Can't Find a House? The Owner CAN'T Afford to Sell

You have been looking for months and there is nothing in your price range. Here is one reason nobody mentions. A three-bedroom worth $445,000 with a family renting it is not for sale, because selling it would cost the owner $60,154 in tax. I ran both sides of that one house: your payment if you could buy it, his bill if he sold it, and what one rule change — no capital gains on a non-primary home under $500,000, for two years only — would do to the pile you are picking through. In this video: • Your side of this house: 5% down, a $422,750 loan at 6.979%, and a $3,551.65 payment with taxes, insurance and PMI, plus about $35,600 to close • What income that payment implies at a common guideline, and why your real number comes off your file • Why the owner won't list: nearly 15 years of write-offs ($81,527) come back first, then 15% on the gain, then a 3.8% surtax — $60,154, six years of everything the house clears • The caveat I put on air: this house has a bigger gain than most. The middle investor sale clears about $196,618 — same mechanics, smaller number • The change: for two years only, an owner selling a property that is not their own home for $500,000 or less pays no capital gains • Why the clock is the part that works: the window hands this owner $60,154 — six years of everything the house clears — for selling two years early • The honest sizing, said on air: it does not create sellers, it schedules them. About 100,000 extra sales, 300,000 with the backlog, taking months of supply from 4.9 to 5.8 — still short of a buyer's market • The other side in full: it builds nothing, fewer than half the houses investors sell go to a family, a tenant already lives in 93% of them, and the owners with the biggest gains already owe zero if they hold to the end • Three moves this month: the message to send an owner who has never run the number, the seller concession that covers your costs when the price won't move (3% cap, over $13,000 here), and being the buyer who is easy to say yes to ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Nothing to buy 1:07 What you are up against 3:20 The house that is not for sale 5:39 One change to the rule 6:57 Quick word 7:47 Why the two years is the point 9:42 How many houses that frees 13:19 The other side 15:12 What you can do this month 17:30 Recap 📅 WORK WITH ME — I'm a licensed mortgage loan officer (NMLS 410420). Want the real number you can buy at, not the one a website guessed? Book a free call: https://brokerdave.com/book or email ask@brokerdave.com 🧮 FREE PAYMENT CALCULATOR — your payment with taxes, insurance and PMI, plus your cash to close: https://brokerdave.com/conventional-p... 📧 ASK ME — not ready for a call? Email me: ask@brokerdave.com 📱 SAVE MY CONTACT: https://lurbee.com/c/david-lurvey SOURCES AND ASSUMPTIONS • The market: 1.62M homes for sale, 4.9 months of supply, 31 days to sell, median $429,100 (NAR existing-home sales, Aug 2026). • Your payment: $445,000, 5% down, $422,750 at 6.979% for 30 years, taxes $4,900/yr, insurance $1,800/yr, PMI off a published rate card at 740-759 credit. An example, not a quote; your rate depends on your credit, down payment and property. The income figure uses a 36% housing-plus-debt guideline as an illustration. • The owner: bought January 2012 for $190,000 (25% down at an assumed 4.5%), rent $2,350, taxes $4,900/yr, insurance $2,400/yr, 8% of rent for repairs and vacancy, 20% land, sold October 2026 at 6% to sell. Tax is married filing jointly with $150,000 of other income, tax year 2026 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32; Pub. 527 for depreciation; Topic 409 for the 25% cap, which does not bind here; 26 U.S.C. 1411 for the surtax; 26 U.S.C. 1014 for the step-up). State tax runs from zero (TX, FL, WA) to about $28,814 at California's 9.3% band. • Stated on air: I held the price flat on both sides, and appreciation cuts both ways. Nobody knows where rates go, and a point either way is worth more than every price argument here. • Scale: 15.7M one-unit rentals (Census 2024 Rental Housing Finance Survey), ~87% owned by individuals, LLCs and trusts; 68% of owner-occupied homes under $500,000 (2024 ACS, a proxy); investors sold 442,000 homes in 2025 (Realtor.com). 1997: Hui Shan, J. Public Economics 2011. Investor share counts disagree. A seller-side tax cut can be kept in the price when demand does not change. • Proposals on file: H.R. 7051 ($500,000 or less, seller 65+, to a first-time buyer, 2027-2031) and a Jan 2026 House policy framework (rental homes sold to tenants or first-time buyers); other live bills cover primary residences only. Nothing is enacted as of September 24, 2026. The idea as run here is a cliff, not a phase-out: a home selling for $500,001 owes the full bill. • I'm a loan officer, not a CPA or an attorney. Nothing here is tax or legal advice. David Lurvey | NMLS 410420 | Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS 173855 | Equal Housing Lender | educational, not personalized financial advice