Although putting a professional inspection contingency in the contract will help protect you from surprises, doing your own inspection before making an offer could save you considerable time and money. How can you tell if a property is worth buying? Here’s how to look at the big picture—for structural concerns, major repairs that are needed, […]
Although the summer months are a favorite for so many of us, homeowners can get stressed by the skyrocketing energy bills as your struggle to keep things cool inside the house. If you want to cut back on how much you’re spending on utility bills, a few behavioral strategies can make a huge difference. Consider […]
There’s a good chance that the profit from your home sale will not be taxable. Unmarried individuals can exclude up to $250,000 in profits from capital gains tax when they sell their primary personal residences, thanks to a home sales exclusion provided for by the Internal Revenue Code. Married taxpayers can exclude up to $500,000 […]
On a recent weeknight, Dahlia and Adam Brown came home to their spacious Colonial on a quiet cul-de-sac in Marietta, Ga. The Browns both work demanding jobs and have two young sons. They bought the house in June using Knock, a company that’s trying to revolutionize the real-estate industry with a “home trade-in platform” making […]
Whether you’re selling your home or refinancing, one of the next essential steps will be to get a home appraisal. Initiated by the lender and usually paid for by the buyer, a home appraisal is essentially an expert’s opinion of what your home is worth. The appraisal assures the lender that the buyer, or borrower, […]
Being asked to serve as an executor or a trustee for a family member’s estate is certainly an honor, but it’s also a considerable responsibility. Knowing and understanding your responsibilities — and asking the right questions — can help you be prepared. Here are five things you need to know now if you’ve been asked […]
Funerals rank among the most expensive purchases many consumers will ever make. A traditional funeral costs about $7,000, although “extras” like flowers, obituary notices, acknowledgment cards and limousines can bring the total to well over $10,000. Moreover, people often “overspend” on a funeral or burial because they think of it as a reflection of their […]
Mortgage debt may qualify to be excluded from income under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act. This law provides that certain types of canceled mortgage debt can be excluded from taxes. This exclusion is important for people whose homes have been foreclosed, or who sold their house short, or who restructured their mortgage. Read the […]
To see if your name appears in a database, you can request a report from a company that provides tenant-screening data, such as CoreLogic, TransUnion or On-Site. Just give them a call. It generally costs $15-$20, but can run up to $50, a fee that many landlords pass on as part of the lease application […]
You may have heard that limited liability companies, or LLCs, have fewer recordkeeping requirements than corporations. But if you have formed an LLC, you might now be wondering exactly what those requirements are. Your state’s LLC laws may list certain documents and information that LLCs must keep at their headquarters. But the documents you must […]