Daily Archives: October 1, 2009
Transferring Home To Children When You Co-Own The Home With Them
Many parents want to transfer their home to their children during their lifetime, rather than wait until they have died and transfer the property by will. In some cases, transferring a home to a child when the parent is living may be a mistake. In other cases, if the planning is done right, the parent can get his or her wish of having the home pass on to the child during his or her lifetime without adverse tax consequences for the parent. When you co-own a home with your children, you need to be extra careful in the way you transfer your interest to them.
Death and Loans
A reader wants to know if he should pay back a debt to a person that gave him money as a personal loan but the loan was never documented. With the death of this person, is there a valid loan?
ARM Refinance May Be Required To Lock In Low Monthly Payment
If you have an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), the loan interest rate will adjust at the end of the fixed interest rate period for the loan. When the ARM does adjust, the amortization of the loan will continue in order to have you pay off the loan in full at the end of the loan term. If your ARM was a loan for 30 years, the amortization schedule must work to get you to pay off the loan in full at the end of the 30th year.
Credit Reporting Agencies And Your Debts
Credit reporting agencies or bureaus collect information from thousands of sources.
Do the major credit reporting agencies obtain information from sources outside of the United States?
Do Equifax, Experian and TransUnion get that information from overseas?
Home Buying Risks, Pitfalls and Tips For New Construction Homes Part 2
Home buying has risks associated with it, particularly the purchase of a new construction home in a new development. There are pitfall all along the way. What should you do to protect yourself? How do you handle the uncertainty of buying a new construction home in a new development? One reader suggests that the buyer should share any risks in that new construction purchase with the lender that give the buyer the loan. Would you agree? What about municipal inspections and certificates of occupancy? The builder’s or developer’s reputation? What about using a real estate attorney? Leave your comment below.
$8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Has Time Requirement
Most people know that the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit will expire at the end of the day on November 30, 2009. Most people know that the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit is only for home buyers that have not owned a home during the p3 years prior to the date of the home purchase and have an income below $75,000, if single, or $150,000, if married. They also might know that the first time home buyer credit can’t be taken if your income is above those amounts (it phases out), or if you buy a home from a close relative. Now we get a question from a reader that wants to know if he gets the credit, will he get caught if he does not plan to live in the home as his primary residence for the required 3 years following the purchase.
Quit Claim Deeds and Divorce: Better To Refinance Mortgage After Divorce
Signing a quit claim deed upon a divorce can be a mistake. You are much better off refinancing the mortgage after the divorce than letting your ex-spouse control the home by giving him or her title to the home using a quit claim deed. There are other options at the time of the divorce other than a quit claim deed. Years later you may find out that you will be hurt because you gave a quit claim deed when you divorced and now your ex-spouse has incurred additional debts and has harmed your credit history and your credit score.
Transferring Home To Children When There Is Mortgage Trouble: What To Do With The Family Farm
A son works the family farm. Now his father is in mortgage trouble on another property. The son wants to know about transferring the home to himself now to avoid the loss of the family farm. He has worked the family farm for some time and his father’s will intends on transferring the home to him upon his death.
