Regardless of the current state of our economy and the housing market, buying a home is still a great investment. However, the resulting taxes that accompany owning a home can lead to confusion and uncertainty.
In most cases, you need to itemize your taxes in order to take advantage of all the tax breaks that accompany home ownership. This might seem overwhelming, but the benefits of completing this process make up for the inconvenience.
What is Your Architectural Style?
Architectural styles have personality all their own. Greek revival is stately and refined; ranch houses are rustic and welcoming and Spanish revival is eclectic and earthy. The house style you like can be a blueprint for your personality. Find out your architectural type by taking this quiz.
The True Cost of Home Ownership
Is it better to buy or rent? The decision depends on many factors, most important of which are how fast prices and rent rise, as well as how long you stay living there.
Why to Buy Instead of Rent
When you’re thinking about buying a home, it’s essential for you to be confident in your decision to buy instead of rent. However, you may not know about the many great reasons to buy a home.
Here are just a few of them:
Smart Investment
When you invest in a home, it offers the possibility for appreciation in value. The equity becomes yours when you’re still paying off your mortgage. You even get to live in it while your investment matures.
Tax Advantages
Since both mortgage interest and property taxes are tax deductible, home ownership can save you significant amounts of money every year.
Planned Housing Cost
You decide how much you spend on your home, including repairs and improvements. Unlike renters, homeowners with a fixed-rate loan can lock in their monthly housing costs.
Improvements to Your Taste
You can choose which improvements to make to your own property, such as a deck, kitchen remodel, or new paint, instead of needing permission from your landlord.
If you have more questions about making a decision to buy a home, please get in touch.
A Lot More on the Architectural Types of Homes
Houses can be built in a large variety of configurations. A basic division is between free-standing or detached dwellings and various types of attached or multi-user dwellings. Both sorts may vary greatly in scale and amount of accommodation provided. Although there appear to be many different types, many of the variations listed below are purely matters of style rather than spatial arrangement or scale.
The Importance of Pre-Approval
Pre-approval can be a very valuable step towards purchasing a home. Many home buyers get pre-qualified for a home loan early on, and then become pre-approved before beginning a serious home search. By completing your mortgage application prior to choosing a home, you can get a pre-approval letter stating how much home you can afford.
Your pre-approval letter lets you know exactly how much you can spend, and it shows home sellers and listing agents that you’re serious about buying a home. This may give you leverage in the negotiation process as many sellers prefer to work with pre-approved buyers.
To find a mortgage professional and get started with your pre-approval for a loan, please get in touch.
DFW Home Sales for Second Quarter 2011
In summary, a good time for buyers.
10 Handy iPhone Apps for Home Improvement
The following 10 mobile apps won’t select your ideal paint color or tell you where to put the chaise lounge, but they can help you plan your home improvement projects more efficiently.
A Look at DFW School Ratings
This map shows state academic ratings for local school districts and campuses, not including charter or alternative schools. This year’s ratings are based on passing rates on the 2010 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests and on school completion and dropout rates for 2009. You can also see ratings for every year since 2006.
Tremendous Statistics about DFW Housing
There are over 2 million people living in Tarrant County. The links below contain an overwhelming amount of detailed information about the housing, renting, residents, commuting, and income of those people. If you have an interest about the stats in your area, go have a look.
Not a local resident? Search for your city or state here.
How to Buy a Home
For many, a home is not only the largest and most important purchase of a lifetime, it can also signal the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. However, making this “American dream” a reality can involve a complex series of steps and procedures. Here, we look at the long road to homeownership. Does it make sense for you? Read on to find out.
An Announcement
Hope summer has bronzed everyone up and provided some time to relax. I wanted to take a moment and announce that I have acquired my real estate license and have joined RE/MAX Pinnacle Group. One of my goals for my business is for it to be heavily influenced by referrals from the people I care about and from people that trust me.
From time to time I will be sending out valuable information related to the real estate market; financial information, important things to consider when buying or selling a home, information for first time buyers, household projects to improve the value of your home, and some deadly mistakes both buyers and sellers make.
Please take a look at the Real Estate Report for this year that is packed with tons of information relating to the real estate industry.
To better serve you and your friends, I’d love if you took just a moment to fill out a form, http://claycarson.com. This way, I can send a business card your way and some useful information I mentioned earlier.
I look forward to helping you or any of your friends and family in buying or selling a home!