Category: Real Estate
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Looking for Midterm Boosts, Trump Floats Capital Gains Tax Cuts. Should Deed Holders Tune In?
Trump officials are floating tax-break ideas in the lead-up to the midterm elections. One recently mentioned proposal: bigger capital gains exemptions for deed holders who decide to sell their homes. Under current law, the Internal Revenue Code’s Section 121 shields up to $250K of profits for single filers and $500,000 for married couples filing jointly.…
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Why Home Purchases Fail to Close (and How to Avert the Snafu)
On closing day, the buyer goes to their agent’s or real estate lawyer’s office, or the office of the settlement agent. The closing agent will give the buyer the papers to sign, one at a time. If you’re a buyer, you’ll be relieved and happy about the ritual. When it’s done, the deed is transferred…
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Forty Trillion and Counting: Massive U.S. Debt Is Already Impacting Deed Holders
The U.S. government’s debt appears to have reached escape velocity. It’s now passed the $40 trillion mark. This year, we the taxpayers will pump $5.6 trillion in revenue into the Treasury. The federal government will spend about $7.4 trillion. For each dollar we send it, our government spends $1.33. Our lawmakers know this. The figures…
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Breakthrough: Solo Female Home Buyers Earn More Than Male Peers.
Here’s Where and How They’re Buying. Across the United States, single women are putting their earnings into home purchases. Now, about those earnings. Because there’s some big news. This year, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) noted that first-time single female homebuyers earn about $73K, compared with about $66K among single men (as of a…
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Warning to Deed Holders: Don’t Fall for These Property Tax Relief Videos
Toby D. is a tax assessor in Douglas County, Colorado. Suddenly, Toby D. is fielding phone calls from disoriented deed holders. Some callers ask if school property taxes in the Colorado county have been abolished. Some ask if it’s true that tax hikes were halted for seniors. Multiple people call with strikingly similar questions each…
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The Deed Holder’s Ace in the Hole: Home Equity in an Emergency
Deed holders are racking up debt these days. Fuel, electricity, and food all cost more. And don’t get us started on insurance premiums and property taxes. All it takes is one surprise—a tree falling on a roof or a broken pipe—to push a hardworking person over the financial edge. But the cash-strapped deed holder might…
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Trump Administration Intervenes in U.S. Bond Market. How Will This Impact Home Buyers?
It seems that ever since COVID struck, inflation just won’t let up. Interest rates on U.S. bonds (the “yield” you get from investing in a government bond) are also pressing higher. As long as yields on bonds climb upward, analysts say, borrowing costs will also stay high. This is especially likely for long-term, fixed-rate loans.…
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Legoland Model for Building Real Homes? Looks Like It’s Here.
The American Housing Corporation is a new company. Its plan is to make and sell manufactured townhomes in popular U.S. cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin, and New York. The idea is to supply mass-produced yet appealing row houses made of components that can be shipped in a flat form: stairs, floors and ceilings,…
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Second Thoughts After Deeding Your Home to Your Child? Why and How to Fix It
You had the very best of intentions: helping your adult child get the deed to a home in a housing market stacked against young buyers. So you transferred the deed to your home into the name of your child. Why wouldn’t you? Now, your child will be able to enjoy the home. The transfer is…
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Giving Your Adult Child a Gift of Equity: How It’s Done
With a gift of equity, you can sell a home to a family member for less than it’s worth on the market. The difference between what the buyer pays and the actual market value is the gift. So you, as the seller, make the gift. It’s your call how much equity to give. Then, if…
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Buying a Home While Unmarried? The Struggle Is Real
Some call it the single tax for homeownership. Not actually collected by a tax agency, but yes. The single buyer is strangely disadvantaged. Pause for a moment to consider that the median house price is well over $400K. Once prices rise to that level, paying close to $3,000 in monthly housing costs becomes normal in…
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Making an Offer on a Home? Know What to Sign and What Not to Sign
So you’ve made an offer on a home. Nice work so far! A formal offer is called a real estate purchase agreement. It’s a contract that names the seller and purchaser and states the price the buyer will pay. Here, we discuss what to examine closely before you sign.
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That’s a “Yes” in Our Back Yard: New Federal Law Cuts Builders’ Red Tape
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is now the law. It’s winning praise for cutting red tape. And its $200 million innovation fund, while not exactly huge and yet to be funded, could stimulate local governments to ease their burdensome and restrictive rules. The new federal law speeds up reviews, updates borrowing rules, and…
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Adding an ADU to Your Property as a Rental Income Strategy
You’ve likely come across people with guest houses or garden suites on their properties. Housing policy people have a name for these extra living spaces: accessory dwelling units, orADUs. Accessory dwelling units are the talk of the town these days in all regions of the United States. An ADU is one of the most popular…
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The New Buyer Representation Agreements: Don’t Be Caught Off Guard
Before being shown any homes, a hopeful buyer signs a buyer representation agreement with the agent. This document is standard now, and that’s surprising some buyers. The form lays out the terms of the relationship between a real estate professional and the client. Once it’s signed, the buyer’s agent owes fiduciary duties to the buyer.…
