Tax Benefits of Homeownership

Buying a home can result in a big tax break every year, among other benefits.
In terms of investments, purchasing a home is probably the biggest one you will ever make. Moreover, it can be the wisest, due partly to a number of tax advantages the government has instituted to encourage homeownership. These benefits can help reduce the cost of buying and owning a home and leave you with more money when it's time to sell. Because tax rules vary based on income and other factors, you should consult an accountant or financial advisor for advice on your particular tax situation.

Deducting mortgage interest
One of the biggest incentives to owning a home is that the interest you pay on your mortgage is tax-deductible, up to a limit of $1 million. This deduction, like most other tax breaks for homeowners, applies to any kind of home. That includes a second home, as long as you spend a certain amount of time there: either 14 days each year, or 10% as much time as it's rented.

In addition, you can deduct the interest on up to $100,000 of other debt that uses your home as security such as a home equity loan. However, the amount you can deduct may be limited if the money you borrow raises your debt above the home's actual market value. This can sometimes happen when a lender extends you a loan based on more than the value of the house.

You can also deduct any amount you pay for points to reduce the interest rate of your mortgage or other loan linked to your home. In most cases, the points on a mortgage to buy or build your principal home can be deducted fully in the first year. However, if you refinance, take a home equity loan, or a loan secured by a second home, the points must be deducted over the life of the new loan. The exception is if you use part of a refinanced mortgage to improve your house; that portion of the points can be deducted in the same year.
Tax-free profits
Another major advantage of homeownership is that, in most cases, you don't have to pay taxes on any profit you make when you sell your home. The law allows you to exclude from taxes up to $250,000 in profit from the sale of your principal home -- $500,000 for a couple who file jointly. This exclusion also covers the sale of a parcel of land adjacent to your house, unless it's used for business.

There are some stipulations, however. The home must be your principal residence, and you (and your spouse, where applicable) must have lived there for at least two of the previous five years. You can only claim the exemption once every two years. If you don't meet those requirements, you may still claim a partial exemption if the sale was due to a change in your place of employment, necessary for health reasons, or due to other unforeseen circumstances.

Don't forget property taxes
You can claim property taxes you pay as an income tax deduction. This applies to both your principal home and any others you may own. Any money held in escrow to pay future taxes, however, is not deductible.

Write off your moving costs
The government allows you to write off many of your moving costs when you buy a new home if it's at least 50 miles closer to your job than your old home. To qualify, you must continue to work full-time in the general area of your job for 39 weeks during the following year. If you're self-employed and work in your home, any move of 50 miles or more will make your moving expenses deductible. However, you must also work full-time near the new location for 78 weeks during the next 24 months.

Of course, because tax rules vary based on income and other factors, be sure to consult an accountant or financial advisor about your particular situation.

http://www.homeloancenter.com/Articles/Mortgage-Advice/Tax-Benefits-of-Homeownership.aspx

Home Buying Tips

Purchasing a new home may have you climbing the walls, but with our help and the tips we provide below, you should be well on your way to a stress-free home purchase.

Steps to Home Ownership
Between your real estate agent and the help of our expert home mortgage team here at HomeLoanCenter.com, there is very little for you to do. In the meantime, take a few minutes to read over the 8 simple steps to owning your home.
Keys to Your Home Loan
Researching & Budgeting
Determining Your Price Range
Home Purchase Pre-Approval
Create a Wish List For Your Home

Search For a Home
Make an Offer on a Home
Lock-In Your Interest Rate
Close & Own Your Home

Researching & Budgeting
Before you begin home shopping, it helps to figure out your budget. That way there are no surprises later on, and you can fully enjoy home ownership rather than look at it as an overwhelming burden.

