Skip down to page content. ↓
Displaying blog entries 1-10 of 19
What's the Point?
Prepaid interest, sometimes called “points”, is generally tax deductible when a person pays them in connection with buying, building or improving their principal residence. When points are paid on a refinance, they are not a current deduction but have to be taken prorata over the life of the mortgage.
For instance, if $3,000 in points were paid on refinancing a 30 year mortgage, a deduction of $100 per year is allowed. When the loan is paid off or replaced by refinancing again or the home is sold and the mortgage paid off from the proceeds, the balance of any un-deducted points may be taken in that tax year.
Your tax professional needs to be made aware of any of these situations so that he or she can accurately reflect the deductions in your return. Currently, the most common situation is homeowners may be refinancing their home for the second, third or even, fourth time. If there are points that have not been completely deducted, they need to be treated in the year of refinancing.
For more information, see points in IRS Publication 936; there is a section on Refinancing in this publication. For advice considering your specific situation, contact your tax professional.
How's Your IQ on the QM?
The Qualified Mortgage Rule came into effect on January 14, 2014 as one of the results to the Dodd Frank Reform Act to protect consumers from predatory lending practices. This will affect the underwriting standards that the majority of lenders will use to qualify borrowers.
The ability to repay rule states that financial information must be supplied by the borrower and verified by the lender. The borrower must have sufficient assets or income to pay back the loan which limits the maximum debt-to-income ratio of 43%. In an effort to present a more accurate picture of the costs to the borrower, teaser rates can no longer hide a mortgage’s true cost.
A maximum of 3% in upfront points and fees can be paid on behalf of the borrower. There can be no negative amortization, interest-only or balloon payments and the loan term limit cannot exceed 30 years.
While there are more requirements, most deal with good underwriting practices that are followed by reputable lenders such as considering and verifying things that affect the ability to repay the mortgage like income, assets, employment status, simultaneous loans, debt, alimony, child support and credit history.
Rate/Payment Relationship
A ½% increase in interest rate may not sound like much but it is roughly equivalent to a 5% increase in price. It becomes obvious when you compare the payments.
If you financed 100% of the cost of a $250,000 home at 4.5% interest for 30 years, the payment would be $1,266.71 per month. If the mortgage rate went up to 5%, the payment would be $1,342.05. If the home increased 5% in value, the $262,250 loan at the lower 4.5% rate would have payments of $1,330.05.
The two payments are close enough to justify the statement that a ½% change in interest is approximately equal to 5% change in price.
Each time interest rates go up, fewer people can qualify to buy a seller’s home. The mortgage rules that went into effect this year require buyers to meet specific payment to income ratios. As demand picks up for the seasonal market, most experts expect rates to increase.
Buyers will be doubly challenged in the current market because prices are rising (NAR reports 11% last year) along with the anticipated mortgage rates. Buyers who wait will inevitably be paying more to live in the same home had they acted sooner.
Check out on how Interest Affects Price for a home in your price range.
Refinance to Remove a Person
Most people are familiar with the various reasons a homeowner refinances their home which generally result in two major benefits: saving interest and building equity.
There is however another reason to refinance which may not be as common which is to remove a person from the loan. In the case of a divorce, when one party wants to keep the home and the other party wants their equity out of the home, it is possible for the remaining party to refinance the home. If the equity is sufficient to justify it and the remaining owner can qualify for the new loan, the refinance can provide the proceeds to buy out the other spouse.
Refinancing to remove a person from the loan could also involve a situation where two or more heirs jointly own a property and have differing opinions on when to sell. The same situation could apply to a rental property with multiple owners and the refinance would provide a way to buy out a partner.
Sometimes, it’s not about taking cash out of the home to buy out the other party. If a person’s name is on the mortgage, they’re responsible if it goes to default. One party may be willing to deed the home to the other party but it doesn’t necessarily relieve them of the liability of the mortgage they originated.
