Armed Forces members given needed breaks with the New Housing Bill
August 12th, 2008 categories: Buying Real Estate, Commercial real estate, Real Estate News
While on www.Bankrate.com, I read an interesting article to share. Service members returning from active duty abroad will be given breaks. Some protections apply to service members whose military obligations affect their ability to repay debts, primarily Reservists and members of the National Guard who are called to active duty. They have to leave their jobs and, in many cases, take pay cuts.
For those service members, there is protection having to do with foreclosures and interest rates. If a service member had a mortgage before entering active duty, a lender can't start foreclosure proceedings until nine months after the service member returns from active duty. Formerly , the protection period was 90 days.
Also, when someone with a mortgage is called up to active duty, the interest rates on previously existing debt are capped at 6 percent. That 6 percent cap extends until one year after the service member returns from active duty.
Thanks to Graham Stiles at www.GrahamStiles.com for sharing this article.
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Benefits to Homeowners from the New Housing Bill
August 11th, 2008 categories: Buying Real Estate, Market Trends, Real Estate News
When reviewing an article from www.BankRate.com, I noticed information on the Housing Bill that has not received much attention.
Property tax deductions for all homeowners: Under current law, you can deduct your property taxes from federal income tax but only if you itemize deductions on Schedule A. That leaves out people who don't have enough standard deductions to warrant filling out Schedule A. They have to take the standard deduction which means that they can't deduct their property taxes.
The housing rescue bill changes that. For homeowners who pay property taxes, it increases the standard deduction by $500 for single filers and $1,000 for couples filing jointly. This will be a boom to people, such as retirees, who own their house outright, and therefore don't pay any mortgate interest, so they can't itemize.
You can't increase the standard deduction by more than the property tax bill. So, if you're married filing jointly and you pay $800 in property taxes, you get an $800 deduction, not a $1,000 deduction.
Thanks to Graham Stiles at www.GrahamStiles.com for sharing the article.
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Reverse Mortgages: Things You May Not Know
August 8th, 2008 categories: Buying Real Estate, Mortgage Help
Here are some interesting items from the new housing bill that you may not have heard yet....
When reviewing an article on www.BankRate.com, I noticed an article on More Regulations on Reverse Mortgages. A reverse mortgage is an advance against home equity. It's for homeowners age 62 or older, and the reverse mortgage doesn't have to be repaid until the borrowers die or move out.Because reverse mortgages are elderly borrowers, there is concern that dishonest lenders and brokers take advantage of borrowers. Borrowers are required to get counseling first, to learn the pros and cons of reverse mortgages. The law will result in strengthenend qualifications for counselors.
The law limits origination fees on reverse mortgages. They cannot exceed 2 percent of a reverse mortgage of up to $200,000. For a reverse mortgage amount above that, the limit is $4,000, plus 1 percent of the loan amount above $200,000. Origination fees cannot exceed $6,000 in any case. In future years, this upper limit is indexed to inflation.
Thanks to Graham Stiles at www.GrahamStiles.com for sharing this article.
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Planning for Flexibility: Make the Most of your Home
August 6th, 2008 categories: Home Improvement & Design
Attractive and functional Family Rooms accomodate media in an unobstrusive manner if you have planned well. Plan and anticipate the location of entertainment equipment and computers when building, remodeling or moving to minimize visible wiring and provide sufficient circuits and outlets.
If space is an issue, maximize it by using built-ins and finding furniture such as a coffee table with drawers below, an end table with drawers, an ottoman that opens up, or a trunk or chest.
To make a modest space feel larger, some design features that help are raised ceilings, exposed beams, large windows, or opening into other rooms.
A spacious room increases seating and storage options, lets family members (more...)
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Enjoying Your New Space
August 5th, 2008 categories: Home Improvement & Design
Attention to detail when space planning a new house, or when renovating an existing house or room, can ensure its success and your enjoyment of your new space.
Space Planning is becoming more important as our entertainment media has grown more sophisticated. Anticipating the locations of home theater equipment, computers. communication cable, phone lines, , etc. will help you provide sufficient circuits, minimize visible wiring, and position electrical outlets and phone jacks. It is also important to plan for kitchen appliances and electrical outlets throughout the house.
When building, it is also a great idea to make sure that you and/or your builder work on where the Heating and Air installer installs outdoor units, as well as indoor vents and intakes, so that they are aesthetically correct, as well as functional. They can be extemely distracting if not installed correctly. Luckily both my husband and I were at our new house with the builder when our HVAC installer came in on the project. His ideas were very different from ours. We wanted functionality and aesthetics. He wanted functionality and ease of installation. He wanted 3 units spread around our courtyard.
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Recent Trends in Homebuilding
August 1st, 2008 categories: Market Trends
According to Ilyce Glink, who recently attended the National Home Builders Convention, the latest trends in homebuilding show that new homeowners prefer a traditional look that accents a home's natural beauty. This "traditional" includes hand-carved doors, hand-made stained glass, and hand-finished wood floors. The home must also be wired such that the latest technology is accessible and operational, from security systems to computer access for every family member.
Another trend is the idea for flexible living space. In other words, a room should be modeled so that it is a suitable bedroom, guest room, home office, exercise room, and game room. A floor plan with open yet defined spaces, as well as private accomodations will allow for more flexible rooms and living arrangements.
Watch for more articles to come about ideas for designing flexible living spaces.
To read the rest of Ilyce's article, click here.
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