To determine your purchasing power, you need to consider the following things such as monthly income, monthly debts, down payment amount, loan closing costs, and your credit history. For help, you can use any of these easy calculators and tools that HomeLoanCenter.com has developed to assist you in your research:

Mortgage Calculators
Rent vs. Own Calculator
Monthly Payment Calculator
Payment Affordability Calculator

Home Purchase Tools
Home Buying FAQs
Get Pre-Approved
Find a Real Estate Agent

Determing Your Price Range
Pre-qualifying for a particular home loan amount helps your real estate agent focus your home search so you only look at homes that fit within your price range. In fact, many real estate agents require either a pre-qualification letter or a certificate of pre-approval before showing you a home. You can pre-qualify in a couple of minutes by speaking with one of our mortgage specialists, or by applying right here online. You won't have to supply any supporting documentation until you actually start the home loan process. HomeLoanCenter.com simply uses your information here to quickly determine how much you can afford to borrow so we can send you a pre-qualification letter right away.

HomeLoanCenter.com provides a no-cost, no-obligation pre-qualification letter online in minutes, or you may contact one of our experienced home loan specialists to obtain a pre-qualification letter. Get a Pre-Qualification Letter Online

Home Purchase Pre-Approval
A pre-approval certificate is the best way of demonstrating your ability to purchase a home. Pre-approval offers are also given stronger consideration by a seller than pre-qualification letters. To issue you a pre-qualification certificate, your mortgage specialist will ask you for documentation such as W-2 forms, paycheck stubs, and bank account statements, and then run your credit report to establish credit worthiness. Once that's complete, and everything checks out okay, your letter can be in your hands so you can submit the best offer for your next home.

What Documents Do I Need?
Get Pre-Approved for a New Home

Create a Wish List For Your Home
To ensure that your new home meets your needs, we've created a checklist to help you identify and prioritize features you want. With this checklist, you can also organize all the key people involved in your home purchase process. Download Home Finding Checklist

Search For a Home
Now we get to the fun part - searching for your ideal home! You can browse the homes for sale at various online websites, in the classified section of your local newspaper, visit open houses, or find a real estate agent. A real estate agent not only has access to homes not always advertised in the paper, but will help you locate homes that meet your exact price, size and other criteria. HomeLoanCenter.com can help you find a real estate agent in your area and help you earn up to $2000 cash. Learn More

About Home Purchase Loans
Make an Offer on a Home
Typically, the homebuyer or real estate agent will present an offer to the seller or their representative that includes the following information:

. The proposed offer price
. Seller concessions (if applicable)
. Financing contingencies (if applicable)
. Home inspection contingencies (if applicable)
. A specific outline of what is to be included in the sale of the home
. The "earnest money" deposit amount to be tendered with the offer

After the seller reviews your offer, it will either be accepted, rejected, or turned into a counter-offer. Any change to an offer is considered a counter-offer. An offer does not become a contract until both you and the seller (including all parties to the transaction) accept it. After acceptance, you and the seller will sign a home purchase agreement to finalize the deal.

Lock-In Your Rate
After signing a home purchase agreement, you're ready to lock-in an interest rate. This freezes your interest rate and protects you against market fluctuations for a specific time period. HomeLoanCenter.com offers instant pre-approval and same-day lock-in for 40 days. You can count on getting the best rate available from HomeLoanCenter.com.

Closing
After locking-in your rate, your team of mortgage specialists will go to work to close your home loan in conjunction with all third-party vendors. A processing specialist will schedule an appraisal and make certain that your file is complete and ready for final underwriting review. While all of this is going on, your escrow and title companies are working to gather the proper paperwork and approvals. Once all escrow conditions are met, your home loan is ready to fund, record, and close. The home is yours!

http://www.homeloancenter.com/HomePurchase/HomeBuyingTips.aspx

First Time Home Buyer

Being a first time home buyer brings with it many personal and financial advantages. By committing to home ownership, you have achieved a common dream, and you have earned the right to benefit from your hard work. Find out here all the ways you benefit financially from being a first time home buyer.

Save Money at Tax Time
Homeowners are rewarded by the federal government, and by many state governments. As a homeowner, you can deduct your mortgage interest and property tax obligations every April 15. And, since most of your mortgage payment goes toward interest in the first few years of home ownership, it's like the government is paying you to buy a house!