Many times, once a person has made their mind to move on, they’ll take the fastest and easiest way out. Removing a person from the deed or a mortgage is a reason to consider obtaining legal advice to protect your interests. Refinance Analysis calculator.
Reasons to Refinance
1. Lower the rate 2. Shorten the term 3. Take cash out of the equity 4. Combine loans 5. Remove a person from a loan
Who's Paying Your Mortgage?
As a homeowner, you obviously pay for your mortgage but as an investor, your tenant does. Equity build-up is a significant benefit of mortgaged rental property. As the investor collects rent and pays expenses, the principal amount of the loan is reduced which increases the equity in the property. Over time, the tenant pays for the property to the benefit of the investor.
Equity build-up occurs with normal amortization as the loan is paid down. It can be accelerated by making additional contributions to the principal each month along with the normal payment. Some investors consider this a good use of the cash flows because interest rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposits are much lower than their mortgage rate.
In the example below, is a hypothetical rental with a purchase price of $125,000 with 80% loan-to-value mortgage at 4.5% for 30 years compared to a 3.5% for 15 years. The acquisition costs were estimated at $3,000, the monthly rent is estimated at $1,250 and $4,800 for operating expenses.
Notice that both properties have a positive cash flow before tax. The cash on cash return is the revenue less expenses including debt service divided by the initial investment to acquire the property. The 15 year mortgage will obviously have a smaller cash flow and lower cash on cash but the equity build-up is significantly higher.
If the goal of the investor is to pay off the property to provide the highest possible cash flow at a later date, a shorter term mortgage with a lower interest rate will help them achieve that. A simple definition of an investment is to put away today so you’ll have more tomorrow. Sacrificing cash flow now, during an investor’s earning years, is a reasonable expectation to provide more cash flow in the future when it might be needed more.
Contact me if you’d like to explore rental property opportunities.
All Dollars Not Equal
The division of assets between the spouses is an important decision to finalize a divorce. The exercise looks relatively simple: assign a value for each of the assets and divide them based on a mutual agreement between the parties.
The challenge is to make a fair division which requires an analysis to determine their value after they’re converted to cash.
Assume the two major assets in the example, a retirement account and the equity in the home, are equal at $100,000. It might seem logical to give the home to one spouse and the retirement account to the other. However, if the person receiving the home decides to sell the home, the net proceeds could be considerably less than the spouse receiving the retirement account.
Let’s pretend that the spouse with the home negotiates a lower price of $475,000 due to current market conditions. The former couple had owned the home for many years and refinanced several times, pulling money out of the home each time. When the remaining spouse sells the home, there could be a considerable gain that was never recognized.
As a single person, he or she is now only entitled to $250,000 exclusion and would have to pay tax on the excess gain. After paying the sales costs, outstanding mortgage balance and the taxes due on the gain, the remaining spouse would have net proceeds of $24,375 compared to the $100,000 that the former spouse received in the settlement.
The message in an example like this is to examine and consider the potential expenses that may be involved with converting the assets to cash after the divorce. Obviously, expert tax advice is valuable in making such decisions.
Equity Dynamics
Equity is the difference in what your home is worth and what you owe. Ideally, as the value goes up and the unpaid balance goes down with each amortized payment made, the equity grows from two directions.
This dynamic leads to increasing a person’s net worth much faster than many other investments.
A homeowner has minimal control over value. It is necessary to maintain the property to avoid depreciation and make good decisions on capital improvements. After that, appreciation is generally controlled by supply and demand and the economy.
Mortgage management is something that the homeowner does have control. Making the decision to select a shorter term mortgage at a lower interest rate can have an impact on equity build-up. Lower interest rates amortize faster than higher interest rates which will also affect equity growth. Currently, it is possible to get a 1% lower rate on a 15 year mortgage than a 30 year mortgage.
Compare two alternatives of a 30-year and a 15-year mortgage. The payments will definitely be higher on the shorter term because it pays off quicker. However, if a person can afford the higher payments of $362.53 more per month in this example, the equity will be greater. Even after you take into consideration the higher payments, the increased equity is $17,236 at the end of the seven year holding period.
