Archive for March, 2009

Your Tax and Your Mortgage

Monday, March 9th, 2009

Not very many homeowners ever stop to question if there is a real benefit to the deduction of mortgage interest. They assume because the your mortgage lenders play on the fact that mortgage interest is tax deductible and credit card interest is not, that they are being told the truth, and will see a real benefit from the deduction of mortgage interest. Well, let me be the first to say, yes there is probably a benefit to be had, is it the advantage that many lending institutions lead us to believe? Probably not.

Now, with the advent and continued growth of the interest only loan, the benefit has just swung in the taxpayer’s favor. But, is the trade-off worth the cost? Interest only loans mean to the average home owner that there mortgage debt will last longer, well past the number of years of a standard adjustable rate mortgage or fixed rate mortgage. Yes, the interest deduction is greater, but what is the cost of the missed opportunity to do something else with your money, 10 or 15 years from now? Will the tax benefit outweigh the financial cost of adding 10 or 15 years to the life of your mortgage?

Very few consumers are actually as tax savvy as they need to be, in the area of mortgage interest deduction and how to calculate actual savings. This means that very few consumers are actually aware of the real benefits and the real costs associated with their mortgage and their tax status. How can you determine the real benefit? It will require some effort on your part, in one of two ways: You can educate yourself about the tax and mortgage regulations, or you can seek the advice of a trusted financial advisor. The keyword here is trusted. You must take the time to establish a relationship with a financial advisor with whom you feel comfortable, and with whom you can communicate and trust.

The information that you provide to a financial advisor or tax analyst, will enable them to give you advice that fits your individual and unique situation. Every individual situation is different, and much of the tax benefit is dependent upon your individual income levels.

There is often a real seesaw in this relationship. In the early years, when your earnings are low, your tax benefit from mortgage interest paid is much greater. Then, as you age and your wage earning potential increases, your benefit from the mortgage interest deduction decreases. Unless of course, you can find a way to drastically reduce your adjusted gross income. Many individuals do this through the option of self-employment. This makes better use of your income dollars, and allows for a greater tax deduction on home mortgage interest.

The most important thing you can do for your financial health is to seek the advice of a trained professional, early in your adult life. Many decisions that you make during your twenties and early thirties will affect your financial health and your tax liability levels for 20 or 30 years to come. Your mortgage is one of those decisions.

Interest only loans, fixed rate mortgages, adjustable mortgages, or any of the other many options available to borrowers will have a different affect upon your individual situation. Many of these loans are structured to provide an imbalance of interest versus principal allotment of the payment total, during the first few years of the loan. The interest only loan is just that: all of your monthly payment is an interest payment on the principal. And yes, under the right conditions this is a truly great benefit when you file your income tax return; but the keyword is the “right” conditions. Otherwise, you’re not reaping the benefit you could possibly receive had you chosen a different loan option, or if your income levels were different.

I make no pretense that the American Tax System is a tangled web, and a maze of tax codes, laws, and regulations. But there is benefit to the mortgage interest and your tax liability, if you take the time to discover exactly what your options are, and how to best benefit from all the choices you have.

What is a Home Mortgage

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

Although this is a pretty straightforward question, how many individuals do you know that ever take the time to ask, and receive an answer? Not very many. More often than not, the question of a home mortgage isn’t pondered until there is a desire to purchase a home. For the purpose of this article, we’re simply going to examine the home mortgage, and the variations that exist in the mortgage market today.
A home mortgage is a loan furnished by lending institution to a buyer for the purpose of procuring residential property, are a home of which to live. It’s that simple, the definition is that simple; the actual process is anything but simple. How do you approach mortgage lenders and what information what you need to furnish?

Mortgage lenders today, thanks to all the federal regulation, default rates, and identity theft in existence require more information than ever before. The mortgage application is sometimes a 10 to 15 page application that will ask questions pertaining to your life years prior. Why does the mortgage company want history? The lender simply needs previous addresses, previous jobs, and previous education to gain greater insight and opportunity to know the borrower. It is not entirely impossible to steal someone’s identity, gain access to their current information, even from three to five years prior. What is impossible is to enter the mind of the individual and gain access to relevant work history or education history.

Generally, when you complete a mortgage application there’s also a mortgage application fee charged at the time you submit the application; why do the mortgage lending institutions charge an application fee? Mortgage companies charge a fee because it cost money to process application, and only serious applicant’s warrant the time and expense.

