Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Vacant Land - Homosassa, FL
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Friday, June 23, 2017
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Does my credit score determine whether or not I get a loan?
A variety of facts determine the lending decision. Your income, employment history, prior housing experience and assets play a vital role in credit approval. Also considered are current lending policies and the type of loan applied for.
ARE THE ALTERNATIVES TO FORECLOSURE ANY BETTER AS FAR AS MY FICO SCORE IS CONCERNED?
The common alternatives to foreclosure, such as short sales, and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure are all "not paid as agreed" accounts and considered the same by your FICO® score. This is not to say that these may not be better options for you from a financial perspective, just that they will be considered no better of worse for your FICO score.
If you are considering bankruptcy as an alternative to foreclosure, that may have a greater impact to your FICO score, While a foreclosure is a single account that you default on, declaring bankruptcy has the opportunity to affect multiple accounts and therefore has the potential to have a greater negative impact on your FICO score. source myFICO.com
HOW LONG WILL A FORECLOSURE AFFECT MY FICO SCORE?
A foreclosure remains on your credit report for 7 years, but It's impact to your FICO® score will lessen over time. While a foreclosure is considered a very negative event by your FICO score, its a common misconception that it will ruin your score for a very long time. In fact, it you keep all of your other credit obligations in good standing, your FICO score can begin to rebound in as little as 2 years. The important thing to keep in mind is that a foreclosure in a single negative item, and if you keep this item isolated, it will be much less damaging to your FICO score than if you had a foreclosure in addition to defaulting on other credit obligations.
source myFICO.com
Friday, June 9, 2017
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Will a pool add value to my home?
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Can I turn my porch into a room?
When buying a house, who pays for the appraisal?
They cost a few hundred dollars and typically the buyer pays the fee at closing, although you can opt to pay it up-front. A good faith estimate—also known as a GFE—given to you by the lender will supply a fee for the appraisal.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Tidewater Initiative
The Tidewater Initiative allows any interested party in a real estate transaction to provide sold comparables (via a point of contact) to the appraiser. Therefore, the listing agent or anyone else involved may provide market information for sold comps as well.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Can I claim loss in real estate value on my taxes?
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By Stephen Fishman, J.D.
If you sell your home at a loss, can you deduct the amount from your taxes? Unfortunately, the answer is no. A loss on the sale of a personal residence is considered a nondeductible personal expense. You can only deduct losses on the sale of property used for business or investment purposes.
The only way you can obtain a deduction if you sell your home at a loss is to convert it to a rental property before you sell it. However, your deductible loss will be limited. This is because when you convert property you held for personal use to rental use your tax basis (value for tax purposes) is the lesser of the following values on the date of the conversion:
the property’s fair market value, or
the property's tax basis.
Your tax basis is basically the property's original cost, plus the cost of any improvements you've made (but not repairs), minus any depreciation deductions taken--for example, if you claimed the home office deduction. Fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a buyer and a seller, neither under undue pressure to buy or sell, and both having reasonable knowledge of all the relevant facts. Sales of similar property in the area are helpful in figuring out the fair market value of the property. You may also elect to have the property’s value appraised as of the date of its conversion to rental property. Either way, it's very important to have a good estimate of your home's fair market value on the date of the conversion.
Because of this rule, if your personal residence has lost value since you bought it, turning it into a rental home won’t allow you to deduct the loss that occurred before the conversion when you eventually sell it. Only the drop in value after the conversion is deductible.
Example
Jessica purchased a home in Chicago for $250,000. She lived in the home for seven years, made $50,000 in improvements, and then moved to Houston. Because of the poor real estate market, Jessica decided to rent her house instead of selling it. The home’s tax basis when she moved out was $300,000. However, due to the decline in real estate values, its fair market value when Jessica moved out was only $175,000—a loss of $125,000. Since it's lower than the home's basis, Jessica must use the $175,000 fair market value (less any depreciation deductions she takes) to determine her gain or loss when she sells the home. If she sells the house for $175,000, she has no deductible loss. She'll have a loss only if she sells it for less than $175,000.
To learn more, see Nolo's section on Tax Deductions and Credits for Homeowners.