What are the most problematic issues with short sales?

If you are working with buyers and lenders on a short sale, there may be some lender imposed conditions that you may find troublesome, but any deviation from you following the terms of the estoppels letter or short sale agreement can jeopardize the purchase.

It is very important that your clients follow the rules and conditions set forth by the lender.  If the lender feels you may be skirting the rules and you as the agent don’t do anything about it both of you could face civil or criminal charges.  This is not something that should be taken likely; below we review the most common lender conditions:

Limit on earned commission: Lenders have the right to limit your commissions on short sale transactions, and most lenders feel a realtor should take less commission to make the deal work.  Any other compensation’s to the realtor without the lender’s approval would violate the contract and you risk losing the whole deal.  Don’t be greedy!

Notably the two most restricted lenders would be Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac there is a cap to commissions set to 6%

Property must be owner occupied: If you have a buyer looking to buy a short sale, it must be their primary residence.  In the lender’s view if a investor was to buy the home it would be because there is some hidden equity, which in the eyes of the lender that equity should be going towards the payoff of the loan.  However, if a buyer has full intent of owning the home, but soon after the closing decides to rent it out, they could be breaching the lender’s terms of the contract and could face legal action.

Property Flipping: The lender will want to have been given the best price offer for the property.  Property flipping is looked down upon by the lender and could be considered fraud.  While it may make sense to the buyer to buy as low as possible and flip the house for a small profit, certain government programs prohibit the reselling of a home under the HAFA program Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative program, the federal government has restrictions and the resale of a property cannot happen until 90 days after the purchase.

Your Take: How Will You File Your Taxes?

When it comes to preparing and filing your taxes, there are a variety of options. You can prepare your taxes electronically with software like TurboTax and efile for a few dollars. You can prepare you taxes on paper, double check with software like TurboTax, and then mail in your return (for those keeping track at home, this basically means you prepare your taxes twice). You can work with an accountant, either at an independent CPA firm or one associated with one of the tax preparers, which still gives you the option of efiling or mailing in your return. Whatever method you choose, the only rule is that you file by April 15th (or April 18th this year).

How will you be filing your taxes and why?

A comparative guide of regular IRA and Roth IRA

For people who are self employed, looking for a great retirement plan, there’s a lot of options available on the market. Traditional IRA (Individual Retirement Account) and Roth IRA are both popular and beneficial plans for different circumstances. Even if these two plans are almost similar, there are some differences. Both plans have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is always the dough and sure to have a thorough check on the two plans before taking one of them. Your decision is important, because both have major financial benefits for you in store. This information will help you get some kind of idea at these accounts.

The most significant difference between ira and roth ira is in the field of taxation. The base of traditional retirement account is the simple idea that the amount you deposit in your account will be tax-exempt. For example, if you make $ 90,000 a year and you have your IRA contribution at $ 5,000, the amount of your deposit will not be taxed. After completing your eligible retirement age of 59 ½, you can withdraw money.

The amount withdrawn is fully exempt from tax according to that plan.
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Entrepreneurship: Risky business

An entrepreneur is usually seen as someone who takes business risks; that is probably the most common perception people have. But business is not about taking a blind gamble. How the risks are assessed and managed before action is taken is the key to wise business decisions. Yes, an entrepreneur takes risks, but they are calculated risks, taken with ‘due diligence’ and confidence. No business person wants to see their hard-earned profit slip through their fingers on a whim, although most enjoy the thrill of winning the deal.

Even so, the risk sometimes doesn’t pay off. You can’t make the big wins unless you are willing to take a risk, and sometimes things go wrong and mistakes are made – expensive ones, too. Unforeseen factors may come into play. That is when the true nature of the entrepreneur is put to the test. Peter Jones has a saying: ‘There are no mistakes, only feedback.’ And he is right. Every mistake includes a lesson to be learned, a chance to review what went wrong, so that you can do things differently in future. If you are afraid to make mistakes, you will never make progress.

Many entrepreneurs work tirelessly, taking few breaks, their minds awash with new and improved ways of running the business or closing the next deal. They are


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Pros And Cons Of Building A New Home Vs. Buying An Older Home

If youre considering purchasing a home, you have two choices. You can build your home or you can buy an existing home. Building or buying an older home both have their pros and cons and its important to understand what each has to offer. As a Logan Realtor, Ive spent the last 10 years working with buyers who deal with the decision, and heres how I help them determine whats best for them:

Pros Of Purchasing An Existing Home:

More Land Buying an older home allows more money for a larger parcel of land. With the amount of land decreasing everyday, land is becoming more and more expensive. Buying an existing home, in most cases, will provide you with more choices when it comes to location and the amount of acreage. If youre looking for a larger lot an older home will net you more.

Price Per Square Foot Although I wouldnt recommend buying a home based solely on price per square foot, an older home will provide more space than a new home. Construction supplies have increased dramatically over the years, and due to this fact, price per square foot has increased for newer built homes.

Character Galore There are many older homes with some incredible features.


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