Sandra,

Please consult a tax pro before making any difinative decision about house boats and their IRS consequences. Having said that, in general a house boat/barge can receive th same IRS consideration when used as a primary residence. If not being used as a primary residence then the same rules for a vacation home typically apply.

Purchasing a house boat has a lot of other nuances to it that you may want to consider before buying. Here is a blog post that I wrote about the topic.

http://www.seattlehomebuyingguide.com/seattle-houseboats-aho…

Hope it helps.

Hi Saundra! I love floating homes, too - I have a lot of pictures on various blogs I could send you if you ever want to see some of the really cool colors and gardening. Floating homes are treated as any other home as far as the IRS is concerned, but not sure on vessels. There are a few terms to learn. I am happy to let you pick my brain if you need it.

There are at least 4 types of homes on the water, from vessels to house barges, houseboats, and floating homes. To complicate that, each one can have a different moorage/ownership agreement. The designations run a wide spectrum of differences.

Feel free to take a look at some of the different styles on Lake Union and Portage Bay in Seattle:

Hi Saundra,

I won't delve into IRS statutes - not my area. There's a wide range of what's considered real estate and what's not. Some folks in liveaboard houseboats are just living in a personal vessel that happens to have living quarters and is not true real estate.

Some floating homes have deeded ownership rights to a space on a permanently attached dock with utilities. This basically gives them real estate (depending on the arrangement of the HOA or co-op, it could me a number of kinds of estates).