The end of 2009 date was confirmed by John (GO Zone Gateway tax adviser), via a direct conversation with the IRS.

As an investor, you should be seeking a cash-flowing investment that is already built, or in construction.  We have spoken to over 50 GO Zone ‘developers’ and very few of them actually have their act together, most are just trying to make a quick buck.  A great example of this are the significant amount of investors that tried to invest in property in Alabama, but didn’t close on their investment before the end of 2008 and thus will not qualify for the GO Zone benefits (AL benefits ended 2008).  We have also spoken to many investors who have been in contract waiting for their homes to close for well over a year, some up to almost 2 years.  If this has happened to you then you can be sure you aren’t investing with a team that has your best interest in mind.

The GO Zone Gateway team has taken the hard work out of finding a turn-key, cash- flowing GO Zone property.  We have conducted thousands of hours in due diligence and have laid the projects we recommend on a silver platter for investors to review.

You don’t have much time, so make sure you invest wisely and in the right project!  Call us now for a free one-on-one consultation.  561-404-7375

Click here to see our new project

Our team at GO Zone Gateway has spent over 2 years and thousands of hours into finding the best opportunity for investors.  Investors who have spent time in the GO Zone know it is very difficult to find a quality project in an area you can be proud of and believe in future appreciation and a strong exit strategy.  Having confidence in renting your property is also a concern among investors in tough economic times.

We have focused on a high net income area of $68,000 per household on average.  Our Parish has a current unemployment rate of less than 5%, which almost half what the current national average is.  We have also negotiated for the developer to have tenants ready by signing a 24 month lease with the investor and paying 6 months of that up front at closing!  You can feel confident that you are investing in the correct property that encompasses all the benefits of the GO Zone.

Click here to see our new project

The GO Zone incentives run out at the end of this calender year, so do not hesitate to take advantage of this amazing legal tax shelter.  We have finished inventory to ensure you maximize your GO Zone benefits.  Call 561-404-7375 today!

For instance, if you buy a property classified under the GO Zone, and hold it in an LLC, then you will most likely be required to file in Mississippi for that LLC. This will also be true even if you hold the property as an individual, and not as an LLC. Also, any property-related income or loss that is reported by the LLC on Federal Form 1065K-1 will be mirrored on a federal form as well as your resident state form. While you will find an offset on the returns filed in your state of residency for taxes paid to other states, you will still need to file your returns and pay taxes.

Therefore, it is important that when you assess the tax implications of your GO Zone investment, you take into consideration not only federal tax laws, but also the tax rules applicable in your state of residency, as well as the state of Mississippi. Only when you include all these factors in your estimate, can you gain a comprehensive all-inclusive picture of your applicable tax situation.

Katrina managed to destroy or severely damage 13 casinos along the coast of Mississippi. Of these, 11 have reopened and new ones are expected to sprout in the next 10 years, because of a new law that allows casinos to be built 800 feet ashore. Before Katrina, casinos were restricted to barges, which meant that the size of the casino was always limited.

In New Orleans, only 60% of the population has returned post-Katrina, but you would never believe it if you entered the casinos here. Business is brisk, and record revenues are expected this year. There are also a number of riverboat casinos which are seeing high profits because of the lack of other entertainment options. Approximately half of the business at the casinos comes from outside. As more casinos open up, they are expected to draw people from New Orleans, which is just a 90-minute drive from the casino stretch, which extends from Biloxi to Gulfport.

The new law that allows casinos to be built on shore will provide stiff competition to casinos in Louisiana where casinos are not allowed on land. With more customers leaving Louisiana for Mississippi’s casino strip, this length of coast is expected to topple Atlantic City as the second largest gaming market in the US.

Casino Growth and Biloxi

In Biloxi, almost every casino has either expanded or upgraded its facilities. There were celebrity partnership and promotions, and the casinos worked together to bring life back to the Coast. They have been rewarded with record profits.

Harrah’s Entertainment and entertainer Jimmy Buffet are collaborating on a new casino resort called Margaritaville. There are other casinos lined up for construction including the Bay View Casino Resort located next to Boom Town on the Back Bay. The casinos used the destruction caused by Katrina as a stepping ground to build world class facilities that include gourmet restaurants, fines spas and golf courses. These innovations, combined with completely updated interiors created spectacular casinos that attracted the attention of the national press. Major stars came to town, and this enhanced the attractiveness of this casino strip.

D’Iberville

In D’Iberville, casinos are boosting property values, and new casinos are coming up on the north side of the Bay. Harrah’s is buying property here, and the West D’Iberville Casino is also being developed.

