Q: I purchased land in 2003 and obtained a title insurance policy from one of the most prominent title insurance companies in the country. Additional title searches and policies were issued when I obtained a construction loan and a loan modification in 2005. We decided to refinance our loan and the fourth title search by [...]
Q: This isn’t really a question. I just figured that you seldom find out how situations you're asked about actually turn out, so I want to tell you about mine. A couple of years ago I asked you if it mattered that my name was spelled wrong every year on my property tax assessment notices. [...]
Q: The Hope Hotline is for people who are trying to avoid foreclosure, not refinancing. We are not able to direct the people to any lender for assistance with HARP! You need to advise your readers and radio show listeners to wait for approximately a month to allow the lenders to get their systems in [...]
Q: How do we decide if we should do the remodel or not and how much to ask for our house? If we haven’t found a house yet, when should we put the property up for sale? My husband and I (and our two boys age 6 and 9) would like to move. We bought [...]
It’s bad enough having to face paying a fortune in taxes—there’s no reason to also get stuck paying penalties when filing taxes. Yet many people just don’t review their financial status or withholding during the year—and they end up coming up short over and over again. Although the IRS offers a delicious menu of penalties [...]
Last minute tax tips for the 2012 tax filing season. The IRS is offering Free File this year which may allow homeowners and other tax payers to file electronically at no charge. We're now just one week out from the IRS' 2012 deadline of April 17 for the filing of personal income tax returns. And [...]
I recently read a report suggesting that if you are not saving at least 10 percent of your gross income, then your chances of outliving your nest egg in retirement are great—very great. What does this mean for your retirement strategy? When your employer offers a matching contribution to your retirement fund, you have an [...]
A good friend once told me, “Free is worth the paper it’s written on.” You’ve likely heard all the warnings about how there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Is this equally true when it comes to free tax preparation and tax filing services? Let me give you some good news—there really are some [...]
It's Easter Sunday with taxes due in just nine days. My guests this week include Enrolled Agent and owner of Brookwood Tax Service, LLC, Chet Burgess, Merry Brodie, an Enrolled Agent and owner of several Jackson Hewitt Franchises in the Atlanta area, and Bill Nemeth, an Enrolled Agent who is president of the Georgia Association of [...]
After 20 years of working with the same clients, it still astonishes me that every year the very same people forget to bring the very same documents to me when they are filing taxes. One of the nice things about working with a tax pro is the organization that he or she can offer you. [...]
