Do Not Get Caught With an Unexpected Tax Bill Because of the 2018 Capital Gains Rules!

The House and Senate income tax reform bills offer a lot of changes to many tax payers.  Many are debating the pros versus cons of tax reform.  The main goal of the reform appears to be to help the American tax payers and further stimulate the economy.  One potential area of concern in both tax reform proposals deals with the capital gains tax on the sale of real estate.  First of all, we are not representing this as tax advice or that we are tax professionals.  Rather, we want to share types of questions or topics that sellers, Realtors, CPA’s, mortgage professionals, and more should discuss.  Plus, this discussion should take place before listing the home…

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2018 FHA Loan Limits Increases Homeownership Opportunities for Buyers

After the recent announcement of the conforming loan limits increase, FHA has now announced their own increase.  Housing prices have continued to climb which is a good thing to owners, but can be a struggle for home buyers.  As a buyer sits on the sidelines as a renter or living with family, prices are rising.  This affects housing payment affordability.  In order to combat this potential roadblock for homebuyers and keep up with the price increases,  FHA loan limits are increasing for 2018.

HUD Announcement Takes Place on January 1, 2018fha loan limits 2018

As stated on the HUD.gov website, FHA issued Mortgagee Letter 17-16 that increases FHA loan limits.  These new limits are effective…

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6 Reasons to Get Your Certificate of Eligibility Before Buying

In order to get a VA loan, it is important to make sure that the Veteran is first eligible for VA.  Often, we are able to get the VA Certificate of Eligibility for the Veteran within a couple minutes online.  But, there are times that this information is not available online.  Therefore a Veteran has a couple of options:  With certain documentation provided up-front, we can request the COE from VA.  Also the Veteran may request the COE directly from the Department of Veteran Affairs.  Either way, there are at least 6 reasons to obtain the VA COE prior to going under contract.  The following can cause delays at minimum, but may also potentially cause a cancelled contract.  So, let’s…

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2018 Conforming Loan Limits Increase Helps More Buyers Qualify

It has just been announced that conforming loan limits 2018 will increase significantly.  The good news is this will help more buyers with affordable financing.  Affordable financing means great rates and lower down payments, but up to higher loan amounts.  Basically, the surging home prices across the country have allowed the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to increase loan limits twice in 2 years.  Prior to the 2017 loan limit increase, it had been over 10 years since the last increase.  Most experts believe home prices are expected to climb even more.  So, buyers may consider buying sooner rather than later.  Conversely, sellers may want to do the opposite.  Yet, if a seller…

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