I have had several conversations with Canadians this last year that are dreaming of heading south to California and other states to both beat the cold and to invest in real estate.  The strong Canadian dollar (or should we say weak U.S. dollar) combined with a hurting housing market in the U.S. is providing Canadians with arguably as good of a time as any to buy real estate in the U.S. in the last 30 years. 

If you are looking to move, invest, or purchase a second home, you should first have a basic grasp of the key differences between buying real estate in Canada versus buying real estate in the U.S.

Regarding Taxes:  When it comes to taxes I will never profess to be an expert.  This is too critical and the best is to contact a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) to talk about your situation and issues that you might need to look out for.  Here in Santa Barbara, CA., I would be happy to recommend my father, Mike Schmidtchen at 805-963-0881.  He has been a local CPA for roughly 30 years. 

With that said, here for example are 2 key points that might be different than in Canada.

1) Here in the U.S. 1031 exchanges allow for capital gains taxes to be deferred from an investment property and rolled into another investment property several times over.  From what I understand, this apparently is very different in Canada where this option is not allowed.

2) For a primary residence here in California, you are able to right down the interest paid on your mortgage as well as property taxes.

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Further Reading: Lifestyle/Things to Do Articles in Santa Barbara, California, Things to Do in Santa Barbara, California - Part 1, Market Statistics, Community Events in Santa Barbara, About Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice

For information on Santa Barbara Real Estate, Montecito Real Estate and/or our surrounding areas, as well as any other aspects of life in our area, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin Schmidtchen at Sotheby’s Int’l Realty.

Thank you for reading.  I hope you find Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice informative.  Please feel free to contact me or comment below with any thoughts. 

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