What other information will be necessary to furnish when completing the mortgage application? Generally a personal financial statement, the proposed mortgage amount, and any legal judgments against you such as bankruptcies, tax liens, or federal student loans will be requested at the time of application submission.
Now, what have the mortgage products are available to the mortgage borrower? The most often used mortgage product is the fixed rate mortgage; the next in line would be the adjustable rate mortgage, and the newest member of mortgage products would be the interest only loan. The interest only loan is gaining in popularity at an ever increasing and phenomenal rate of growth. The fixed rate mortgage provides the borrower with a fixed interest rate for a specified number of years, generally 10, 15, or 20 years as a set onthly payment.

The adjustable rate mortgage is exactly as it sounds; the interest rate for this type of mortgage is adjusted at set intervals generally no less than six months no more than 12 and the amount of the monthly payment will vary according to the adjusted interest rate. The interest only loan is quite frankly, the least consumer friendly of the three and today the most popular of the three. When you take at an interest only loan, you may payment of only interest for a specified number of months or years on a loan that has been amortized for a greater number of years, usually 20, and at the end of the interest only term, your payments will reflect interest and principal payment. It’s at this juncture that many homeowners cannot afford the interest and principal payment. That’s why this mortgage product is the least consumer friendly; it does however make the most profitable lending institution.

I believe you should now have a much clearer picture as to what a mortgage is, why you complete a mortgage application, and the basic mortgage products available. If you are considering the purchase of a home, please take a moment to visit a local lending institution, a local realtor, and the web site of the Housing and Urban Development Department. You, as a potential homeowner can never obtain too much information.

What are other resources that can be accessed to learn about the mortgage process and your available options? Get online, check out the advertised lending companies there; look at the information they ask for, the products they offer, and then do some comparison shopping. Often, you will learn as much about what you don’t want, as what you do want. Emerald Pendants

What Can You Do With a Second Mortgage

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

What can you do with a second mortgage, what can you not do with a second mortgage? There are so many options available for second mortgage money that we’re going to take an entire article and examine some of those options. Home improvement, college education, business ventures, even a luxury vacation is an option for your second mortgage money.

Let’s start with the more intelligent options: home improvements and college educations. Home improvements are often a necessity after several years of occupying your home; when you actually live in a home, everyday use of the home encourages wear and tear. Carpet, appliances, even the paint on the wall begins to need repair. How do you pay for that require? Operating on a fixed income does not leave room for extra repair expense, so how does the average homeowner afford such an expense? Second mortgages are the most feasible option when repairs are needed or expansion is necessary. The interest deduction on a second mortgage if the mortgage is used to increase the value of the entire home, execute repairs within the home or increase the size of the home is a completely tax-deductible interest expense.

What about college education funding? Until recently, the most affordable option for college funding and financing was the second mortgage. Over the course of the last 10 years, private student loans, increased government funding, and the increase in the nontraditional student enrollment have led to a decrease in second mortgage options as a funding option for education. It has not however completely eliminated the second mortgage is a way to pay for college education; and today many parents still find this option the more attractive, affordable, and as a whole, the least expensive option for college education funding. After all, we are simply trading an equity investment in our home, for an investment in our child’s future.

Now, let’s take a moment to talk about some of the riskier options for taking out a second mortgage or home. Sometimes, we need to take the step into business ownership; sometimes we lack the funding to take that step. The equity we’ve managed to establish in our homes is an excellent source for that funding but is it the best option for the funding? Sometimes the answers you sometimes the answer is no; at any rate it is quite often the option most exercised by would-be entrepreneurs. My suggestion here is this: if you’re taking the money to open a business that is a continuation of your business background, a business in which you have extensive experience and knowledge, then I believe you’re making a wise investment. Otherwise, I would not risk the equity and savings in my home.

Well, we looked at some of the better choices for taking a second mortgage, and we looked at some of the riskier choices for taking out second mortgages, but what about some of the just plain nonsense reasons for taking out second mortgage? What are some of those reasons? New cars, expensive vacations, or plastic surgery in my opinion would fall under nonsense reasons. But not according to the average consumer. Everyday, new cars, vacations, and plastic surgery take place at the expense of home equity savings. Or they legitimate uses of home equity in second-mortgage funding? Absolutely. Are they tax-deductible reasons? Probably not; but nonetheless, consumers use second mortgage money every day to pay for these choices.

The reasons given and listed here are but a very small few of the actual examples of consumers spending of the equity in their home. A second mortgage was a tool intended to aid the consumer and provide access to the equity in their home, equity could be used to increase the value of their home or make worthwhile contributions to their family life. And as usual, some consumers actually use the second mortgage for this reason; many consumers, don’t. The second mortgage option has become like many other options in this day in time, a fast way to spend our selves into deeper debt management.

At some point, the consumer will become ready to retire, retire to a home without a home mortgage payment. The way to accomplish this end is to build equity in a home and payoff the mortgage. That’s one thing you can’t do with as a mortgage. dc dentist, Debt Consolidation