"How long do I have to keep this stuff?" is the usual question you ask yourself when feeling that you are running out of room for all this paper that may never be needed.

Before you pay cash for a home, ask yourself if there is a possibility, at some point in the future, you might put a mortgage on the home and would want to deduct the mortgage interest on your federal tax return.

To understand the reasoning behind why a homeowner should not sell their home by themselves, we need to identify the motivation. More times than not, the homeowner wants to "save" the cost of the commission.

Doing a lot of work on a car before you trade or sell it to a dealer is not generally a good idea. In most cases, you won't recapture the cost of the repairs. They can do the repairs for less than you can. Not to mention, you are selling to a wholesaler who needs to sell it again to the end-user and still make a profit.

National homeowner equity grew in the fourth quarter of 2020 by $1.5 Trillion or 16.2% year-over-year based on a CoreLogic analysis. The study was done on six out of ten homeowners who have mortgages on their homes.

Sometimes, as people approach the inevitable, they start trying to get their things "in order." They may even have a will, but they decide to transfer title to real estate before their death which could be an unnecessary expense for the would-be heir.

For generations, people have begun their homeowner experience with a "starter" home. Part of the logic is that by starting with a smaller house, they can learn what it takes to run the home and discover some of the unexpected costs that come along with it. A slightly longer view into the future could suggest a different strategy.

One of the silver linings to filing your income tax return is finding out that you will receive a refund. If you happen to be one of these fortunate taxpayers, your next decision is what to do with it.

This strategy is not about negotiating the best price; it is about beating out the competition and buying the home.

Mortgage insurance benefits the lender if a borrower with less than a 20% down payment defaults on their loan. Most conventional mortgages greater than 80%, and all FHA loans require the borrower to have this coverage.

Staying at home in 2020 caused many owners to think about how nice it would be to have a larger home to accommodate the additional activities that come along with isolation.

Rental homes, whether they be single-family detached properties, condos, two, three, or four-unit properties, share many of the same benefits.

Debt-to-Income Ratio is a tool that lenders use to qualify buyers for a mortgage and is an essential factor in determining loan approval. It indicates the amount of debt that a potential borrower is obligated to in relation to how much income they have.

A much-repeated investment strategy is to buy low and sell high. Some people who purchased around the financial crisis of 2010-2012 are poised to make considerable profits.

Vacation home sales are up 44% year-over-year, according to the National Association of Realtors®, based on sales during the July to September period. Not only are the number of units up, but they are also selling faster than in previous years.

A home inspector is another key professional involved in a real estate transaction. The sales contract will often have a provision that allows the purchaser to have inspections made to discover issues that are not readily apparent or have not been disclosed by the seller.

We're all spending more time at home and will probably need to continue to do so for a while longer. Depending on your family's makeup, your home is now a home office, a gym, a virtual classroom, and considerably more meals have been prepared in your kitchens in the past six months than normal.

Selling your home and buying a lower priced home that meets your current needs can be to your advantage in an "Up" market like the current one with low inventory. The advantage is that you can maximize the price of the home you're selling and don't have to reinvest it all in your replacement.

Most homeowners and potential homeowners are aware there are tax benefits associated with ownership. For instance, mortgage interest and property taxes have been deductible expenses from federal income tax since it was enacted in 1913.

The concern today when putting your home on the market should not be whether you'll get a contract; it's whether you will recognize the majority of your net proceeds without any unnecessary delays.