Category: Real Estate
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This Week’s Big News for Deed Seekers: Fannie and Freddie Shift to VantageScore® in Loan Decisions
The price of stock in Fair Isaac, a.k.a. FICO®, just tanked. It happened after the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director announced a change in the way Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will consider an applicant’s credit scores. (The FHFA oversees Fannie and Freddie.) Fair Isaac stock plummeted more than 25% on the last Tuesday…
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Should I Buy a Home Now? Or Wait for Lower Mortgage Rates?
Remember when market watchers forecast mortgage rates under 6% this year? What happened? In the big picture, interest rates have been in a tug of war between the White House and the U.S. central bank. But at the end of the day, it’s the bankers’ job to set the federal funds rate. And they’re doing…
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Inheriting a Mortgage Along With a Deed? A Few Considerations on How to Respond
More than 40% of baby boomers still have a mortgage on their home. The great generational deed transfer has begun, and many homes are about to be passed to the next generation. Can homes get through probate and be passed to the next-generation owner(s) with their mortgages still in place? It’s possible. This is not…
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Their Fence Is Encroaching on Your Property. Could You Lose the Land?
It’s an odd legal concept. Building anything on the wrong side of a property boundary isn’t legal, but if nothing is done about it, the improper fence builder could become the owner of the enclosed land. So, say you’re uncertain about the placement of the fence. Your neighbor put it up six years ago. You…
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When Your Starter Home Becomes Your Forever Home: How to Weather the Lock-In Effect and Make the Most of Your Deed
Who wants to sell a home when they have a low-rate mortgage and land in a market where interest rates are twice as high? No wonder so many people are just sitting on their deeds. It’s the lock-in effect. We’ve been in it for four years… and counting. Make no mistake: deed holders are fortunate…
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Rich Buyer, Poor Buyer. When Mortgage Lenders Give Away Money, Who Gets It?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently declared that we’re getting past the “K-shaped economy.” In a K-shaped economy, lifestyles get better for those at the top, while others’ financial situations wilt. One segment of the population keeps climbing; the other keeps slipping. Pushing back at suggestions that the economy is returning to a balanced state,…
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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…
