Monthly Archives: December 2009

When you obtain a referral from our real estate agent or broker for a lender, mortgage broker, inspector or attorney, should that person owe a duty of loyalty to you or to the real estate agent? Most home sellers and home buyers would agree that the lender, mortgage broker, inspector and attorney should owe a duty of loyalty to the person that has hired them. In some cases, well intentioned lenders, mortgage brokers, attorneys and inspectors might divulge information to the real estate brokers in a transaction that the owner or buyer had not intended on having them know.

Mortgage Loan Modification Hell? Here's What The Obama Administration Is Doing To Help You. The Obama Administration kicked off its nationwide campaign to help borrowers who are in the trial phase of mortgage modification get their loans converted to permanent modification status. The goal is to have at least 375,000 borrowers converted to permanent loan modification status by the end of the year. HUD will introduce new tools and outreach to get borrowers to send in complete mortgage loan documentation.

Ilyce Glink Show Notes - December 6, 2009 Special tax show today. We have Merry Brodie, Bill Nemeth, and Chet Burgess from the Georgia Association of Enrolled Agents answering your tax questions. Merry, Bill and Chet each complete hundreds of tax returns each year, and Merry's company completes 10,000 tax returns each tax year. Don't forget to sign up for my free weekly newsletter. We'll be announcing the next ThinkGlink event this week. And, we've got the week's financial news, including the new unemployment rate, six more banks fail bringing the total to 130 and $100 billion in cost, the lowest mortgage interest rates in 50 years, and the IRS announced it mileage reimbursement.

Energy Tax Credits: Do I Quality for a Home Or Business Energy Tax Credit? Tax credit release from the IRS includes information on key energy tax credit provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) that might impact taxpayers: Residential energy Property Tax Credit; Residential Energy Efficient Property Tax Credit; Plug-In Electric Drive Vehicle Tax Credit; Plug-In Electric Vehicle Tax Credit; Conversion Kits Tax Credit; Motor Vehicle Credit as a Personal Tax Credit Allowed Against AMT; Clean Renewable Energy Bonds; Energy Conservation Bonds; Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit, and other tax credits

Tax Tips From The ThinkGlink Tax Team

Merry Brodie, Enrolled Agent and CPA, Bill Nemeth, Enrolled agent, and Chet Burgess, Enrolled Agent and president of the Georgia Association of Enrolled Agents (4gaea.org) joined us on the Ilyce Glink show today. We talked about Cancellation of Debt, New Tax Credits For Education, Net Operating Loss, Home Buyer Tax Credits, Energy Tax Credits, and the Unemployment Tax Credit.

IRS Announces 2010 Standard Mileage Rates. The IRS issued the 2010 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. The standard mileage rates are optional.

With only a few of the thousands that have applied for loan modifications under the Obama Making Home Affordable Plan, some borrowers have become skeptical that lenders truly want to modify loans. Some borrowers believe that lenders are willing to take government money and run without approving loan modifications. Why can't lenders move faster on these loan modifications? Why are so few loan modifications approved under the Making Home Affordable Plan?

When is a good time to buy land? If you own land now and your neighbor offers you his or her property, would you buy it? If you have a choice between buying land and putting your money into any other investment, would it be wise to put more money into real estate? A reader has some of these questions in mind when he asks whether he should buy neighboring property that is available to him.

The real estate market is still in crisis. FHA reserves are falling and the FHA needs for determine how to handle its loan portfolio and future loans. With the continuing high unemployment rate, more homeowners are at risk of losing their homes. With more homes going into foreclosure, FHA stands to lose more money. What will FHA do to in the ever changing real estate market?

Interest rates are at an all time low. This might be a great time to refinance a loan. If your loan is coming due soon or it is due to adjusts in the coming months, you might consider refinancing that loan. However, just because it's a great time to refinance, you might have other difficulties in trying to refinance your loan. One of those problems might be the value of your home. If the value of your home has declined, you might be unable to refinance.

If you have a low balance left on your loan, you may find that the costs of refinancing the loan may be too high to justify refinancing.