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☆ Your home sale could trigger capital gains taxes. Here's how to calculate your bill
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

You can reduce your home sale profit by adding often-forgotten costs and fees to your basis, which minimizes your capital gains tax liability. For example, you can start by tacking on fees and closing costs from the purchase and sale of the home, according to the IRS. The average closing cost nationwide is $4,243, according to a report from Assurance, but fees vary widely. That includes your real estate commissions and closing costs. The 'best way' to reduce capital gains taxesYou can further increase your home's basis by tacking on the cost of eligible upgrades, experts say.

Persons: Thomas Scanlon, Raymond James, Scanlon, tacking, Paul Fenner Organizations: Westend61, tacking, Tamma Locations: Manchester , Connecticut, New York, California, Commerce Township , Michigan

☆ What exactly goes into closing costs?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But there is an often-overlooked expense when buying a home: closing costs. At the same time, the Biden administration plans to take aim at so-called “junk fees” hidden in closing costs. New York, Delaware and Washington, DC, have the highest average closing costs, according to Bankrate; while Missouri, Indiana and North Dakota have the lowest. Lowering closing costs on your ownThere is one relatively simple way to lower your overall closing costs: shop around. “When you compare those offers, examine not just the rate itself but also the closing costs.

Persons: homebuyers, —, Biden, ” Jeff Ostrowski, , ” Ostrowski, you’re, homebuyers haven’t, Brian Connolly, it’s, “ It’s, ” Connolly, Connolly, ”, Freddie Mac, ” Genaro Villa Organizations: CNN, Consumer Financial, National Association of Realtors, realtors, University of Michigan, NAR, homebuyers Locations: New York , Delaware, Washington, Missouri, Indiana, North Dakota, Bankrate, AnnualCreditReport.com

☆ A $50 million private island that's a 10-minute boat ride off the coast of Florida just hit the market. Take a look.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A 7-acre private island off Florida's coast is on sale for $50 million. AdvertisementIf owning a private island is a personal dream for you, you're in luck — a 7-acre private island located just 3 miles off the coast of Florida just hit the market and could be all yours for $50 million. Jon Kohler & AssociatesFrom the dock on the mainland, the Panama City Beach International Airport is an hour-and-twenty-minute drive away. Jon Kohler & AssociatesJon Kohler & AssociatesIn this scenario, Weldon said the setup would be similar to a condo homeowners' association. Jon Kohler & AssociatesThe bungalows, which were first built in 2009, were remodeled when Seymour bought the island in 2018.

Persons: —, Saint Joseph Bay, Joe, Samuel, Black Sam, Bellamy, Jon Kohler, Lori Bembry Weldon, Weldon, Scott Seymour, Associates Jon Kohler, Seymour Organizations: Service, Associates, Panama City Beach, Jon Kohler & Associates, Business Locations: Florida, Saint Joseph, Port St, Florida's, Black's, Panama, Atlanta

☆ Should you refinance your mortgage? Here are three signs it's time, real estate experts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Ana Teresa Solá | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Thanks to those high mortgage interest rates, refinance activity in 2023 was at the lowest level in 30 years. In the first and second quarters of 2023 there was only $75 billion and $80 billion, respectively, in mortgage refinance originations nationally, according to Freddie Mac, a government-sponsored entity that buys mortgages from banks. "We're just in a much higher interest rate situation with the economy," she said. "We've been so accustomed to mortgage rates as a baseline being at 2% or 3%," said Veronica Fuentes, a certified financial planner at Northwestern Mutual. Some lenders may require a higher interest rate if you finance closing costs, plus you'll be paying interest on those expenses for the life of the mortgage.

Persons: Freddie Mac, Jeff Ostrowski, Chen Zhao, Zhao, We've, Veronica Fuentes, that's, Ostrowski, CoreLogic's Organizations: Westend61, Getty, Federal Reserve, Northwestern Mutual

☆ Closing Costs for Buying a Home Have Risen Along With Rates
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Ann Carrns | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A pricey housing market and higher interest rates have made it harder to afford a house, but related expenses known as closing costs also add to the home-buying challenge. Borrowers typically paid about $6,000 for such costs in 2022, up from about $4,900 in 2021. That was on top of a down payment and other costs. The average monthly payment for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 46 percent, to $2,045 at the end of 2022 from $1,400 a year earlier, the bureau found. The median price of a single-family home in January was $383,500, up 5 percent from a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors reported.