Gulfport

Emeril’s Gulf Coast Fish House was opened as part of the second phase of Island View Casino. Phase 3 is coming up in Gulfport, south of US 90, and plans include a hotel, increased parking space and other kinds of developments. Isle of Capri has plans to expand to western Harrison County with the Pine Hills Casino.

Hancock County

The two casinos in Hancock County helped it stage an economic comeback. The Silver Slipper Casino now includes plans for a hotel and convention facilities, and also has an RV park. Property owners here are holding on to their lots instead of selling them, with a view to further investment in casinos in the Mississippi coast.

By a vote of 260 to 160 the House passed H.R. 6049, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008. The bill also would allow grant recipients who deducted their loss after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to amend previous tax returns so grants will not be considered taxable income.

“These common-sense provisions will fix two unfair roadblocks for many people on the Gulf Coast trying to rebound from hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” said Taylor. “I want to thank Chairman (Charles) Rangel for allowing these recovery efforts to be included in this legislation, and House leadership for continuing to support recovery from the 2005 hurricanes.”

The Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005 (GO Zone Act) allows a bonus depreciation tax deduction for property placed in service before Dec. 31, 2010 in the five Mississippi counties – Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River and Stone – and the seven Louisiana parishes that incurred the most destruction from the hurricanes. This legislation removes a legal technicality that work had to begin by the end of 2007 for the deduction.

The language is very similar to the New York Liberty Zone Act, which provided tax deductions for affected businesses and employees during the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Senate’s version of the bill, the Alternative Minimum Tax and Extenders Tax Relief Act of 2008, has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance. The Senate had previously approved both recovery measures as part of its version of the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, but the Senate and House still must reach an agreement on the bill.

Jeremy Quinn
5/22/08

GO Zone Gateway is dedicated to the Real Estate Investor. It is our mission to stay on the cutting edge of all GO Zone news, laws and projects being offered. We have built and closed on every type of construction out there including stick, steel frame, modular and concrete.

We have partnered with a solid concrete developer who understands the importance of quality investment homes at a great price point that enables cash flow. The developer has built over 300 homes in the last 2 years alone, which allows them to know their costs down to the last load of dirt. The price point is $20,000 better than the nearest competition, which give us a large spread of equity to work with, and allows us to keep your out of pocket cost minimal.

Most of our concrete products can be 100% financed and you only have to cover closing costs. We also have negotiated for a $4,000 seller concession from the developer to minimize your out of pocket cost at the closing table. We offer the best financing and lowest closing costs in the GO Zone. A lot of buyers have come to us after they get their Good Faith Estimate from other developers and find that the loan is costing them 8 points or MORE! A lot of these lenders are making 3 points on the deal in origination and yield spread!

You can feel comfortable with us that you are getting a quality property at a great price that will allow you to put money in your pocket every month instead of it digging into it. For more information and free consultation on what would be best for your portfolio, call 561-404-7353. Click here to see the GO Zone Investment Homes brochure.

JACKSON, MS –

The U.S. Senate approved a measure Friday to extend the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act, giving new hope that lucrative tax incentives to build condos, apartments and businesses will last a few more years.U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker added an amendment to a housing bill, and his addition passed 74-5. U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran co-sponsored the bill.

The new GO Zone plan would give tax breaks to builders of apartments, condos and businesses only in Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River and Stone counties. When it passed just after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the legislation had incentives for nearly 50 Mississippi counties but those are about to expire.

The 2005 bill’s deadline requires builders to start construction before the end of this year, but under the new legislation, it wouldn’t matter when work begins, as long as it’s done by Dec. 31, 2010.

The extension is necessary, officials say, because protracted mandatory environmental assessments, delays in the new FEMA flood elevation maps, and high construction costs have kept many developers from being able to make the current deadline.

“This should help thousands of people still struggling two and a half years after the storm to rebuild their lives,” Wicker said.

Cochran said the GO Zone extension helps build lower-income housing as well as new businesses, which have been difficult to build since the storm.

“In many cases, the paperwork and application process required by the government prevented those who wished to rebuild from taking advantage of federal assistance,” Cochran said. “Mississippi has come a long way since Hurricane Katrina, but there is still considerable rebuilding to be done.”

Gov. Haley Barbour said Friday he hopes Congress works quickly to extend the GO Zone legislation.

“The people of South Mississippi are working hard to rebuild, but in too many cases undue bureaucratic hurdles – such as delayed flood elevation levels, which were just released in December – have prevented them from taking advantage of the GO Zone program as Congress intended,” Barbour said. “I appreciate the U.S. Senate’s action dropping the commencement deadline for using GO Zone benefits. I particularly want to thank Sens. Cochran and Wicker for their diligent, effective work on this important issue.”