Another decision that can affect equity build-up is making additional principal contributions along with the regular payments. Whether you’re making an occasional lump sum payment toward principal or regular monthly contributions, it will save interest, build equity and shorten the term on a fixed rate mortgage. Estimate your personal savings with this Equity Accelerator.
If you are in the process of purchasing your home and are worried about the government shutdown, recent news from Freddie Mac may have you sleeping a little better.
The announcement, effective October 8, 2013, allows lenders to use signed federal tax returns as income verification rather than a tax transcript for loans, loan modifications, and certain other home loan programs.
Asking lenders nationwide to “minimize disruptions” in a recent bulletin about the shutdown, Dave Lowman, Executive Vice President, of Single-Family Business at Freddie Mac said, "We're issuing this guidance to help ensure the continued smooth operation of the mortgage market during the temporary shutdown of the federal government.”
“Today's bulletin [issued October 7, 2013] is intended to give lenders the certainty to continue approving and delivering new mortgages that meet Freddie Mac guidelines to eligible borrowers, such as federal employees and contractors, during the temporary shutdown,” he explained. This news should comfort many potential homeowners affected by the government shutdown, in public and private employment, who temporarily find themselves without an income.
Lowman also reiterated the presence of forbearance provisions, which can be made available for a time period of three to twelve months to qualifying borrowers. “We are also reminding servicers of our forbearance options to assist qualified homeowners with Freddie Mac mortgages,” he added, “to minimize the shutdown's impact on our nation's families and communities."
Find out more about how the temporary government shutdown may affect your home ownership by clicking here.
There's been lots of talk of mortgage rates and tax credits and cuts in the news lately and it can be hard to understand how it all applies to you and your home. A recent analysis by economists at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) on the mortgage interest deduction (MID) delves into how this particular tax provision benefits homeowners. Scrutinizing data collected by the IRS and the Census Bureau, NAHB released this information, explaining how MID effects your home and those around it.
NAHB dispelled many commonly accepted claims seen in the media with their investigation, showing that the majority (86%) of homeownership MID tax benefits are received by middle-class households and that nearly 70% of those homeowners currently use the deduction. In fact, they state that at some point every home buyer benefited from it. Their findings also argued that declines in home sale prices would likely occur if MID was repealed, since it would reduce buying power for many homeowners.
Also discussed in the recent NAHB release was whether the removal of MID is considered progressive, negatively impacts those who seek to invest, it's affect on renters, and how the tax credit rate impacts individuals, landlords, and the housing market. To learn more or view the release, please click here.
Where Is It Invested?
You’ve saved for a rainy day or retirement. Congratulations but don’t get too comfortable yet; where is it invested? It’s estimated that over 25% of Americans have their long-term savings in cash instead of investments like stocks, bonds or real estate.
The memories of the financial crisis of 2008 are recent enough to understand why some people may want to avoid the stock market and real estate. Even though Wall Street and housing have rebounded considerably, uncertain investors are sitting on their cash. However, trying to avoid a bad decision can have serious costs too.
If your money is not earning at least at the current inflation rate, you’re losing the purchasing power of your dollars. Bankrate.com estimates the average money-market deposit yields 0.11% and the average five-year certificate of deposit currently yields 0.78%.
Rents are continuing to rise and there is a shortage of good, affordable housing. Single family homes have a significant advantage over many other types of investments. They have high loan-to-value mortgages available at fixed interest rates for long-terms on appreciating assets with distinct tax advantages.
The cash flows are considered to be one of the most attractive features of rental properties. Some investors think of it as a growth stock that pays substantial dividends. In the example shown below, a $125,000 rental with an 80% loan-to-value mortgage at 5% that rents for $1,250 per month, has a positive cash flow before taxes of $3,000 a year.
The rate of return on rental property can be substantially higher than other investments while allowing the investor control that isn’t available in alternatives.
