lakewood co: Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya?"
- 10/17/22 07:40 PM
You may remember the famous line in the Dirty Harry movie when Clint Eastwood has just had a shootout with bank robbers and is standing in front of the lone surviving thief who is considering going for his gun. Harry with his gun pointed at the bad guy says to him ""Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a 44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question: Do I feel … (1 comments)
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lakewood co: Gift Amount Increased for 2022
- 09/28/22 10:04 AM
The limit for tax free gifts for 2022 is $16,000 and no tax is due to the donor or the donee. There are provisions that would allow gifts higher than this amount providing the total lifetime gifts above the annual exclusion of $12.06 million for 2022 has not been met.
The donor and donee can be separate persons so that the aggregate tax-free gift for one-year amounts to more money. For instance, a father and mother can gift $16,000 each to their married son in 2022 and an additional $16,000 each to the daughter-in-law for a total $64,000.
If the son and … (3 comments)
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lakewood co: Buying a Home...Ask for a CLUE Report
- 04/25/22 07:12 PM
People purchasing a used car have most likely heard of CARFAX vehicle history reports to help them avoid buying a car with costly hidden problems. Less likely are buyers to know that there is a way to discover some of the repair history of homes they are interested in.
Lexis Nexis C.L.U.E. (Claims Loss Underwriting Exchange) is a claims history database that enables insurance companies to access consumer claims for the previous seven years when they are underwriting a risk or rating an insurance policy.
An insurance underwriter could identify a previous claim for substantial damage to a property and try … (2 comments)
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lakewood co: A New Opportunity for Homebuyers
- 04/11/22 07:30 PM
You may not have heard of anyone assuming an existing mortgage for over thirty years and didn't know they were even possible any longer. The reason is simple, it didn't make financial sense but now that interest rates are increasing, it may be an opportunity for some homebuyers.
Conventional loans added clauses to mortgages back in the early 80's that gave the noteholder the right to raise the interest rate if a loan was assumed, as well as require the new buyer to qualify for the loan. This essentially ended the practice of assuming conventional mortgages.
Then, in the late 80's, FHA … (1 comments)
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lakewood co: Equity Give Homeowners Options
- 04/05/22 07:43 PM
Americans have seen the equity in their homes increase by 29.3% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2021 according to the CoreLogic Homeowner Equity Insights. The average home equity gained $55,000 during the same period.
CoreLogic's Home Price Index reported a 19.1% increase in appreciation for the previous twelve months ending in January 2022. This increase in value is fueling the increased equity that homeowners are experiencing.
Some homeowners are doing cash-out refinancing and using the funds for a variety of purposes like home improvements, investing, saving for retirement, college or rainy-day funds.
Other homeowners are seeing the … (0 comments)
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lakewood co: Instead of a vision, show them the house
- 04/05/22 07:30 PM
Sellers try to rationalize not making needed updating and repairs to their homes before marketing them by saying they are going to let the buyers make their own personal choices. It is a convenient story to justify not going to the effort for the necessary market preparation to justify achieving the highest possible sales price.
An agent told a story of a home that was structurally sound being on the market, but it needed significant cosmetic work, like paint, floorcovering, updated fixtures, and lots of yard work. The house was vacant with the owner having moved out of town.
The agent explained … (0 comments)
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lakewood co: The Dynamics of Home Equity
- 03/16/22 09:07 AM
Appreciation and amortization are key factors in building equity for homeowners with mortgages. As the home goes up in value due to appreciation and the unpaid balance goes down due to amortization, the equity increases.
Appreciation is the increase in value of a home and is usually measured year over year. In recent years, appreciation has been robust (19% nationwide in 2021) due to high demand and low inventory. Many times, the news will quote annual appreciation rates from a national or regional level.
Occasionally, you may see a chart that tracks the annual appreciation over a period, but it is more interesting … (0 comments)
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lakewood co: Assumptions Make Sense Again
- 02/28/22 06:25 PM
Existing FHA and VA mortgages are assumable at the note rate to owner-occupied buyers who qualify. This can be an alternative to paying higher, current rates and benefit buyers with lower closing costs while saving money on the payment.
For the last 20 years, rates have been steadily coming down and there was no reason to qualify for the assumption when a new loan had a lower interest rate.
Assuming an FHA or VA loan with a lower interest rate will obviously mean lower payments but it will also build equity faster because the amortization schedule is advanced from a new … (2 comments)
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lakewood co: Will Soft Inquiries Hurt Your Credit Score?
