Real Estate Information Archive

Current Mortgage Rates As Of Today: 30 Year Fixed Rate Is 5.00%. 

Brought To You By Randy Charlton Of Century 21 Home Realtors

Property Tax Defined
Property tax is a tax administered by local government districts. Tax rates vary from county to county and are based on a predetermined percentage of an annually assessed value of each individual property. Property taxes are paid in biannual installments.

Paying Property Taxes On Your New Home
Paying your first year of property taxes can be tricky, depending on when you close escrow on your new home. If your property is in escrow, and the sellers have just paid property taxes, then your agent should request proof of payment. Because it can take up to six weeks for a property tax payment to post, the preliminary title report may show that property taxes are still due. Proof of property tax payment by the seller will allow escrow to close successfully without a potential tax hold.

If you purchased your property between January and October, your property tax bill may be forwarded to the seller’s new address. If you do not receive your property tax bill by the middle of October, contact your County Tax Collector and request that a duplicate tax bill be sent to you. You are still obligated to pay your first property tax installment by the November 1st due date, even if you have not received a tax bill from the County.

If you close escrow near December 10th, and the seller has not yet paid property taxes, then the seller will need to make a check payable to the Tax Collector and forward it to the escrow holder. The escrow holder will see that the title company forwards it to the County. If the check does not clear by the escrow close date, then a hold may be required.

 

What Is an Impound Account?
An impound account is a convenient way for borrowers to ensure that their property tax and insurance payments are paid in a timely manner. Your lender can set up an impound account which will allow them to collect property tax and hazard insurance payments from you on a monthly basis. The impound payment is collected with your monthly mortgage principal and interest payment and is calculated by taking your yearly tax and annual insurance payment and amortizing it over 12 months, along with a mandatory pad of at least two additional months worth of payments for each. The lender will pay the County Tax Collector and the insurance company directly by drawing the property tax and the insurance premium from the account when the property tax installments are due (November and February) and when the insurance premium is due.

 Brought to you by Randy Charlton with Century 21 Home Realtors.

Whether you are looking for more space to raise a family or the perfect place to make your own, there are many advantages to owning your own home, ranging from the purely personal to the very practical.

For many people, the motivation for home ownership is primarily financial. Owning your own home is a first-rate investment for a number of reasons: 

Scheduled Savings
When you buy a house, your monthly mortgage payments serve as a type of scheduled savings plan. Over time you gradually accumulate what lenders call “equity,“ an ownership interest in the property that you can often borrow against or convert into cash by selling the house. In contrast, renters must continue paying rent to a landlord for as long as they rent, without the opportunity to build equity.

Stable Housing Costs
Another advantage to home ownership is that while rent typically increases year after year, mortgage payments can remain unchanged throughout the entire repayment period. In fact, because of the effect of inflation, over the years you pay the same amount but with devalued dollars. So, what may seem like a substantial payment now will become very affordable after cost-of-living increases.

Increased Value
Houses typically increase in value, or “appreciate,” over time. It’s not unusual to find a house that sold for $150,000 fifteen years ago to be valued at much more than that amount today. This increased value is as good as money in the bank to the homeowner.

Tax Benefits
Homeowners also get significant tax breaks that are not available to renters. Most importantly, interest paid on a home mortgage is usually deductible. This factor alone can save you a substantial amount each year in federal income taxes.

Brought to you by Randy Charlton with Century 21 Home Realtors. 

 

Below is a portion of a recent posting on the National Association of Realtors website. According to the NAR, homes sales for 2008 will increase slightly as the mortgage crunch slows.

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WASHINGTON, December 10, 2007 - Existing-home sales are projected to trend up in 2008, with pending home sales showing a slight near-term rise, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®.  However, a recovery for new-home sales is unlikely before 2009.

 

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the worst part of the credit crunch has already worked its way through the data.  “The unusual mortgage disruptions that peaked in August were clearly seen in lower home sales that were finalized in September and October, so the market was underperforming,” he said.  “Now that mortgage conditions have improved, some postponed activity should turn up in existing-home sales over the next couple of months, and I expect sales at fairly stable to slightly higher levels.”

Click here to read the entire article!

Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Realtors.

The oldest rule of investing: Buy low, sell high. With some housing markets bottoming out, now could be a good time to get ready to make money on the slowdown, says Business 2.0 magazine, which has worked with Moody’s Economy.com to identify 10 major metropolitan areas that are coming back to life after a slowdown.

The following is a list of the 10 metro areas identified by the magazine, including their projected median sales prices for single-family homes and the percentage of growth expected in the next two years. While the numbers are moderate, they are a huge improvement over what’s been happening in these cities and others, the magazine notes.

1. Dallas–Fort Worth
Q1 2008: $151,930
Q4 2009: $161,690
Growth rate: 6.4 percent

2. Indianapolis
Q1 2008: $122,940
Q4 2009: $130,630
Growth rate: 6.3 percent

3. New Orleans
Q1 2008: $153,850
Q4 2009: $162,600
Growth rate: 5.7 percent

4. Atlanta
Q1 2008: $177,750
Q4 2009: $187,640
Growth rate: 5.6 percent

5. Montgomery, Ala.
Q1 2008: $140,020
Q4 2009: $147,690
Growth rate: 5.5 percent

6. Memphis
Q1 2008: $143,550
Q4 2009: $150,730
Growth rate: 5 percent

7. Mobile, Ala.
Q1 2008: $134,580
Q4 2009: $140,920
Growth rate: 4.7 percent

8. Austin, Texas
Q1 2008: $186,350
Q4 2009: $195,060
Growth rate: 4.7 percent

9. Houston
Q1 2008: $154,850
Q4 2009: $161,910
Growth rate: 4.6 percent

10. St. Louis
Q1 2008: $143,920
Q4 2009: $149,710
Growth rate: 4 percent

Source: Business 2.0, Paul Kaihla (10/01/07)

Brought to you by Randy Charlton of Century 21 Home Reatlors.