Brady and Bundchen were reportedly circling a waterfront property in Clearwater.
And then Brady made a move on Florida’s other coast in December, with a reported $17 million purchase of a home on Miamiâs Indian Creek Island, known as the Billionaires Bunker.
The couple plan to raze the current house on the land in Miami and build anew. They’re reportedly looking to emulate the L.A. home they sold to Dr. Dre for $40 million in 2014. Sounds like the services of their favorite architect may once again be required.
The post Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen Finally Sell Their Massachusetts Mansion appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
Source: realtor.com
‘I Lost My Jobâand My Dream House’: How This First-Time Home Buyer Bounced Back
Katerina Rieckel
Imagine finding your dream home, then, a week before closing the deal, losing your jobâand the house. House hunting during the coronavirus pandemic is no picnic.
COVID-19 has caused seismic changes not only to real estate markets, but also to the lives of home buyers hit with layoffs, furloughs, and other financial challenges. Just ask Katerina Rieckel, a digital strategist, knitwear designer, and first-time home buyer who, with her husband, was set to close on a glorious farmhouse in upstate New York in March.
But about a week before sealing the deal, Rieckel was laid off, which meant that she and her husband, a claims adjuster, could no longer afford the place.
As a part of our new series, “First-Time Home Buyer Confessions,” we asked Rieckel to share her story, and the hard-won lessons she wants to share with other first-timers.
Let her experiences show that even unemployment doesn’t need to spell the end of a house huntâalthough it may require you to dust yourself off after a loss and try, try again.
Katerina Rieckel
Location: Troy, NY
House specs: 1,544 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
List price: $249,900
Price paid: $245,500
2020 has been a wild one. How did you end up buying a home in the middle of a pandemic?
We started looking for a house a year ago, about halfway through the summer. At the time, both my husband and I had recently got new jobs, so the first issue we ran into was getting pre-qualified for the mortgage without a long track record at those companies. We also both felt pressure, as our jobs were very new.
What were you looking for in a house, and what was your budget?
We were looking for a house in the country that was move-in ready, private with at least 5 acres. We started off with a small budget, max $200,000, which made our choices more narrow.
Our search continued well into the winter, and around January 2020, we finally saw a house that was all we ever dreamed of and more. It was over our budget, at $229,000, but it had been listed for over a year, so we felt there was a good chance we could get it for less than the asking price.
What did you love about this house?
It was a beautiful, slate-blue farmhouse sitting on top of a hill, surrounded by woods. The house was warm and inviting, with chickens running around, as well as a big diving pool, and a workshop in the basement connected with a two-car garage. We got along with the owners really well, and we were going to keep the chickens. Everything went very smoothly, until just over a week before closing.
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So what went wrong?
It was March, and COVID-19 hit hard. The digital marketing agency I worked for had clients pause their work for unknown time. I was laid off, which meant we couldn’t afford the house anymore, and had to back out of the deal.
I was crushed. We didn’t know what was going to happen, and the country was under a lockdown. We had plans for my parents to come visit us in our new house, but instead, I ended up with no job, no house, and I couldn’t see my family, since they live in Europe.
In the summer, I was very fortunate to get my job back. So we resumed our house hunt and began to search for a new contender.
When you started the search again, how had COVID-19 changed the market?
The housing market in upstate New York got totally crazy. I heard there were houses being sold within hours. The market was just incredibly competitive, and not many houses were being listed, as a lot of people didn’t want to let strangers in their house during the pandemic.
We saw about seven to 10 houses in person, but they usually ended up disappointing us, with some strange arrangements. For example, one house had around 25 acres, but half of that acreage was on the other side of the road, behind other people’s houses, which made it almost impossible to use.
Katerina Rieckel
With such a competitive market, how did you end up finding the right house?
Finally, around halfway through the summer, I saw a house listed that I hadn’t noticed before. I called on it right away and set up a showing that evening.
The real estate agent told me we were really fast, as he had just relisted this house. Someone had been buying it, but backed out of the process because of personal reasons.
Katarina Rieckel
How did you know this house was the one?
The house had over 10 acres, it was in the country, and about 35 minutes to Troy. It was move-in ready, but definitely needed upgrades, as it looked like it got stuck in the ’80s.
Even though we didn’t like the style that much, we felt instantly comfortable and decided to put in an offer that same evening. It was partly due to the pressure of the market, but in the end, we are really happy we made this decision.
Katerina Rieckel
What surprised you most about the home-buying process?
Nothing prepares you for the amount of aggravation you have to go through. Buying a house is like getting a second job for about three months.
Katerina Rieckel
What’s your advice for aspiring first-time home buyers?
Don’t trust the photos! The photos got me a few times. For example, a lot of times, the photos of the house are taken so that you can’t see the neighboring houses.
You think, “Wow, that looks so private!” Then you drive there, and you realize there’s a house sitting right next to it. Since privacy was very important to us, we got disappointed a few times by this. We started doing drive-bys first, before going in with a real estate agent, whenever possible.
Katerina Rieckel
Anything else home buyers should look out for?
Call the real estate agent and ask a lot of questions before you even go see the house, like what the property and school taxes areâvery important around here.
