Deeds.com

Left Unoccupied?

Clever crooks in Ohio, Maine, and many other regions are swindling people out of their homes by recording fraudulent quitclaim deeds. They’re doing it now, and they’ve been doing it for years. But now, property values have exploded. The stakes in real estate are higher than ever before. That makes the abuse of quitclaim deeds extremely appealing to house thieves.

Quitclaim deeds are documents that don’t require a seller’s warranty of title. Often, quitclaims are used to a house title between co-owners or people who trust each other and know the history of the title.

But there are shady characters out there who seize upon the quitclaim deed to sign vacant property over to themselves. And we all need to be aware of how they work.

You Might Be Eligible for Tax Breaks

If you’re a homeowner, or you’re in the market to buy a home, the last thing you want to hear about is rising property taxes. But check those bills.

Even though we expect a slowdown throughout the rest of the year and beyond, the 2022 real estate market is still going strong. And the sky-high real estate values mean taxes are up — again.

Nationwide, many people have recently received their appraisal notices in the mail. What they see will vary by location. Many local tax officials discount their property assessments, so the homeowner may not be taxed on the full market value. Yet tax bills can be in the thousands yearly in some areas.

Finding Mortgage Relief Options

A homeowner’s hardship affidavit or hardship letter is a formal request to modify a home loan, to assist the mortgage borrower through financial problems.

Some lenders don’t require the document. Their websites guide the borrower through the loan change request without asking for a form or letter. But many lenders, including those backed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, publish an official form.

Floating Towns and Flying Cars?

We’ve witnessed astounding high-tech changes in our lifetimes so far. The internet, and then the phones and apps people have invented for it, all jump to mind. Indeed, technology is considered the main growth sector powering today’s financial systems.

What’s next? Here are some fantastic — and reportedly possible — elements of our future lives at home.

As the Economy Gets More Complicated…

We’re not going to hide the ball — the short answer is yes. Buying a home is a very good way to build a store of potentially lifetime value and stay a step ahead of inflation.

Inflation refers to the way a dollar buys less as time goes on. Home prices outpace the purchasing power of dollars. Rental prices, too, suck up more and more money. And now, we’re seeing inflation in the interest charges on mortgage loans.

But a home’s property value can offset those higher costs. Here’s how the offset works. With interest rates still relatively low (around 5% is still low!), a buyer can get a mortgage and cancel out the interest paid as the home value rises. In that sense, home buyers put inflation on their side.

And that’s why buying a piece of property is called a hedge against inflation. As inflation keeps rising, and mortgage rates follow that upward climb, buyers who get a set mortgage rate today can both (a) avoid paying higher rates tomorrow, plus (b) avoid rent payments, which (in most cases) are regularly adjusted upward for inflation. And that’s not all. The owner gets to claim mortgage interest deductions on federal taxes, too.

What Home Sellers and Buyers Should Know

If you’re getting whiplash from the headlines about the economy, no wonder. Why are we now hearing about a looming recession?

First, the keyword is looming — not immediate. This is not expected to happen for another year and a half or so. Second, it’s not expected to be severe.

Here’s more on what we know so far.