We know you’re taking a deep breath before plunging into holiday shopping, but we wouldn’t bring this topic up now unless the timing were critical. For Los Angeles area homeowners (and many throughout the country), late November and early December are the prime times to get your tax strategies in order. It’s all about maximizing your savings now, thus positioning yourself to enter 2026 with financial strength and resilience. Let’s look at three crucial year-end tax tips that apply to homeowners, with particular benefit to those in California’s unique market.
Carefully Assess Your Deductions and Itemizations
While it can often be easier to simply take the standard tax deduction, you may find a lucrative benefit in itemizing deductions. Of course, this all depends heavily on your specific scenario. If you want to jump into the fray with itemization as one of your tax strategies, pay particular attention to:
- Mortgage interest
- Property taxes
- Qualified improvements
It’s no secret that California is a high-tax state. Staying on top of these deductions can make just enough difference to matter!
Consider Any Energy-Efficiency Incentives
You can find a slew of incentives for energy-efficient upgrades at both the federal and state levels if you look closely enough. In most cases, these energy credits and tax breaks strictly apply to the tax year in which the improvements were made. Therefore, timing is of the essence. Energy-efficient improvements that could net you these incentives include:
- Insulation
- Solar panels
- Windows (triple-pane, low-emissivity, inert gas fills, etc.)
Maybe Your Tax Strategies Need More SALT
At JohnHart, our agents make it a point to educate their clients on how state and local tax (SALT) interacts with federal restrictions. In certain cases, it may be more strategic to pay property and/or state taxes before the year ends. If you’re not familiar with this aspect of SALT, we recommend reaching out to your trusted real estate agent. Not only can they clarify SALT, but they may also be able to illuminate scenario-specific tax strategies that save you in the long run.
How We Can Help You
We’ve pointed you in a promising direction, but we also get that searching for tax breaks can still be overwhelming. The good news is that this doesn’t need to be a solo journey. If you’re planning on taking advantage of the low-competition holiday season to buy or sell a home, JohnHart’s agents can help you with getting the timing just right while prioritizing your tax strategies. We can scrutinize neighborhood-specific trends in property taxes and shifting values compared with your tax plan. We can even refer you to several local CPAs who have earned our trust over the years.
With each homeowner’s situation being unique, this blog should not be regarded as tax advice but rather a checklist of discussion points to address with a qualified adviser. For LA’s homeowners, the final weeks of the year offer a brief but valuable window to refine tax strategies, allowing homeowners to head into 2026 with confidence. Don’t let the holidays distract you from building the future you know you deserve.
With a brand that says as much as JohnHart’s, Senior Copywriter Seth Styles never finds himself at a loss for words. Responsible for maintaining the voice of the company, he spends each day drafting marketing materials, blogs, bios, and agent resources that speak from the company’s collective mind and Hart… errr, heart.
Having spent over a decade in creative roles across a variety of industries, Seth brings with him vast experience in SEO practices, digital marketing, and all manner of professional writing with particular strength in blogging, content creation, and brand building. Gratitude, passion, and sincerity remain core tenets of his unwavering work ethic. The landscape of the industry changes daily, paralleling JohnHart’s efforts to {re}define real estate, but Seth works to maintain the company’s consistent message while offering both agents and clients a new echelon of service.
When not preserving the JohnHart essence in stirring copy, Seth puts his efforts into writing and illustrating an ongoing series entitled The Death of Romance. In addition, he adores spending quality time with his girlfriend and Romeo (his long-haired chihuahua mix), watching ‘70s and ‘80s horror movies, and reading (with a particular penchant for Victorian horror novels and authors Yukio Mishima and Bret Easton Ellis). He also occasionally records music as the vocalist and songwriter for his glam rock band, Peppermint Pumpkin.