The new GO Zone amendment is part of a larger housing bill that is expected to come up for a vote in the Senate next week. If passed, the bill would still have to be approved in the House. Wicker’s communications director Jordan Stoick believes the bill has a good chance of passing as long as nothing controversial is added.

“The prospects, as long as a poison pill isn’t added next week, look very good,” Stoick said. “The housing issue has become such a huge and critical issue that there is a lot of momentum behind it. We have that momentum going for us.”

About 10 condominium projects are going up near the University of Alabama’s football stadium, and builders are asking up to $1 million (€730,000) for units with granite countertops, king-size bathtubs and football-themed decor. While many of the buyers are ardent football fans not entitled to any special Katrina-related tax breaks, many others are real estate investors who are purchasing the condos with plans to rent them out. And they intend to take full advantage of the generous tax benefits available to investors under the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, or GO Zone, according to Associated Press interviews with buyers and real estate officials.

President George W. Bush signed the GO Zone bill less than four months after Katrina struck. It was sponsored by Republican Senator Trent Lott, who lost his beachfront home in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and was modeled after the legislation passed to stimulate the recovery of lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The GO Zone, designed to stimulate construction in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, was drawn to include the Tuscaloosa area even though it is about 200 miles (322 kilometers) from the coast and got only heavy rain and scattered wind damage from Katrina.

The GO Zone contains a variety of tax breaks, offering tax-free bonds to developers to finance big commercial projects like shopping centers or hotels. It also allows real estate investors who buy condos or other properties in the GO Zone to take accelerated depreciation on their purchases when they file their taxes. The condo deals are perfectly legal, and the tax breaks do not take money away from Katrina victims closer to the coast because the depreciation is wide open, with no limits per state. But the tax breaks are galling to some community leaders, especially when bureaucratic hurdles and disorganization have stymied rebuilding in some of the most devastated coastal areas.

“The GO Zone extends so damn far, but the people who need it the most can’t take advantage of it,” said John Harral, a lawyer in hard-hit Gulfport, Mississippi. Locals say Tuscaloosa was included in the GO Zone through the efforts of Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, who sits on the powerful Appropriations Committee. But Shelby aides said Tuscaloosa made the cut because it was classified as a disaster area by the government after Katrina, not because of the senator’s influence.Defenders of the GO Zone said the Tuscaloosa area needed the aid because of the hundreds of evacuees who remained here for weeks after the hurricane. “The senator believes that the GO Zone program, and others enacted since then to assist with the rebuilding efforts following the devastating 2005 hurricane season, have been extremely successful in accomplishing their goal,” said Shelby spokeswoman Laura Henderson. The GO Zone investor tax breaks are credited with contributing to the condo boom in Tuscaloosa. Andy Turner, a real estate agent who specializes in condominium sales in Tuscaloosa, estimates the GO Zone depreciation benefit has helped spur 10 percent of all recent condo sales in the city. Tuscaloosa real estate broker Richard Ellis said an investor contacted him about GO Zone property and wound up buying 30 condo units for about $180,000 (€131,858) each.

An investor could write off more than $155,000 (€113,545) of the cost of a $300,000 (€219,764) condo in the first year and use the savings to lower his taxes on other rental income, according to tax attorney Kelly Hayes. Dave Toombs, a California real estate investor, bought two new, upscale townhouses as investment properties. He said he hopes to use GO Zone tax benefits when he files his taxes. “If we qualify for the GO Zone it will be icing on the cake,” said Toombs. In hard-hit Slidell, Louisiana, not far from New Orleans, officials said a shopping center is being built using $8 million (€5.86 million) in tax-free GO Zone bonds.

“The GO Zone has helped. If someone is looking to come to this area, it’s a good tool for them to use,” said Brenda Reine, executive director of the St. Tammany Economic Development Foundation.

Yet state reports reviewed by the AP and interviews show that the most ballyhooed part of the GO Zone bill — $15 billion (€10.99 billion) in tax-exempt bonds — has had relatively little effect so far.
The three states have approved nearly $10 billion (€7.33 billion) in bond sales to spur investment, the AP found. But only a fraction of that — $2.8 billion (€2.05 billion) — has actually been issued in bonds, meaning most projects are still on the drawing board nearly two years after the storm.

“It is a joke,” said Tuscaloosa developer Stan Pate, who has nevertheless used GO Zone tax breaks on projects that include a new hotel and a restaurant. “It was supposed to be about getting people … to put housing in New Orleans, Louisiana, or Biloxi, Mississippi. It was not about condos in Tuscaloosa.”

On the storm-raked shores of Lake Pontchartrain in Slidell, Louisiana, Chad Mayo, a pawn shop operator whose business was flooded by Katrina, asked: “The GO Zone? What’s that? We’re in the dead zone.”