Tag: real estate
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Out of Control: Title Insurance and Other “Extras” Home Buyers Pay
$18K annually. That’s what the average homeowner pays to be one — above and beyond the price of the home and mortgage, property taxes, and utilities. Mortgage closing costs make up a third of that figure. U.S. housing costs are outpacing the country’s overall inflation. Homeowners’ insurance alone is up 11% year over year. And…
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Seller-Paid Agent Commissions Are Over in August. How Will Buying Homes Change?
Effective August 17, sellers won’t have to agree to pay both sides’ commissions up front when they list their homes for sale. And agents can no longer communicate “offers of compensation” to other agents through their local Multiple Listing Services. August will mark “a time of adjustment,” says Kevin Sears, who recently took the role…
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Tapping Into Home Equity Puts a Lien on Your Deed. Consider the Risks.
Many deed holders have accumulated a lot of home equity over recent years. Financial gurus online often encourage homeowners to tap into it. After all, why not take advantage of a home’s rise in value to get cash and do something on your bucket list? But handy as they are, home equity loans do come…
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I’m a Senior, Looking for a Mortgage. Will I Be Treated Fairly?
Great question. The first thing to know is that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act is on your side! Under this federal law, lenders may not consider an applicant’s age as a reason to approve or turn down your application. Simply stated, seniors can get mortgages if they demonstrate their ability to make the monthly mortgage…
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Driving Change: Can a Real Estate Company Use AI to Root Out Prejudice in Deeds?
Seattle real estate firm John L. Scott is on to something. The company is working with Amazon Web Services to create intelligent document processing. The goal? To help deed holders easily check for race-based deed restrictions — and take action. Race-based prejudice is all too common in deeds across the United States. The language…
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The Rise and Rise of Down Payments
A down payment is the portion of a home’s purchase price the mortgage borrower pays upfront. You knew that. But did you know the median down payment for U.S. homebuyers is now more than $55K+? That’s remarkable. It was less than $45K just last year. Buyers often try to put 20% of the purchase price down.…
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I Inherited a Home. Should I Sell It, or Rent It Out?
Many heirs receive real estate because it’s a valuable asset — not necessarily because they need the homes to live in. So, for the heir who doesn’t want to live in the inherited home, what’s the best decision to make? Rent or sell the home? The answer is clear: It all depends! It’ll turn on…
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Reporting a Home Sale? What to Know About Capital Gains Tax (Even If You’re Exempt)
Hopeful buyers have struggled on and on with real estate price surges. Those who have managed to break into this market have watched their home values surge, too. When these homeowners decide to sell, the profits they accumulated in their homes are known to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as capital gains. People who sold…
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Can’t Wait to Move. (If Only We Could Pack Up Our Low Mortgage Rate and Take It With Us!)
Some people wish they could move, but hesitate to sell their current homes. They might be thinking: “I’d gladly sell my home right now, if only I could shift the remaining 25 years of my 4%-interest mortgage to the next house I buy! (Oh, well.)” “Giving up our 3% rate and getting a new mortgage…
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It’s Election Year. How Will This Affect Sellers and Buyers?
As we enter an election year the current administration points to how strong the economy is. But there’s a disconnect between these regular public assurances and people’s life experiences. So many are either locked into their current mortgages or just completely sidelined from the market. This is no joke: High mortgage rates. Wages lagging while…
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Real Property Basics: What Is a Clear Title?
A clear title. The term is commonly used to mean the deed holder can prove ownership, unquestionably. To verify that, a title company can conduct a title search. Other parties’ claims on the title are called title defects, or clouds on title. What do these claims look like? They might be mortgage liens, court judgments,…
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State of the Home Buyer: White House Promotes New Set of Tax Credits
Housing affordability remains out of reach for many in the U.S. population today. What’s the matter? Joe Biden’s March 2024 State of the Union address laid out the latest plan to help. Here’s an update on the issue, and how the administration intends to deal with it.
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Bitcoin Creating New Home Buyers? Why We’re Watching the Crypto Effect on Real Estate Markets
Bitcoin is now available from mainstream financial managers. Suddenly, it’s a significant part of U.S. investment and retirement portfolios. So, bitcoin is joining real estate as an asset class. At this point, the leading cryptocurrency can influence the costs of housing in some markets. Its rise even allows some people to buy their first homes.…
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Anti-Money Laundering: Federal Rule Coming to Track Real Estate Cash
The federal government wants all-cash home buyers to be easy to find. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is part of the U.S. Treasury Department. FinCEN has proposed a new reporting rule. It wants real estate professionals to submit forms with details about cash sales when homes are sold to legal entities — like LLCs and…
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Can We Record Deeds on the Blockchain?
Blockchain, the underlying technology of cryptocurrency, is a digital recording system, leading innovators to wonder if it could solve challenges in deed recording. The U.S. deed recording system is tried and true. At the same time, title defects and tangled titles are much too common. Additionally, deed fraud harms vulnerable homeowners.. What if our title…