Organizations: Consumer Financial, National Association of Realtors

The title acceptance pilot waives the need for a lender's title insurance policy on some refinance mortgages. The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently rolled out a new pilot program that would lower refinance closing costs for some borrowers. Called the "title acceptance pilot," this program would waive the requirement that conforming loans have a lender's title insurance policy on certain refinance mortgages. Borrowers are required to purchase a lender's title insurance policy, which can be a significant out-of-pocket cost. Pushback from the mortgage industryLeaders from the mortgage and title insurance industries overall weren't pleased with this announcement.

Persons: —, Biden, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, homebuyers, Christopher Tyson, Tyson, doesn't Organizations: Service, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mortgage Bankers Association, Union, Consumer Financial, National Community Stabilization Trust, homebuyers

Biden unveiled a plan that includes tax credits and down payment assistance to improve housing affordability. Eligible homebuyers would get this tax credit for two years, meaning you could get a total of $10,000 in tax credits for buying a house. Down payment assistanceAnother piece of Biden's plan for more affordable homeownership is the $25,000 in down payment assistance he wants Congress to provide to first-generation homebuyers. What hopeful homebuyers should knowAs a whole, this plan could substantially improve housing affordability, enabling more Americans to become homeowners. And even for homebuyers who qualify for tax credits or other assistance, saving up for a down payment remains a big barrier to homeownership.

Persons: Biden, —, Dan Green, homebuyers Biden, hasn't, doesn't, Green, Daryl Fairweather, Fairweather, White, homebuyers Organizations: Biden, Service, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Consumer Financial, homebuilders, Loan, Program, Bank of America Mortgage, Democrats

President Joe Biden's State of the Union address as prepared for delivery:Good evening. A former American president actually said that, bowing down to a Russian leader. And it’s because of you that tonight we can proudly say the State of our Union is strong and getting stronger. Americans pay more for prescription drugs than anywhere else. I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel and the only American president to visit Israel in wartime.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Franklin Roosevelt, “, Hitler, Roosevelt’s, Lincoln, Putin, Ronald Reagan, thundered, Mr, Gorbachev, we’ve, Insurrectionists, ., Jan, I’ve, Latorya Beasley, Roe, Wade, Harris, Kate Cox, Kate, – that's, won’t, Hope, Shawn Fain, Dawn Simms, Dawn, That’s, Jill, I’m, Keenan Jones –, Sen, Bob Casey’s, It’s, It’d, Edmund Pettus, John Lewis, Betty May Fikes, ”, Banning, Jasmine, Jackie, we’re, Evan, Paul, Israel, –, We’ve, aren’t, They’ve, We’re, King, Bobby Kennedy, you’ve, Let’s Organizations: Madame, Union, Overseas, Republican, NATO, Alliance, National Security, America, That's, Act, Infrastructure Law, UAW, Big Pharma, Medicare, Affordable, White, Initiative, Women’s Health Research, Grants, Child, Big Oil, Social Security, Border Patrol Union, Dreamers, Peace Corps, Ameri Corps, Corps, American, House, NRA, Hamas, United, U.S, ARPA, Star Locations: Joe Biden's State, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, American, Russian, America, Finland, Sweden, United States, Birmingham , Alabama, Alabama, Dallas, Texas, COVID, That's America, Belvidere , Illinois, Belvidere, it’s, Shawn, HBCUs, Minnesota, Ireland, Selma , Alabama, Selma, Uvalde , Texas, Uvalde, Iowa, Israel, Gaza, U.S, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Red, China, Taiwan Strait, I’ve, Scranton , Pennsylvania, Claymont , Delaware, United States of America

☆ The American Dream is under siege
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Parents of young children are making difficult choices to afford child care — or they’re opting to evade it by dropping out of the workforce altogether. Even as the inflation rate has cooled across the US economy, child care remains a sore spot for many families. The weekly price of day care for a toddler surged 9% in 2023, according to Care.com, a marketplace for child care. Of course, Allison is hardly alone in feeling like the American Dream has been more difficult — and expensive — to attain than imagined. “The American dream is being taken away from the younger generation by the housing affordability challenges,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.