Invest Wisely
A home is one of the most secure investments you can find. The national median home price has increased steadily since 1968 when the National Association of REALTORS® started recording and reporting home prices. Even during times of recession, war and home sales declines, prices have climbed steadily upward. If you stay in your home, or keep your home for investment property, you'll likely earn some pretty significant capital gains on your initial investment!

Building Home Equity
Home equity accounts for the portion of your home or property that you actually own, and as you make your mortgage payments every month, your equity continues to rise. You can consider it as a type of savings account, where your house continues to appreciate, and your loan amount continues to decline. Your equity is that difference between the property value and your outstanding loan amount. Therefore, you actually make money as you continue to pay off your mortgage! You certainly can't say that about paying rent.

Learn More About Home Equity Loans
Home Equity Line of Credit
Home Equity Installment Loan

Establish Strong Credit
Buying a home can help people with less-than-perfect, or even bad credit, rebuild their financial standing. By making mortgage payments on time every month, a homeowner can establish another level of credit history. Timely repayments establish your reputation as a positive risk for lenders, meaning that you improve your credit every time you make a payment on time.

Gain Immediate Borrowing Power
Even if you are one of the fortunate buyers who find your dream house early in your life, the equity you build in your home still comes in handy. You can use it to secure a loan or get a line of credit to make home improvements, pay for college, finance an emergency, or even to take a dream vacation. You can even build on your homeownership experience by buying investment property with your equity. Homeownership gives you options.

About Home Purchase Loans

Financial Stability
One of the biggest rewards of being a first time home buyer is the financial stability you have. On a fixed rate mortgage, you know exactly what your payment is for up to 30 years. Even on an adjustable rate mortgage, you have a cap on your rate, and so you can figure out what your maximum possible payment would be. Renters do not have the luxury of knowing with certainty what they will be paying next year, or five years from now. Also, something many people find is that once they buy a home, everything else falls into place, financially and within the community. When you buy a home, you buy a share in your community.

Ready to Be a Homeowner? Apply Now
While buying a home may not be the right decision for everyone, being a first time home buyer does give you certain advantages. To find out whether first time home ownership is for you, try out our Rent vs Own Calculator.

http://www.homeloancenter.com/HomePurchase/FirstTimeHomeowners.aspx

Buying home appliances the smart way

When you add up all the money that you can spend on home appliances and fixtures it becomes obvious that you need to spend wisely and carefully to keep costs under control. These items tend to be some of the larger ticket purchases around the home and lots of money can be wasted if buying isn't done properly.

One of the most important suggestions for buying appliances and fixtures the smart way is to decide before you begin shopping exactly how much money you wish to spend, or what will fit in your budget. Surprisingly, this is often not done until the customer is already in the store. Unfortunately, the heart often takes over when looking over the latest high-tech gadgets and features on the item being considered and results in the purchase of a much more expensive item than is truly needed. So take some time to decide exactly what your spending limit is before you even begin to shop and then stick to your guns on that decision all the way through the buying process.

It's also a good idea to research your buy before you start looking at actual products themselves. These days there are many consumer publications that help you make a wise choice on a broad range of consumer items, including home appliances and fixtures. They extensively test the major brands and give their unbiased opinions on a wide variety of features and issues related to each product. This is valuable information that can't be had almost anywhere else, so take good advantage of it. You can find most of these publications available for free at your local library. This kind of research will also help you decide in advance exactly which features are most important to you and which should be avoided as unnecessary expenses, in other words, invest your hard-earned money into essentials not features. Always opt for better quality over more features too.

Don't just assume that buying locally is the smartest move either. Sometimes, the same item can be found online at a much lower price than is possible locally and you can often even avoid sales tax on an online purchase too. Be careful though and determine how much installation is needed for any item you make and factor installation costs in with any purchase that doesn't include those costs in the purchase price.

It may seeem like a simple thing, but be sure to measure very carefully to determine that the item you want to buy will fit in the space that you have designated for it in your home. Surprisingly, this is something that is often overlooked until the delivery of the product and can result in plenty of unnecessary aggravation. Just get the measuring tape out in advance and know the space required to save this headache from happening to you.

