[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v22DVt1a1pQ] Attorney General Mike Cox issued an opinion about the State Transfer Tax Exemption that may help troubled home sellers in Michigan. The full act is included at the very bottom of this blog. The point is that an exemption from the requirement imposed by the State Real Estate Transfer Tax to pay state real estate transfer taxes upon the transfer or sale of real property may be claimed if, on the date a principal residence is transferred, its state equalized value is less than or equal to its state equalized value on the date the owner purchased or acquired the parcel and the property is sold for not more than its true cash value at the time of sale. Exemption "t", as designated in the Michigan Transfer Tax Act, sets forth that a seller may seek an exemption from paying the state transfer tax if the following criteria are met: 1. The property must have been occupied as a principle residence, classified as homestead property; 2. The property's State Equalized Value for the calendar year in which the transfer is made must be less than or equal to the property's SEV for the calendar year in which the transferor acquired the property; and 3. The property cannot be transferred for consideration exceeding its true cash value for the year of the transfer. Our Ann Arbor Real Estate market is hopefully nearing bottom and in an effort to lessen the negative effects on Sellers, please get the word out that there is some relief from the State (not the County) in this act. Please take a minute to watch our Washtenaw County Treasurer, Catherine McClary explain the effect in the YouTube video above.
We are helping our sellers interpret qualification by using this Work Sheet supplied by Liberty Title Company included below. And we have helped several sellers avoid over paying.  Is your agent making sure to save you every penny? Click Image to see in Full Screen
Opinion No. 7214 April 3, 2008 from Mike Cox Click Image to view in Full Screen
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