On occasion, buyers who are prepared and qualify to buy a home decide to take a step back and wait to commit to the purchase of a home. When their focus moves from buying a home, they start considering using their down payment money for other things. They begin to think about other large purchases […]
The IRS has four different types of real estate. Each type of property has benefits based on its classification. The property itself does not determine the classification as much as how the property will be used and the intentions of the owner. Below are some classifications and their definitions. Principal Residence – this would be […]
We have reached the busiest months for selling a home this year. But when there is a short supply of inventory and competition is high, you must show the seller that you are a serious buyer. With the help of a Realtor ®, make your offer look as good as possible the first time because […]
A question I often get from people who have filed bankruptcy, had a short sale or foreclosure is, “How long do we have to wait to qualify for another mortgage.” What kind of new loan you can get will differ according to how long it has taken to heal your credit score. The chart I […]
Mortgage loan companies require a homeowner to carry insurance on their home while it has an active loan on it. The benefit is that in exchange for paying a yearly or monthly premium the homeowner transfers the risk of any loss to the insurance company. Insurance companies allow homeowners to select a deductible that will […]
It has nothing to do with the table game where you search for a murderer, but you need to get a CLUE report. This report details the insurance claims submitted on your home and car over the past five to seven years. C.L.U.E stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. CLUE is a database used by […]
The Great Recession included a banking crisis and in turn mortgage products were streamlined and others were taken off the table. With the return of the economy, previously unavailable mortgage products are now being offered. One of those products is called the “Piggyback” or the 80-10-10 mortgage and it can save you a lot of […]
You want irony? You may think you can’t buy a home right now but if you are renting you are buying a home for your landlord. Here are several factors to support this argument. Regardless of whether a mortgage is held by an owner-occupant or an investor, they are amortized so each payment made reduces […]
As identified in a recent survey*, Americans picked real estate as their overwhelming choice for investing. This is in spite of the Dow Jones industrial average reaching record highs recently. Stock came in as a third choice. Upon analysis of the recent survey*, it suggested that homes are more popular because they are a tangible […]
If you are a homeowner, your tax savings is usually realized when you file your federal income tax return once a year after you have already spent money on interest and property taxes. You may look forward to the refund as a windfall from a forced savings account. However, some people would rather get their […]
