I read an interesting article about planning for retirement. This is a topic that I find very important. I’m not a financial planner, however as a Mortgage Professional I see a financial snapshot of what people have when applying for a mortgage. I concur with this article from CNBC, most people do not have enough money saved up for their golden years. [Read more…]
Retirement, random thoughts and your mortgage
May 3, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Financing a “multi-generational” home
June 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment
It’s becoming more common for families to have multiple generations living under the same roof. Some families opt to commit to buying a “multi-generational” home together designed to accommodate their lifestyle, whether it’s a home with an attached or detached dwelling unit (aka mother-in-law apartment) or even a home built specifically for generations to live together, there are options available for living with your parents and/or grown children. [Read more…]
Buying a home? You may want to delay filing your taxes right now.
April 10, 2017 by Leave a Comment
If you are in the market to buy or refinance your home around tax time, you might want consider filing an extension. This is because some lenders require taxes to be verified if a tax return has been filed. The IRS typically winds up taking several weeks to process verifications from lenders during this time of the year. This can potentially cause a delay with closing of some transactions. [Read more…]
My 50th Birthday!
March 21, 2017 by Leave a Comment
This past weekend, I celebrated my 50th birthday with family and friends. I have two (not much) younger sisters who love to ask “don’t you feel older” and my answer is typically “not really”. I’m actually pretty excited to be the big 5-0…beyond being able to join AARP! [Read more…]
Mortgage Insurance Tax Deductible for 2015 and 2016
December 23, 2015 by 2 Comments
I’m receiving gleeful emails from various private mortgage insurance companies announcing that mortgage insurance will once again be tax deductible. This is thanks to the PATH Act extending certain tax benefits to eligible home owners.
Mortgage Insurance Deductible through 2014
December 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment
You may have heard that last week, Congress passed and President Obama signed the 2014 Tax Increase Prevention Act. It has some good news for home owners who currently pay various forms of mortgage insurance. If you pay mortgage insurance, including private mortgage insurance (pmi), or VA, FHA or USDA forms of mortgage insurance during 2014, you may be able to deduct that on your 2014 income taxes.
Before you get too excited, this act does not extend the mortgage insurance deduction past 2014.
So if you are paying any form of mortgage insurance, especially if it’s private mortgage insurance or FHA mortgage insurance, it still makes sense to see if you can eliminate or reduce your payment with a refinance as you will not be able to deduct your mortgage insurance during 2015 (as things currently stand).
If I can help you with your refi or home purchase on property located anywhere in Washington state, please contact me!
Tips on how to save up for a down payment
December 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Get Rich Slowly recently posted How to Save Up for a Down Payment Fast. I’d like to respond to some of the ideas offered in GRS’s post from a Mortgage Professional’s viewpoint and offer my advice.
Here are some of the suggestions on How to Save Up for Down Payment Fast along with my 2 cents (in italics).
Mortgage Insurance loses tax deduction benefit in 2014
May 21, 2014 by 2 Comments
Over the past few years, home owners have enjoyed deducting private mortgage insurance (pmi) premiums from their income tax. This is also true for government forms of mortgage insurance (aka funding fee or guarantee fee) with FHA, VA and USDA mortgage loans. This benefit is coming to an end effective on 2014 tax returns.
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