[quote=Fletch][quote=HLS]Former…
There are still people hanging on to what they bought at an inflated price but don’t want to sell because they don’t want to lose money. Sound familiar ?
Sadly for them, they don’t even know what the wash rule is and that the govt will share in their loss.
..HLS[/quote]
Can you elaborate what you mean by the govt sharing in their loss? I sold my house (primary residence) at a loss and could not find any way to deduct this…[/quote]
One example is principal write-downs given by the bank, that are subsidized by government support of these banks.
But, you are right, there is no deduction for losses on a personal residence.
It is too late in your situation, but for others out there in a similar boat …
One strategy (untested by me) might be to convert it to an investment property. The value of the property at conversion time (or the original value whichever is lower) is the cost basis used for determining depreciation and future capital gains and losses.
So, if you convert your primary to a rental and received a favorable (inflated?) appraisal at that time for tax purposes, you could eventually take the loss when selling as an investment property.
