Uncategorized

Here are some tips for getting the highest ROI.

Go Beyond Cosmetic Repairs

Most homebuyers know to look beyond cosmetic damage. More importantly, theyll want to know that the major systems are in good working condition.

Rethink Luxury Fixes

If youre updating your kitchen or bathroom before listing your home, make sure you’re not going overboard on the finishes unless it’s a luxury listing.

Dont Get Too Trendy With Paint

A fresh coat of paint will work wonders when it comes to giving new life to any room in your home, but when selling your home, its best to not get too colorful.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

There are many ways parents can help their children purchase a home: contributing to a down payment, helping with closing costs, co-signing a mortgage or allowing their kids to move back home so that they can save money.

While most of these avenues involve giving your children money, deciding where that money should come from is an important decision. For parents nearing retirement, pulling money from a savings account or a 401(k) retirement account can be problematic if the money is needed for retirement. Without it, they could end up moving into the house they helped their children buy.

A poll by loanDepot found that more parents are planning to help their millennial children buy their first home. Sixty-seven percent said they planned to pull the money from their savings account.

Here are the percentage of poll respondents who planned to use other sources of parental support:

Refinancing their own home: 8 percent
Taking out an unsecured personal loan: 8 percent
Selling equities: 5 percent
Borrow from 401(k): 4 percent
Sell primary home: 2 percent

For the parents who do pull money from their savings account to help with a down payment, theres some disagreement with their children over whether the financial support is a gift, loan, inheritance or something else, the poll found.

Most parents (68 percent) view it as a gift, while more millennials (36 percent) viewed the financial support as a loan to be repaid (29 percent).

A down payment on a home is the most common form of assistance from parents, with half of those polled planning to help in that way on future purchases. The other methods were:

Allowing their kids to continue living at home to save money: 33 percent
Paying other expenses so the children could save money: 30 percent
Kids moved back home: 22 percent
Help with closing costs: 20 percent
Co-sign the mortgage: 20 percent
Help pay down student loan debt: 18 percent
Help pay their rent for a period of time: 8 percent

Allowing an adult child to move back home so they can save money may be the least costly option for parents wanting to help their children buy a home, as it shouldnt require parents to pull money from their savings or retirement accounts that they will surely need down the road.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

If you dont pay your property tax bill, expect your lender to reach out.

Property taxes can be one of those homeownership costs that you dont think about when shopping for a home. But theyll hit you sometime during the buying process”there’s no hiding from them.

Property taxes vary by state, county and even city, and are generally based on a homes value. These taxes can be the main source of local government funding and can include other assessments, such as from a school or water district. They can also change annually if an assessment district raises its rates or if the value of your home changes.

Your local tax assessor can tell you the tax rate for your home. If your home is valued at $300,000 and your local tax rate is 1 percent, then your property taxes would be $3,000 annually. Other fees and assessments could be added to it.

New Jersey has the highest effective tax rate on residential property at 2.38 percent, while Hawaii has the lowest at .28 percent, according to the Tax Foundation.

How to Pay Your Property Taxes
However much your property taxes are, there are two ways to pay them.

An impound or escrow account is one way. This is set up by your mortgage lender when your loan is set up. The annual tax payment will be broken up into monthly payments that youll pay to your lender with your mortgage bill each month. The money for your property taxes is put into an escrow and the lender will pay your property taxes when theyre due. Some lenders also collect homeowner’s insurance payments this way. When your mortgage is paid off, youll be responsible for paying property taxes on your own.

You can also pay your taxes directly to your county tax collector or the appropriate government office that collects them.

Why Your Lender Cares
As part of your loan provisions, your lender will require you to pay property taxes when due. If you dont, it could consider that a default and foreclose on your property. Making all of your mortgage payments on time wont make up for missing a property tax payment, at least in theory.

Why does a lender care so much that you pay your property taxes on time? Because if theyre unpaid and the tax assessor (the county) puts a lien on the property, then the property cant be sold until the taxes are paid. Those unpaid property taxes hold more power over a lien than any other rights the lender has.

If the lender gets the property back through foreclosure, it will have to pay the unpaid property taxes” and thats a cost lenders dont want to bear.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Owning a pet can teach children important values that can help them throughout life.

Giving and receiving unconditional love can teach acceptance and build self-confidence and trust.

Recognizing and addressing a pet’s needs can build responsibility and compassion.

Teaching a pet a new skill can help kids with patience and perseverance.

Understanding how animals communicate can help children understand human nonverbal communication.

Growing up with pets can teach kids not to fear unfamiliar experiences.

The death of a pet can help children learn to grieve in healthy ways.

Before you get a pet, consider the amount of time and money required to care for it and your family’s lifestyle.

Published with permission from RISMedia.