- 01/05/22 04:24 PM
Soft inquiries, sometimes known as a soft credit check or a soft credit pull, do not impact your credit scores because they are not attached to a specific application for credit. They can occur when a credit card issuer or mortgage lender checks a person's credit for preapproval purposes.
Examples of soft inquiries are when you check your own credit or one of your current creditors checks your credit. If you are concerned about the negative impact on your score, specify to the lender that you want a "soft pull" to see if you qualify for preapproval.
Soft inquiries may appear on … (2 comments)
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lakewood co: Paying Down Your Mortgage
- 12/21/21 04:04 PM
When the situation arises that you have a lump sum of cash to pay down your existing mortgage, there may be different options available. Pre-paying principal on a fixed-rate mortgage shortens the term of the mortgage but the payment stays the same.
Conversely, recasting a mortgage with a lump-sum principal payment lowers the principal and interest payment but leaves the term intact with the same payoff date.
The interest rate on the mortgage will stay the same regardless. Prepaying principal can be done at any time but may not be applied until the next payment date. Recasting cannot be done within the first 90-days … (2 comments)
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lakewood co: Alternative Investments
- 09/28/20 07:08 PM
In a recent article, The Wall Street Journal reported that investors have rarely been this flush with cash. The economic uncertainty due to the pandemic and the volatility of the stock market has caused assets in money-market funds to increase to approximately $4.6 trillion, the highest level on record according to Refinitv Lipper.
The question becomes should an investor be "out of the market" until things settle down or should they seek to find alternative investments to produce satisfactory results. Even in the middle of this uncertainty, residential rental property has been a stable performer.
Rents are continuing to increase along with … (0 comments)
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lakewood co: What Can You Expect?
- 06/14/17 01:40 PM
Businesses must treat customers fairly if they expect to do business with them again or get recommendations to their friends. Customers of stores like Nordstrom’s understand that a salesperson is an employee and represents the company.
The line becomes less clear in some industries, especially ones that involve real estate. Agency is a legal relationship authorizing a person to act for or in the place of another. It involves responsibilities that exceed treating a person fairly.
The duties a buyer or seller can expect to receive from a real estate salesperson or broker include but are not limited to honesty, accountability, full disclosure, … (2 comments)
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lakewood co: Must Be This Tall to Ride
- 06/04/17 08:53 PM
Surely, you remember being a child at an amusement park when after having stood in line with your friends and family, waiting to get on a terrific ride, you discovered the sign that read, “you must be this tall to ride.”
Not only was it disappointing, it was slightly embarrassing. You never want to go through that again.
A remarkably similar situation occurs when people are buying a home. After finding the right home and negotiating the contract, they find out that they don’t measure up financially. It’s not something that anyone wants to go through if they have a choice.
Regardless of what … (0 comments)
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lakewood co: An Alternative to Paying Tax Today
- 04/18/17 12:52 PM
The cartoon character Wimpy would say that he’d gladly repay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. Some real estate investors say a similar thing to Uncle Sam to be able to hold on to their proceeds from the sale of an investment and agree to pay the tax later.
The benefit of a 1031 exchange is that it allows the investor to defer the tax due from the sale into the replacement property. This allows more money to be reinvested. In the example shown, the investor has 27% more to invest now by deferring the tax into the future.
The property to be … (0 comments)
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lakewood co: Important Estate Documents
- 03/20/17 10:14 PM
An estate plan is a collection of documents to ensure that your wishes are carried out because of death or incapacity to make decisions for yourself. Spouses, minor children, adult children, property and investments can all be factors that should motivate a person to undergo the process.
Will – this document specifies the way a person wants to manage and distribute his/her assets after their death. When a person dies without a will, the laws of the state where the person resided will determine the distribution of the property.
Durable Power of Attorney – this document grants to a designated person the authority to act … (2 comments)
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lakewood co: Do You Need a Large Home? 530 S. Newland St. Lakewood, Co $283,000
- 05/14/14 03:22 AM
This 4 bedroom 3 bath room home is located in a quiet all brick neighborhood with over 2700 square feet.*Remodeled kitchen with granite and new applicances.*Fireplace in the living room as well as in the family room.*Hardwood floors through out the home.*Updated windowsThe ranch style home has a finished basement, covered patio, 2 car attached garage.The roof was replaced one year ago along with the driveway and sidewalk.
… (1 comments)
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You may remember the famous line in the Dirty Harry movie when Clint Eastwood has just had a shootout with bank robbers and is standing in front of the lone surviving thief who is considering going for his gun. Harry with his gun pointed at the bad guy says to him ""Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a 44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question: Do I feel … (1 comments)
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