Persons: Hana Husković, Price, Hana, Michelle, they'll, ” Hana, “, It’s, they’ll, ’ Allison Powell, Liam Kelly, ” Allison, Allison Powell, Corinne ., ”, Allison, I’ll, homebuyers, Lotfi Karoui, Goldman Sachs, Lawrence Yun, Yun, Priscilla Almodovar, Fannie Mae, ” Almodovar, that’s, Almodovar, they’d, Homebuilding, Mark Zandi, Biden, ” Lael Brainard, Brainard, ” Brainard, ‘, Rachael Gambino, Garrett Mazzeo, Rachael, Deborah Brunswick, John General, ” Rachael, won’t, they’ve, – Organizations: New, New York CNN, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wall, CNN, Federal, Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, Bloomberg, Getty, Rust Belt, National Association of Realtors, North, NAR, That’s, Baby Boomers, Homeowners, Federal Reserve, Moody’s Analytics, White, National Economic Council, American, Target, Starbucks, Facebook Locations: New York, United States, Atlanta, Peachtree Corners , Georgia, Decatur, Decatur , Georgia, Carolina, Yugoslavia, Italy, Mexico, Oakland , California, Livermore, San Francisco, California, Los Angeles, San Diego, Francisco, Miami, Honolulu, Rust, Des Moines , Iowa, Dayton , Ohio, Cleveland , Ohio, Scranton , Pennsylvania, Los Angeles , California, North America, America, States, Lansdale , Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Netflix, Nvidia, Apple, Meta, Lowe's, Walmart, Target, Pepsi & more
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

JPMorgan upgrades Lowe's to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said investors should buy the stock ahead of earnings later this month. JPMorgan reiterates Netflix as overweight JPMorgan said it's standing by its overweight rating on shares of Netflix. Loop reiterates Meta as buy Loop raised its price target on the stock to $550 per share from $440. Loop reiterates Alphabet as hold Loop raised its price target on the stock to $155 per share from $140. " UBS reiterates Target as buy UBS says Target shares are "compelling."

Persons: Evercore, it's, wouldn't, Rivian, Piper Sandler, Piper, Jefferies, Willis Towers Watson, URBN, Morgan Stanley downgrades Hershey, Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley downgrades XPO, Stifel, Raymond James downgrades, Raymond James, Melius, Roth, Guggenheimer, Guggenheim Organizations: Apple, Barclays, Walmart, EV, JPMorgan, generics, UFC, WWE, Netflix, Citi, Willis, PepsiCo, PEP, LT, UBS, Urban Outfitters, Google, 4Q, Bulls, Target, Bank of America, of America, Bank of America downgrades Duke Energy, Duke Energy, Brands, Nvidia, Deutsche Bank, Industries, Deutsche, SilverBow Resources Locations: U.S, Bank of America downgrades, NWL, Republic, Mohawk

☆ Most people buying homes get screwed into spending thousands on a tedious fee. That may be about to change.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An alternative to title insurance called an attorney-opinion letter might help buyers save money. Title insurance, which is required to close on most properties in the US, can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. The savings from using attorney-opinion letters could help Americans facing high prices and high borrowing costs better afford homeownership. Some say title insurance is obsolete, since modern technology has improved access to public records essential for confirming a home's title or owner. "It's been clear for years that something is seriously wrong with title insurance," Schwartz wrote in 2022.

Persons: —, Insider's Mattathias Schwartz, Fannie Mae, Schwartz, Homebuyers, Forbes Organizations: Service, Street, Mortgage, Iowa, The New York Times Locations: Philadelphia, Midwest

☆ Inside a Plan to Save Homeowners Hundreds of Dollars Closing Their Mortgages
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Andrew Ackerman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

November’s existing home sales increased for the first time in six months and prices rose for the fifth straight month. WSJ’s Dion Rabouin digs into the details of the November sales report. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON—A government-controlled mortgage giant has a plan that could help more Americans save around $1,000 on closing a mortgage, the latest attempt to chip away at high costs that officials say discourage home buying. Fannie Mae last month said it would expand the types of mortgages it will purchase that rely on a cheaper alternative to title insurance, which is one of the biggest fixed costs tied to closing a mortgage.

Persons: WSJ’s Dion Rabouin, Joe Raedle, Fannie Mae Organizations: Getty, WASHINGTON

☆ Washington Quietly Scrapped a Plan to Save Homeowners Thousands of Dollars
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Andrew Ackerman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae abandoned work on the program in August. Photo: Eric Lee for The Wall Street JournalWASHINGTON—The Biden administration pushed to save homeowners thousands of dollars in closing costs on certain mortgages, part of a broad effort to slash fees and save Americans money. Objections from an obscure industry and from lawmakers helped kill the plan. Government-controlled mortgage giant Fannie Mae was preparing this summer to finalize a program to test out eliminating one of the biggest fixed costs associated with closing on a mortgage: title insurance.

