The Federal Housing Administration announced that it will raise premiums by 10 basis points, or 0.1%, on most of the new mortgages it insures. A 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with 5% or more down will now require an annual insurance premium of 1.3% of the outstanding balance. A mortgage with less than 5% down will require a premium of […]
Mortgage Fees Are Increasing Read More »
DQNews posted a summary and numbers on Feb 6, 2013 discussing that the number of homes purchased without financing is at a record high. “Cash purchases accounted for a record 32.4 percent of California’s overall home sales last year, up from 30.4 percent in 2011 and more than double the annual average of 15.6 percent
Record Number of Homes Bought With Cash in 2012 Read More »
From time to time neighbors discover that a fence between their properties is not located on the true property line. California allows a fence to establish the property boundary if the true boundary is not known (imagine a twisting property line following a no longer existing road) and if the adjacent landowners agree to the
Do Fences Establish Boundary Lines? Read More »
Most homeowners are very aware that mortgage interest can often be a deduction from their income taxes. The maximum outstanding mortgage debt for which interest is deductible is $1 million. The maximum outstanding home equity debt for which interest is deductible is $100,000. http://www.irs.gov/publications/p936/ar02.html Deductions for premiums for mortgage insurance (PMI) are not as well
Tax Savings of Home Ownership Read More »
The improving job market should continue to drive demand for housing up in 2013. The Milken Institute ranked the San Jose – Sunnyvale – Santa Clara metropolitan area as the #1 ranked city for creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth in 2012. This metropolitan area was ranked #51 in 2011. The economic downturn of
Rising Home Prices in 2013 ? Read More »
