| Now is the time to start putting together records and information for your 2012 tax returns which are due April 15, 2013. Here are some tax questions homeowners need to ask: |
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| Buying a home is a great way to improve your family’s financial security. The main way this happens is through home equity. What is equity? |
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| Why own your own home? There are many reason including tax breaks, appreciation, equity and many more. |
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First-time homebuyers have never gone through the stressful experience of buying a home, and they often learn the hard way that making a wrong turn during this process is costly and stressful. Sometimes it leads to a failed deal.
Getting approved for a mortgage, finding the right agent, searching for the perfect home and staying within a budget are some of the challenges buyers must face before they become homeowners. Here are ten common mistakes first-time homebuyers should avoid. |
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| Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” recently that he’d “buy up a couple hundred thousand” single-family homes if it was practical. Buffett said that’s because he believes purchasing a home with ultra-low mortgage rates and holding it for the long-term has become a better investment than stocks right now. |
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| Sales of existing-home sales rose in March 2011, continuing an uneven recovery that began after sales bottomed last July, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 3.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.10 million in March from an upwardly revised 4.92 million in February, but are 6.3% below the 5.44 million pace in March 2010. Sales were at elevated levels from March through June of 2010 in response to the home buyer tax credit. |
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| An unexpected 81% of U.S. adults surveyed by the Pew Research Center say buying a home is the best long-term investment. “Owning a home is really a part of the American dream, and that is just part of the American psyche and something that people aspire to,” said Kim Parker, associate director for the center and one of the study’s authors. |
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| As the cold temperatures become a distant memory, and the spring selling season gains momentum, consumers have come to agree on one thing—now’s a good time to get off the fence and into the real estate market. This is the overall theme in the latest American Express Spending and Saving Tracker survey, a monthly survey that tracks the spending and saving habits of consumers in order to get an indication of what’s happening in the market. “This month’s Spending and Saving Tracker provided an up-to-date look at various consumer trends and gave us the opportunity to assess how consumers are feeling about the current market in addition to gauging homeowner confidence,” says Leah Gerstner, vice president of public affairs at American Express. |
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| In the 41 cities Metrostudy covers, 78,000 houses are either vacant and for sale, or under construction — that is less than a quarter of the new homes that fell in that category during the housing boom in 2006 and way below the level of a decade ago. “If we had anything like normal levels of buying, those houses would sell in 2½ months,” says Castleman. “We’d see an incredible shortage. And that’s where we’re heading.” |
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1) Decide what you can afford. Generally, you can afford a home equal in value to between two and three times your gross income. 2) Develop your home wish list. Then, prioritize the features on your list. |
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