Don't listen to w67thstreet, listen to a HARVARD Econ prof.

Problem #2, that's for you Stevehjx (and techie/shrimpie)...

w67, I've been making that argument for a long time.

already covered: http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/8757-article-on-getting-rid-of-the-mortgage-interest-deduction

the problem of course is that however long you take to phase in the change, fundamentally the value of real estate will be forced down. while that is no doubt a good thing across the board, it is unfair to the individuals who bought based on this deduction being in place.

its the basic rub with any significant change in tax law---i would argue that a flat tax would be of great benefit but for the millions in the accounting profession it would be devestating.

i wish i knew the answer.

A knock on shrmpie... you I gotz no problems with :) Stevie....

malthus.... don't people on this board have anything better to do? then blog about mort ded? :) My bad, let's put this thread to bed....

Guilty as charged. It beats speculating whether NYC10022 is really Eddie Haskell...

Blame the Harvard Econ Professor. He has nothing better to do then write columns about policy that will never be changed. Why doesn't somebody convince Harvard to use some of their huge endowment to lower tuition. I know they have finally made some moves in this direction, after fielding a lot of criticism.

Their endowment was up to 36.9 BILLION before taking an 8 BILLION dollar hit.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_310691.html

Maybe Harvard will help with my housing needs. Let them pick up the interest mortgage deduction. As someone said, giving money to Harvard is like giving money to your richest friend, it won't make a bit of difference.

Sorry, I meant 'than' not 'then'.... The Harvard prof might ding me.

"it is unfair to the individuals who bought based on this deduction being in place."

They did it in the UK.

And who ever said the UK was a fair place? We split from them a long time ago. Something about unfair taxation.

"And who ever said the UK was a fair place? We split from them a long time ago. Something about unfair taxation."

I think it was because we wanted slavery.

Maybe it was both, we wanted a say in how we were taxed AND we wanted slavery. Regardless, we have our own country now. They can't take it away from us. UK property is full of all this leaseholder, freeholder sort of nonsense. I have friends in London who have had large sums extorted out of them through various means. I'm not sure the Brits can give us a model for how to handle our housing problems. They've got their own issues.

Interesting opinion and article, don't see the interest deduction being repealed anytime soon. It would be really dumb to this now.

"UK property is full of all this leaseholder, freeholder sort of nonsense."

They got rid of that a long time ago, with the exception of Crown Properties. We have the vestiges of it in New York: co-ops. Before 1964 it was illegal to own property that was not affixed to the ground (the freehold); hence, co-ops were born. The Condominium Act of 1964 changed that.

"They got rid of that a long time ago, with the exception of Crown Properties. We have the vestiges of it in New York: co-ops. Before 1964 it was illegal to own property that was not affixed to the ground (the freehold); hence, co-ops were born. The Condominium Act of 1964 changed that."

You sure about that? Funny thing, my London friends went on and on about the differences between the leaseholder and the freeholder and how much they had to pay to extend their lease. They also bought the ground from the freeholder, otherwise, they would not have been able to use the garden, which is right outside their ground floor flat. The freeholder evidently lives upstairs. Lots of weirdness.

My friends also got tricked into paying a lot more when they bought the flat, because the bankers who were selling it to them claimed they were getting a divorce just a few weeks before closing. It appears to have been a well planned divorce that would make them cough up more money for the property or wait until the property rights were settled in divorce court. Nasty bankers.

This is in West Kensington, in London, by the way. Is it Crown property? I have no idea.

"already covered: http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/8757-article-on-getting-rid-of-the-mortgage-interest-deduction "

It was well covered WELL before that thread...

If you had a lease you were given the option of buying part of the freehold. It caused the Duke of Westminster, the richest man in the realm - whose ancestors owned Buckingham Palace, bought by Queen Victoria b/c it was nicer than Kensington Palace (her digs) - to resign from John Major's Conservative Party.

And not only do we have co-ops in NY, but we have ground-lease buildings, which are essentially leaseholds.

Thanks Steve,very interesting information. I guess we're all British in New York, at least, if we live in coops. ;-) Do leaseholds in the UK have the same sort of corporate structure as the coops in New York?

I also knew someone who fell in love with a medieval village where all the land was owned by a single landowner. This guy owned all the shops, the farms, everything. This girl liked the fact that she was referred to as "the American girl" and decided to live over there permanently. I'm not willing to go back in time.