Finally, consider the warranty on the items you want to buy. Be sure to ask questions in advance so that you know what the warranty will cover and how long it will last. Also, will you have to send the appliance out to be repaired under warranty or is home repair covered under the warranty contract?

If you follow these simple, effective guidelines, buying home appliances and fixtures will be a breeze and you will make smart purchases that will last and give you good service for many years.

About the Author

Duane Lipham is the senior editor of http://www.kitchens.dlbws.comwhere you can find free information and advice on kitchen design and finding the right kitchen products and appliances at the lowest price possible.

Virtual Shopping For Your Real New Home

The Internet has opened many possibilities for people. We can buy things online, get to know people who are far away from us, talk to friends, or get the information we need.
When you are searching for the house of your dreams, you probably know that you will visit a few houses before making up your mind. The procedure of buying a home is lengthy, tiresome and pricy. Have you ever considered going online for buying a home? If not, you should, because there are many valuable offers that you shouldn’t miss.
You can save a lot of time and energy by looking for the home you need on the Internet. The majority of the homebuilders have established websites, which will help you find the very home you long for. These sites will make your life much easier. Just imagine that you will be able to make a virtual tour in all the houses you are interested in, and it won’t be necessary for you to go to all the locations yourself.

Here is how it’s done: First, you access a new home selling website. Next, you introduce some keywords that include the state and the city where you want your house to be, your requirements in number of rooms and baths, the approximate amount of money you are willing to spend etc. Then, just leave the rest to the website- you will be presented with all possible offers from the area you’ve called for. The majority of the home-selling websites will give you a detailed description of the house, photos from the outside and from the inside. The most updated websites will also offer you the possibility to take a virtual tour inside the house, so it will feel just as if you were actually visiting the house. You will also get a map of the area, so you know exactly where the house is located and the surroundings of your future house.

In this way, you will be able to view numerous houses in a small amount of time. The Internet gives you the advantage of being able to visit houses at every hour of the day or night. Did you imagine that you would be able to find a home is less than one day? This is achievable due to the home-selling websites. Plus, you won’t spend time going to all the locations.

So, when you want to buy a new home, there’s nothing easier and more advantageous than searching the Internet for homebuilder websites. You will find the suitable house shortly. Remember, you are just a few clicks away from the keys to your new home.

About the Author

If you are looking for New Homes in Phoenix, Arizona, you will have an easy time finding your perfect house by accessing Phoenixnewhomes.net
Additional information on Phoenix, Arizona New Home Builders is also available.

Wicker and Amish - A Perfect Combination

The arrangement of furniture articles in a well decorated home could translate into a prized possession. The combination of furniture pieces with different content plays a vital role in the entire scheme of things. You must be astute in selecting the perfect combination for your drawing room. A room with all-wooden stylish Amish furniture might seem royal but out of place to the demands of the modern homes. Similarly, all-wrought iron furniture or all-wicker furniture can make your ideal drawing room quite boring.

Combination is the order of the day. A good combination can achieve what expensive single-content furniture cannot. Wicker and Amish furniture make for a very intelligent furniture combo. Firstly, wicker furniture presents cost-effectiveness. Amish made furniture is stylish and therefore, a bit expensive. Having said that, beautiful Amish handcrafted furniture is an ideal choice for the drawing room of any age. By its very nature, the articles made from Amish Oak furniture are suitable for traditional as well as modern lifestyles.

For starters, wicker represents a process rather than the products or materials. It is a process to weave rods of reed, rattan, cane, grass, willow and split bamboo into the objects of desire that decorate your living and other rooms. Therefore, like Amish furniture, wicker furniture also dwells on quality craftsmanship instead of presenting gaudy and inferior stuff. Another advantage that wicker furniture offers is its durability and less maintenance. Wicker furniture is more resistant to sunlight and other weather related issues with the furniture. That's why wicker furniture also makes out a perfect case for outdoor furniture.

Wicker furniture items are also easy to maintain. Usually, a vacuum cleaner does the job of cleaning and dusting with excellent results. The spills and stains can easily be wiped off by using a clean cloth or any good quality stain remover easily available in the market. Cushions on wicker chairs not only add comfort levels but also lend longevity to the furniture by preventing it from over-exposure.

