A recent post on the Equifax Finance Blog offers some tax tips for deducting business mileage. Tax specialist Eva Rosenberg’s article, “2012 Standard Mileage Rate: How It Affects Your Business Vehicle,” has the following advice.

If you use your car for business or work, you probably already know that you can use either the standard mileage deduction or you may use actual expenses. Using actual expenses allows you to claim depreciation deductions, in addition to the registration fees, repairs, insurance and fuel costs. Aside from the standard mileage rate increase, the rate for moving and medical mileage has also increased to 23.5 cents per mile from 19 cents. Charitable mileage stays the same, at 14 cents.

One thing that people may not realize is that the standard mileage rate has deduction built into it. Rosenberg points out that when you sell your car, you must take depreciation into account. She suggests using the table on the Small Business Taxes & Management site to determine how much depreciation you used each year. This number will be be based on the total number of business miles you reported on your tax returns.

Read Rosenberg’s full article on the Equifax Finance Blog.

In “Pet-Friendly Housing Steering the Real Estate Market,” Equifax guest blogger Steve Cook points out that living with pets can be pricey. However, people seem to be buying more pets than ever before. This can lead to some uncomfortable situations when renting property, especially when half of rental property owners don’t allow pets at all, and the rest charge extra fees for them. When the costs range from $20 to $700 up front and are often in addition to a monthly payment, pet owners are looking at homes as the cheaper alternative.

In fact, the demand for pet-friendly real estate has caused one real estate broker in Naples, Fla., to build a business around advertising properties to pet owners. The Pet Realty Network allows pet-owning buyers to search listings across the U.S.

So if you’re looking to sell your home, you may be missing out on a huge market by not including pet owners in your search. Read Cook’s post at the Equifax Personal Finance Blog and see if selling your real estate to the dogs helps!

• Home values are at lows that match numbers from 2002
• Pending home sales dropped 12 percent
• Unemployment numbers are higher than expected
• New home sales are at all-time lows
• Applications for purchase mortgages are also low

In “Housing Market Predictions: Home Values Continue to Sink,” real estate expert Ilyce Glink examines the various numbers and reports on the housing market and predicts that the market won’t come out of its current state any time soon. She points to the State of the Nation’s Housing Report developed by the Harvard Center for Joint Housing Studies. This report reveals that stricter lending standards are part of the reason the housing market is recovering at a slower pace. The housing report also seems to suggest that a tax credit may help turn the real estate market around. However, Glink does not believe that this is a responsible and effective way to revitalize the market.

Either way, be sure and check out the Equifax Personal Finance Blog to read the full story. And be sure and share your thoughts with us on the Jacksonville real estate market. Are there places where the sun is shining? Would a tax credit really improve the situation?

Of course, we’ll give you come hints here, too, based on the recent Equifax post, “Setting Up Your Real Estate Investing Business.” For this topic, Equifax’s real estate expert, Ilyce Glink, turned to RealtyJoin.com co-founder Andy Heller for advice.

The first step in setting up a real estate investing business, Heller says, is to talk to an accountant about what you’re hoping to do. Your accountant can advise you on the type of legal entity you should create for manage your investments. Many choose LLCs, which can be applied for in just minutes.

Next, investors should get an EIN, or Employer Identification Number, from the IRS. Having this number should allow you to set up a separate bank account to manage your investments. Heller recommends shopping around banks and speaking to the bank employees who specialize in working with people who are setting up businesses.

It’s possible to get started without taking all these steps. If you’re using personal funding, keep a careful track of your expenses and the money you make. If you decide it’s something you want to keep doing, then you can take Heller’s steps for a more permanent solution that doesn’t mix personal and investment funds.

For more information or to ask questions of the experts, visit the Equifax Personal Finance Blog. Don’t hesitate – you’ll want to get started before interest rates hit another bump.

In the article, “Underwater With Your Mortgage? You’re Not Alone,” Glink also reports the unfortunate news that many of the homeowners who are no longer underwater are also no longer homeowners. Many of them lost their homes in foreclosure.

As expected with the craziness in the market, the rate of homeownership is still falling. It was 66.9 percent in the third quarter of 2010, which was 2.3 percent lower than the high in the fourth quarter of 2004. However, Glink points out that homeowners with negative equity are counted among the 66.9 percent of homeowners. If you remove them, Glink says the effective homeownership rate is just 56.6 percent.

