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Tax Credits

We met with Sara again yesterday to put the final touches on the design. We have a couple of rooms that are...odd and two porches that were enclosed in strange ways. Figuring out how to use these best and integrate them into the house has been fun and Harris and I think we're both there.


From there, she takes everything to the city for them to determine what the scope of work is. There are a couple of things we're asking to do that we have to get permission to do because of the local historic district we bought into.


Then come the tax credits. North Carolina gives homeowners who do qualified restorations of homes in National Register historic district 30% back on the restoration costs. For Oakwood we ended up with $59,100 in tax credits (30% of $197,000 in expenses). Over the past 5 years, that's meant Harris and I got back $23,604 in state income tax we would have otherwise paid. Pretty sweet!


The tax credit program is set to sunset at the end of the year. So far, we've spent $43,000 on the Bunny Manse. We anticipate spending that much again in the next three months finishing the plaster work, floors, electrical, bathrooms, and carpentry/windows. Then we'll get HVAC. Then I'm sure we'll find something else we have to work on. The tax credit program is awesome because in these old houses something else always happens, something is always more expensive than you thought, and it gives that little extra incentive to tackle a huge project like this.

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