Welcome to the official Blog of BuyOwner.com

BuyOwner.com buy sell trade rent

  • Home
  • About BuyOwner.com
  • Popular Posts

Posts tagged mortgage

Article Tip: When Parents Gift Down Payments

Feb18
2010
1 Comment Written by Shanna

If you are a parent considering gifting a down payment to your children or a child considering accepting a down payment from your parents, you’ll want to check out this recent article from The Wall Street Journal.

Answering questions regarding tax implications for money given from parents to children for home purchases, this quick Q & A provides helpful info for you.

According to the article, “The tax implications differ depending on whether the money is a loan or a gift, according to Chad Bordeaux, a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner in Lake Wylie, S.C.”

What to Be Aware of: If parents give a child money as a gift of more than $100000, the child has to declare it on his or her tax returns that year. On the other hand, the problem with it being a loan is that mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend the balance of the purchase price.

For more information, see the original article, “Tax Implications When Parents Gift Down Payment.”

Posted in Market News, Tips and Ideas - Tagged article tip, down payment, family, parents, tax, wall street journal
SHARE THIS Twitter Facebook Delicious StumbleUpon E-mail

Buying A Home While Under Chapter 13

Oct27
2009
35 Comments Written by Carrie

moneyhouse

In a previous post, you read that it is still possible to sell your home after you have filed for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. But once you have received an approval from the courts, closed the sale of your property and allocated the proceeds to your trustee/creditors, what do you do now? How do you go about buying a house when you have filed for Chapter 13?

First things first: you will most likely not be able to qualify for a home loan if you are still in debt, under an active Chapter 13 payment plan. Filing for bankruptcy puts a huge damper on your credit score for a few years. However, keep in mind that other factors go into acquiring home loans besides your credit score. This includes the amount of money you have for a down payment, your positive payment history on the active Chapter 13 and other credit cards, your income, etc.

If the proceeds from the sale of your home cover all of your debt, your case is discharged. And although your credit score has gone down, you may recover a little faster as opposed to if you were still active on the Chapter 13 payment plan. There could even be a chance that you will make enough money from the sale of your home to repay your debt and put a down payment on a house.

A common option for people under Chapter 13 is to rent a condo or an apartment for the time being, so they may get their finances in order. Watch out for those association dues, though, if you choose to go the condo route. By renting a property for a few years, you will have time to come out of Chapter 13, to improve your credit score and to ultimately prove to federal agencies that you are creditworthy of a mortgage loan for a new house.

Posted in Buying Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged Bankruptcy, buying a home, Chapter 13, lender, loan
SHARE THIS Twitter Facebook Delicious StumbleUpon E-mail

Don’t Get Caught with Two Homes

Oct05
2009
1 Comment Written by Shanna

mortgage

“Don’t get caught with two homes. You find your dream home and decide to put it under contract assuming you can sell your home before you have to close on the new one. Big mistake in this home market and this economy. While the housing market is improving, it is still taking longer to sell homes than in the past…” (The Birmingham News)

The old real estate formula has changed. What was once as simple as shopping, buying & selling has become a waiting game, at best, for unknown lengths of time, hoping for the right, qualified buyer to come in and make it possible for you to shop for and buy a new place.

If there’s one rule that seems to hold true today, it is this: Sell your house before you buy a new one.

It seems easy enough, but selling before buying can be tricky, too. What if you can’t find a home you want in the window of time you have before closing—Should you rent while you wait? Should you settle for whatever you can find?

Here are three tips for avoiding the dual-mortgages nightmare:

1) Shop casually while your home is for sale. Once you’ve decided to move, go ahead and browse around online for a new place—just remember the key word is browse. This way, you’ll get a feel for what prices and styles and locations most interest you. If you happen to find the property of your dreams, you can make an offer, but do it under contingency.

2) Don’t buy until you’ve sold or, buy under contingency. Sellers are much more flexible today about accepting contingent offers, especially as offers are so hard to come by. The catch here is that someone else could swoop in and steal the place, but ask yourself: is paying two mortgages worth grabbing this particular residence? If not, wait.

3) Price aggressively to sell. Think like the buyers who are coming to look at your property: they want a home that’s in mint condition, offered for a fantastic price. If you set your asking price at or just below the competition, you stand a much greater chance of selling quickly.

The bottom line is this: while you can’t control when your home sells, you can control your decisions surrounding the sale!

Want to know what to do if you’ve already gotten stuck in the two-mortgage trap? Stay tuned for another post on that very topic in one week!

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged real estate, selling a home, two homes
SHARE THIS Twitter Facebook Delicious StumbleUpon E-mail

About the BuyOwner.com Blog

Welcome to the BuyOwner.com Blog, your source for regularly updated market information!

Founded in 1984, BuyOwner.com® is the leading provider of real estate marketing services. We pioneered the "For Sale by Owner" (FSBO) market, which today represents over 20 percent of all residential real estate transactions.

You can read more about BuyOwner.com here.

Article Archives

Buy Owner Links

  • BuyOwner.com on Facebook
  • BuyOwner.com Testimonials
  • BuyOwner.com Website
  • Twitter: Buy Owner

Blog Roll

Real Estate Top Blogs Real Estate Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory Add to Technorati Favorites Find the best blogs at Blogs.com. Blog Directory Home Improvement Blog Directory

Subscribe

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Tags

31 reasons to sell with buy owner adding value to your home buying a home buying a house buy owner Buy Owner experience curb appeal decorating eco-friendly eco-friendly tips environment florida fsbo Green Living holiday home decorating Home Improvement home improvements home ownership home selling how to sell your home interior decorating interior design kitchen Market News moving real estate real estate market real estate selling real estate tips Regional Info selling selling a home selling a house selling Buy Owner selling by owner selling for sale by owner selling fsbo Selling Tips selling with buy owner selling your home spring staging using buy owner winter

EvoLve theme by Blogatize  •  Powered by WordPress BuyOwner.com Blog
Tips and info for people selling & buying their homes "Buy Owner"