So is the overall news for owners of Jacksonville real estate good or bad? Results are mixed. For two states, Idaho and Alabama, negative equity increased, probably because they lead in home price depreciation right now. The largest declines were in states that have been hardest hit by the current market – Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida. So it seems that changes in negative equity can be a result of other bad things happening, whether the change is up or down.

What’s your take on it? Are things improving in (city) or not? Read Glink’s full analysis at the Equifax Personal Finance Blog, then let us know what you think.

Mattamy Homes U.S. Group, originally the largest home builder in Canada, will start construction on three, four and even five bedroom homes at Old Sebastian Point soon, according to Dennis Ginder, division president for the Jacksonville region. Homes feature attractive locations, quality amenities in the interiors, and best of all affordability for families, with pricing from the $190,000s.

Not only are these homes built with families like yours in mind, they provide ample living space, ranging in size from 1,700 square feet to 2,900 square feet, on 60-foot home sites. Old Sebastian Point is a picturesque, preserve community, which borders the Red House Branch Creek and the San Sebastian River.

Ginder says inventory homes will be available for sale starting this month, and the model home in Old Sebastian Point will open for viewing in January 2011. For more information, please visit www.mattamyhomes.com.

If you’re looking to buy in the near future, you should check your credit report (if you haven’t done so recently). Make sure the information it contains is accurate. If you’re planning to cosign the loan with your spouse, you’ll both need to review your reports.

If you determine that in increase in your credit score is needed, you may be tempted to use the cash you’re saving for your home to pay off and close some credit accounts. Is this the best thing to do?

The Equifax Personal Finance Blog recently ran an article entitled, “Credit Score Changes: How Does Closing an Account Affect My Credit Score?”  In the article, the Equifax experts admit there’s no simple answer to the question. The impact of closing an account will depend on factors such as the types of accounts you have and how long they’ve been open. The experts say you want to maintain a healthy mix of credit accounts, and they also say you want to hang on to the accounts you’ve held the longest.

Before spending your cash, the best course of action is probably to choose your lender and sit down to talk. If you aren’t ready for that step, the Equifax Personal Finance Blog offers a link to a FICO Score Simulator. It will suggest a “best action” or evaluate the action you’re thinking of taking.

For more explanation of credit reporting, visit the Equifax Personal Finance Blog’s Credit section. The experts regularly post informative articles and answer reader questions. After a few visits, you may determine that applying for a home loan is just as easy as falling in love with your new Jacksonville home.

And NOW… mortgage rates are at a 50-year low. And some experts predict that home prices could go even lower – or at least not go higher in the short term. On the Equifax Personal Finance blog, Real Estate Expert Ilyce Glink argues that NOW really is a good time to buy because of those two factors. Your new home will cost less because prices are so low and because you won’t pay as much to finance it.

But if you really are planning to jump in NOW, you need to plan to stay awhile. Check out Ilyce’s post at Equifax to find out why before you buy your new home.

Dennis Ginder, division president for Mattamy Homes U.S. Group in Jacksonville, said Mattamy’s new town homes at Cornerstone at Watermill will range in size from 1,400 square feet of living space to 1,700 square feet.

Ginder said Mattamy Homes will start construction of two model town homes in the first quarter of 2010, and should start presales of town homes at Cornerstone at Watermill by March 1.

Mattamy Homes U.S. Group builds new single-family homes and town homes priced from the low $100,000s in eight communities in the Jacksonville area.

• First Time Home Buying: Jan. 6, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. EST
  Register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/434849912
  Michelle Gonzalez, a Davidson Realty, Inc. certified real estate professional, will explain the home buying process, from finding the right home and making an offer to the loan application process and house closings.
• Renting Your Home: Jan. 13, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. EST
  Register at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/260933977
  The ins and outs of renting your home will be discussed by Elsie Evans of Davidson Property Management at this webinar. Evans will review tenant screening, security deposits, property inspections and much more.
• Understanding Your Credit Report: Jan. 20, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. EST
  Register at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/983118081
  Jim Young, Jr. of Southeast Mortgage will review credit reports at this webinar, including how to read your score, how points are lost, how to understand the account section and more.