lakewood: Waiting for the Mortgage Rates to Come Down
- 12/11/22 11:34 AM
Waiting for the mortgage rates to come down before you buy a home may not be a good decision.
If you are correct, and the rates do come down by two percent, the savings you benefit from a lower rate will most likely be devoured by the appreciated price increase.
As of 12/8/22, the 30-year fixed-rate was at 6.33% which is close to the highest level since mid-2008. If the rate drops to 4.7% in three years but the price increases by 5% a year, a $400,000 home today, will cost $463,050 three years from now.
An increasingly, popular option that … (5 comments)
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lakewood: Homeowners Need Resources
- 11/06/22 05:57 PM
Managing an asset worth hundreds of thousands of dollars is a responsibility that requires attention to details such as timely payment of the mortgage, home repairs and maintenance, upkeep, and oversight on financial issues including taxes, insurance, and other things.
Depending on how long you've been a homeowner, you may have faced some of the decisions common to homeownership. Occasionally, there could be something new that you haven't had to deal with in the past. This is where having resource you can rely on becomes valuable.
During the buying or selling process, it is natural to turn to your agent for information and … (1 comments)
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lakewood: Five Factors that Affect the Sale of Any Home
- 09/28/22 10:22 AM
Owners directly control four of the five factors that affect the sale of any home: price, location, condition, terms, and the agent you select. The one thing you can't control is the location of the home, but you can adjust the other factors to compensate for failings.
The seller controls the price of the home which determines its positioning in the marketplace. If is priced too high, it will take longer to sell and, in some cases, for less than what it should have sold for because when it doesn't sell immediately, it is assumed that there must be an issue with it. If … (1 comments)
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lakewood: 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: Cause to Pause
- 09/28/22 09:40 AM
Rising mortgage rates are causing some would-be buyers to pause their decisions until they determine whether rates are going to come back down. While it may be possible, the probability is that prices are going to continue to increase.
On December 23, 2021, the 30-year fixed-rate, according to Freddie Mac, was 3.05% and is at 6.29% as of September 22, 2022, a 3.24% increase. On a $360,000 mortgage, the principal and interest payment went from $1,528 to $2,226. The $698 difference represents a 46% increase in the payment.
It seems understandable to pause and see if rates will come down again, especially since they went … (2 comments)
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lakewood: Paying Points to Lower the Rate
- 02/02/22 04:15 PM
Two commonly known ways to lower your mortgage payments are to make a larger down payment especially if it eliminates private mortgage insurance and improve your credit score before applying for a mortgage.
Another way to lower your payment would be to buy down the interest rate for the life of the mortgage with discount points. A discount point is one percent of the mortgage borrowed. Lenders collect this fee up-front to increase the yield on the note in exchange for a lower interest rate.
A permanent buy down on a fixed-rate mortgage is available to borrowers who are willing to pay … (0 comments)
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lakewood: 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: Tax Benefits of Home Ownership
- 03/15/17 02:59 PM
U.S. taxpayers have enjoyed specific tax benefits for home ownership since personal income tax was introduced by the 16th amendment in 1913. While these benefits may not be the primary reason that motivates a person to buy a home, they are still tangible and not available to tenants.
The exclusion of capital gains tax on the profit made from a home is unique from other investments and provides homeowners significant savings. Single taxpayers can exclude up to $250,000 gain and married taxpayers up to $500,000 gain. During the five-year period ending on the date of sale, a taxpayer must have: owned the … (1 comments)
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Waiting for the mortgage rates to come down before you buy a home may not be a good decision.
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