If you want to sell your property, now is the perfect time. The housing market is favoring sellers. Demand for houses is high and supply is low, so many houses are going off the market as quickly as they enter.
Factors such as the growing amount of funds in bank accounts and favorable bank loans suggest that the growing trend could continue. Those who do not want to bet on it and the property they intend to sell on the market today will feel high demand and for a good price – as real estate agents say, they are often positively surprised by the price in deals – sell the property relatively quickly.
You can find a buyer for the apartment in a week
How much interest is there in real estate? Apartments in Ljubljana with a properly set price can be sold in a week. In two or three days after the ad, 15 or 20 views are already announced.
Otherwise, we do not know how long the loans will be so favorable and how long the economic situation will be such that the surplus of customers will be so large. Prices will certainly stabilize once, and a buyer who can afford an apartment for 200,000 euros will certainly not spend 250,000 euros on it tomorrow.
Many people who buy a new property want to keep and rent out the previous one. The positive side of this, of course, is the additional guaranteed income, but on the other hand, in this case we have to maintain both properties that are aging. If we know how to spend or invest money properly, today seems to be the right time to sell.
In the sales process, it is very important to set a reasonable price. Many sellers are tempted to insist on high prices on the basis of recommendations from acquaintances. Such overpriced real estate does not trigger a good response from buyers. Those sellers who would like to ‘test’ the market first do themselves more harm than good. Potential buyers have a well-studied market, and if someone overdoes the price, they remember it. Therefore, later, when the seller lowers the price of the property to a more reasonable level, there is no such response as it would otherwise be.
How expensive apartments are currently sold is also surprising for real estate agents, as more and more apartments are being sold for one to five thousand euros over their first estimates.
What are the tax liabilities of the seller?
In the event of the sale of his property, the owner of the property is liable to pay real estate transfer tax. In addition, in certain cases he also becomes liable for personal income tax on capital gains, which is paid only if the real estate was acquired after 1.1.2002.
The owner of the property will therefore become liable to pay as many as two taxes upon its sale. The taxpayer will file a tax return for the assessment of both taxes with the tax office in whose territory the property for sale is located.
REAL ESTATE TRANSFER TAX
The payer of the real estate transfer tax is, as a rule, the seller of the real estate. The tax can also be paid by the buyer of the real estate, when the parties so agree in the purchase contract itself.
Real estate transfer tax is paid at the rate of 2% of real estate turnover and of the establishment and transfer or lease of a building right for a fee. Real estate transfer tax is considered as the revenue of the municipality where the real estate is located and is paid to the transitional tax sub-account of the municipality.
INCOME TAX ON CAPITAL GAINS
The alienation of real estate, which mainly includes the sale, gift, exchange, etc., acquired after 1.1.2002 is subject to personal income tax, regardless of whether the real estate was sold in an altered or unaltered state. Taxpayers must file a return for the assessment of personal income tax on capital gains in the alienation of real estate acquired after 1.1.2002 if they are:
• residents of Slovenia when the real estate is located in the territory of Slovenia,
• residents of Slovenia when the real estate is located abroad,
• non-residents of Slovenia, when the real estate is located in the territory of Slovenia.
The return must be submitted within 15 days of alienation, at the financial office where the property is located.
The tax base for the assessment of personal income tax on capital gains is the difference between the value of capital at the time of alienation and the value of capital at the time of acquisition. The tax rate is set at 27.5% and decreases with each completed five years of real estate ownership. After five years, the tax rate will be 20%, after ten 15%, after fifteen 10%, and after twenty years of ownership, this tax will no longer have to be paid.
Legislation regarding the obligation to pay personal income tax on capital gains also provides for an exception where the seller of real estate, despite meeting other conditions, will not have to pay this tax. This exception is the sale of an apartment or residential house (with a maximum of two flats with land) by an individual who had a permanent residence there, had actually resided there for the last three years before the sale and owned the property. Such an individual will therefore be liable only for the payment of real estate transfer tax, but not for income tax on capital gains.
Source: Finance, Mladi podjetnik
