REALTORS® have a prayer: “Dear Lord, if I can’t be someone’s first love or second wife, let me be their third REALTOR®.” When there is a normal real estate market with a balanced supply of buyers and sellers, this describes the preference that it is better to be the third listing agent to help a […]
Will a rental property give you the rate of return you are looking for? My modified annual property operating data may be just what you are looking for. Investors consider different rates of return to determine whether a property will generate the yield they expect. Often the simplest of calculations can tell you whether you […]
You may feel like throwing darts against the wall is a great way to decide if you will move or not. Place sheets of paper on the wall with the words “move” “don’t move” put on a blindfold and throw! Or you could use the process that Benjamin Franklin used. He would evaluate his options […]
When you cook, using “mise en place” means you have all your ingredients cut, measured, peeled, grated, sliced and you have your bowls, utensils, and pans ready to use before you begin the cooking process. This gives you the opportunity to inventory the ingredients and observe if you have everything you need. Using this method, […]
Since May 2019, mortgage rates have been below 4 percent. With historically low-interest rates, you would think homeowners would take advantage and refinance to save money. However, a recent Lending Tree survey said that 49 percent of homeowners say they are considering a mortgage refinance in the next year. The report also estimated that over […]
In our current market, there are at least 40 percent fewer homes on the market than a year ago. Buyers who are serious have probably already experienced the disappointment of losing a home due to increased competition. Today, buyers are looking for ways to improve their chances of having the best contract without using the […]
“How long do I have to keep this stuff?” is the usual question you ask yourself when you feel you are running out of room for storing all the paper “files” that you might not need. When you purchase lunch, that little receipt you get can go immediately in the trash. Some may keep it […]
In the U.S. tax code, a little-known provision allows homeowners to rent out their principal residence or second home for up to 14 days a year without having to use that money as income. But the taxpayer cannot deduct any rental expenses associated with this income. You can earn as much as you want with […]
Consider, before paying cash for a home, if at some time in the future you would want to add a mortgage on the home and want to deduct that mortgage interest on your federal tax return. The current federal tax law allows homeowners to deduct the interest on up to $750,000 in acquisition debt that […]
Used cars: it is not usually a good idea to spend a bunch of money to fix up a used car before you trade it in. You won’t recapture the money you spent on the repairs. Dealers can make repairs less expensive than you can. And you are selling to a wholesaler who then needs […]