You also want to know what kind of heating the house has, as electric bills can really add up over the winter.
The driveway can also be a huge issue, which is why I think the first house we were buying was for sale for such a long time. It had a pretty steep driveway, which was definitely an all-wheel drive kind of thing in the winter.
We also changed who we were financing with while we were going through closing. We needed someone well-informed about the economy, who knew what they were doing and was ready to act fast.
Our first mortgage broker didn’t tell us as soon as interest rates started to go upâand basically sat on the information for a while. This is when we stopped trusting this person and went to work with a bank instead.
Maybe the best advice is not to fall in love with a house too quickly, since there can be so many setbacks that you will not see coming.
Katerina Rieckel
The post ‘I Lost My Jobâand My Dream House’: How This First-Time Home Buyer Bounced Back appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
Source: realtor.com
Standard vs. Itemized Deduction: Which One Should You Take?
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Standard versus itemized deduction: Which one should you claim? If this question is weighing heavily on your mind as you file your taxes, now that all the new tax reforms have taken effect, let this guide help you decide.
Itemizing your deductionsâparticularly if you’ve bought a home recentlyâcould save you major bucks when you file. But, more than ever, you need to understand what you can and can’t do. We’ll break it down to help you make the decision on whether to select a standard or an itemized deduction.
What is the standard deduction?
The standard deduction is essentially a flat-dollar, no-questions-asked reduction to your adjusted gross income. When you file your tax return, you can deduct a certain amount right off the bat from your taxable income.
For 2019, the standard deduction is $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for married couples filing jointly. (The standard deduction nearly doubled as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which went into effect in 2018.)
Here are some of the benefits to taking a standard deduction:
- It allows you a deduction even if you have no expenses that qualify as itemized deductions.
- It eliminates the need to keep records and receipts of your expenses in case youâre audited by the IRS.
- It lets you avoid having to track medical expenses, charitable donations, and other itemizable deductions throughout the year.
- It saves you the trouble of needing to understand the fine nuances of tax law.
What are itemized deductions?
Although claiming the standard deduction is easy and convenient, choosing to itemize can potentially save you thousands of dollars, says Mark Steber, chief tax officer at the Jackson Hewitt tax service.
âDonât be lulled into thinking the standard deduction is always a better answer,â Steber says. That advice especially applies to homeowners.
âBuying a home has the single largest impact on your tax return,â he adds, noting that a home purchase is âan anchor item that can move someone into the itemized taxpayer category.â
Itemizing your deductions may enable you to deduct these expenses:
- Home mortgage interest (note the exceptions below)
- Real estate and personal property taxes (note the cap below)
- State and local income taxes or sales taxes (but not both)
- Gifts to charities
- Casualty or theft losses
- Unreimbursed medical and dental expenses
- Unreimbursed employee business expenses
Why itemizing often makes sense for homeowners
Under the new law, current homeowners can continue to deduct interest on a total of $1 million of mortgage debt for a first and second home. But new buyers can deduct interest on only $750,000 for a first and second home.
It’s still possible that if you own a home, your mortgage interest alone might exceed the standard deduction, says Steve Albert, director of tax services at the CPA wealth management firm Glass Jacobson. In this case, it’s a no-brainer to itemize your deductions.
This is particularly true if you bought a house recently, since most mortgages are front-loaded to pay mortgage interest rather than whittle down the principal (which is the amount you borrowed).
For instance: If you have a 30-year loan for $400,000 at a fixed 5% interest rate, in the first year of your mortgage, you’ll pay off only $5,901 in principal and a whopping $19,866 in interest.
That alone exceeds an individual’s standard deduction of $12,000 deduction for 2019. So if you’re filing taxes this year, itemizing would make total sense.
Plus: If you bought your house in 2019 and paid pointsâwhich are essentially a way to prepay interest upfront to lower your monthly mortgage billsâthese points count as mortgage interest, too, amounting to more tax savings.
On the other hand, if you’ve owned your home for a while, then your mortgage interest may not amount to much. By the 25th year of that same $400,000 loan, you’ll pay only $6,223 in interest.
However, keep in mind that your property taxes of up to $10,000 are an itemized deduction, tooâand combined with mortgage interest and other deductions, could push you over the top into itemizing territory.
Itemized vs. standard deduction: Which is right for you?
Not sure how much you paid in mortgage interest and property taxes last year? To get a ballpark, you can punch your info into an online mortgage calculator.
Also, early in the new year, your mortgage lender should have mailed you a mortgage interest statement (Form 1098) showing the total you paid during the previous year.
âAnd if you had your property taxes impounded in your loan, your taxes will appear on your 1098 as well,” says Lisa Greene-Lewis, a CPA and tax expert at TurboTax.
Another DIY approach for seeing whether your combined itemized tax deductions are higher than your standard tax deduction is to fill out the IRS Schedule A form, which outlines all federal itemized deductions line by line.
You can also consult an accountant (you can search for a tax professional in your area using the IRS directory of tax return preparers). But as a general rule, if you bought a home recently, you could be a prime candidate for itemizing, so don’t let these potential savings pass you by without checking!
The post Standard vs. Itemized Deduction: Which One Should You Take? appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
Source: realtor.com