Wicker furniture is available in all colors, shapes and sizes, which make it easier for a selection based on combination with Amish furniture. There is no uniformity in the pricing of wicker furniture in the market these days. This is because of varied business practices being followed by the dealers. There are retailers, wholesalers, direct suppliers, online furniture stores, furniture showrooms, mall-based furniture dealers etc. Based on the profit margin, dealers offer different price for their products. So, it is advisable to undertake a thorough market research to avail best bargain on offer.

You should also show some innovation in buying furniture. For instance, you can let the dealer know that your requirements are combination furniture and you will need regular supplies for your home needs. This will keep the dealer interested and he would actually offer handsome discounts in the hope of having a long-term client. This is just one tip for smart buying. You can actually talk to your peer group and hear for yourself the kind of techniques people adopt to strike a good deal.

About the Author

The author finds wicker and Amish furniture perfect for her exteriors and interiors. Amish made furniture adds a royal touch to any room. For great deals and discounts be sure to check out some wholesale Amish furniture outlets online.

Applying for a Mortgage:

The following is a list of documents generally required when applying for a home loan. For a fast and easy loan process, have the following items available when you talk to one of our Home Loan Experts:

Having the necessary financial documentation ready when you talk to a Quicken Loans Home Loan Expert will speed up the mortgage process.

Quicken Loans has exclusive loan options for people with special financial situations such as being self-employed or paid on commission.

Your Home Loan Expert can answer any questions you may have, and help you determine what documentation you'll need for your specific situation.
1. Credit History

When you apply for a mortgage, Quicken Loans must access your credit report to know how credit worthy (or risky) you are as a borrower. The higher your credit score, the more likely that you will qualify for a larger loan, better loan options, and/or a more favorable interest rate . In order to access your credit report, we'll need to know your Social Security number and date of birth.
2. Signed Purchase Agreement

The purchase agreement is the contract between home buyer and home seller that defines the terms and conditions of the sale. It's possible to get approved based on your income and asset information, but having a signed purchase agreement makes the process faster and easier.
3. Proof of Income

In order for us to be sure that you are able to make your mortgage payments, we need to see proof that you have a source of income. You'll usually be required to show original pay stubs for the last 30 days. You may also show two years' worth of W-2s (see #4 below), a verification of employment (VOE) or two years' worth of tax returns. How you prove your income can differ based on your situation, and what home loan is best for you. Your Home Loan Expert will explain what type of proof of income you'll need to show.
4. Copies of Your W-2 Forms
Advantage1st No Doc Home Loan

Your W-2 forms will help your lender verify that you are employed and will show your income history.
5. Copies of Asset Information

To qualify for a mortgage, you need to be able to show that you have some money for the closing costs. Acceptable sources of funds may come from other homes with equity ; a savings or checking account; proceeds from the sale of a house; stocks, bonds, mutual funds, a 401k or a money market account; or gift funds. For some home loans, you may need to show statements and/or investment records for these accounts.
6. Copy of Your Earnest Money Deposit

The earnest money deposit is a deposit made by a buyer towards the down payment in evidence of good faith when the purchase agreement is signed. The deposit becomes part of the down payment if the offer is accepted, is returned if the offer is rejected, or is forfeited if the buyer pulls out of the deal. Be ready to show a copy of the earnest money deposit if asked.
7. Copy of Homeowners Insurance

Just like when you show proof on insurance when buying a car, you have to have homeowner's insurance to verify that you'll have sufficient coverage on the property when getting a mortgage. Homeowners insurance covers any damages that may affect the home's value.
8. Copy of Title Insurance

Title insurance protects a buyer against any errors in the title of the property. Having a copy of your title insurance will help verify the legal description of the property, the taxes, and the names on the title.

Once you've begun the loan process, your Home Loan Expert will let you know exactly what documentation you'll need to get approved.

If you would like to learn more about the process of getting a home loan, call us at 800-251-9080 to talk to a Home Loan Expert.

http://www.quickenloans.com/mortgage/articles/home_buying.html?lid=3713