Persons: Fannie Mae, Eric Lee, The Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON —, Biden Organizations: The Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON Locations: Government

☆ The race to create the 'Amazon of real estate' could change home buying forever
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

But after years of trying, the basic structure of buying and selling a home remains pretty much the same. Even if you accept a bit of intricacy, real estate remains a stodgy industry — and regulation is at the core of that resistance to change. Despite the best efforts of would-be disruptors to cut out this middleman, 88% of buyers this year enlisted a real-estate agent, a Zillow survey found. Short of a tech-enabled homebuying nirvana, there are some other changes that could make the process easier for consumers. Saul Klein, an early internet evangelist in the real-estate industry, told me he sees an approaching "paradigm shift."

Persons: that's, you'll, they're, it's, Mike DelPrete, Rob Hahn, DelPrete, aren't, they'd, pocketing, —, ClosingCorp, we're, John Berkowitz, hasn't, Berkowitz, They're, Bobby Bryant, Bryant, Rich Barton, Wendy Gilch, Gilch, Saul Klein, Klein, James Rodriguez Organizations: Companies, University of Colorado Boulder, National Association of Realtors, Ojo, Group Inc, Universal Locations: Washington, California, Georgia

☆ How to avoid getting scammed out of your home or becoming a victim of land fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Gordon isn't the only victim of this type of fraud — known as home-title fraud, land fraud, or seller-impersonation fraud — where scammers impersonate the rightful owner of a property by forging documents in order to sell it. Petrescu and Gordon share a few measures property owners can implement to help stop land fraud from happening to them. That may seem like an obvious one, but for a vacant piece of property, owners might forgo that extra security. He used the same title company to buy the land and to refinance it a year later. "Here we have the same title company that I used, and now the fraudster's using the same title company," Gordon said.

Persons: —, William Gordon's, Gordon isn't, scammers, Daniel Kenigsberg, Victor Petrescu, Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider, Grossman, " Petrescu, Petrescu, Gordon, William Gordon William Gordon Another, there's, hadn't, Victor Petrescu Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider, he'll Organizations: FBI, MLS, Service Locations: Arizona, Tucson, Fairfield , Connecticut, Miami, Petrescu, Pima County , Arizona

☆ An Arizona man planned to build his retirement home on a plot of land he bought 20 years ago. The problem: It was sold for $200,000 without him knowing.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

"I noticed the last four digits of the social security number were not mine and the address was wrong — the mail shouldn't have even gotten to me," Gordon told Insider. Gordon, 65, bought the undeveloped, 3 1/3-acre property in 1999 for $76,500, Pima County property records show. AdvertisementAdvertisementGordon spoke with Title Security Agency, the Arizona company that handled Gordon's title work when he purchased the property in 1999. He told Insider that in this instance, the seller was found out to be fraudulent soon after the deal closed. He told Insider he spoke with a broker that had four fraudulent incidents in one day.

Persons: William Gordon, Gordon, He's, —, Penny Davis, Gabriella Cázares, Kelly, it's, we've, Eric Gibbs, I'm, Gibbs, Jeff Murtaugh, he's, who's, Murtaugh, ORNTIC Organizations: Service, Security Agency, First American, Pima Recorder's, Title Security Agency, Realty ONE, Realty Executives, Old, Title Insurance, Insurance, News Locations: Tucson, Wall, Silicon, Tucson , Arizona, Pima County, Phoenix, Arizona, Pima, Texas, Bexar, —, Real, Realty Executives Arizona, Old Republic

☆ New home sales rose to a 17-month high in July
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington, DC CNN —New home sales rose in July from the month before, beating estimates and reaching a 17-month high, as buyers continue to look to new construction as an option in the face of a historically low supply of existing homes. While new home sales have been trending higher over the past year, sales of existing homes have been down for the past few months. Sales in the Midwest surged 47.4% from a month ago and sales in the West were up 21.5% from June. Meanwhile, sales in the Northeast declined by 2.9% from last month and dropped by 6.3% in the South. “When existing homes are hard to find, new homes at the right price are a good substitute.”

Persons: Kelly Mangold, ”, George Ratiu, Odeta Kushi Organizations: DC CNN, US Department of Housing, Urban Development, Census, Real Estate Consulting, ”, Midwest, National Association of Realtors, “ Builders, Builders, First Locations: Washington, –

☆ People are impersonating homeowners to take out mortgages and steal the money. Here are the best ways to stop it happening to you.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Three industry professionals told Insider that incidents like this also happen in the US, and that homeowners should be taking steps to avoid it happening to them. The frequency of this specific type of fraud is hard to quantify, with most data tending to focus on the prevalence of mortgage fraud as a whole. Industry professionals told Insider in March that real-estate fraud as a whole has surged in the past year. Even in cases where the defrauded individuals successfully contest the loan, Berg said it can still be "costly and, of course, upsetting." The experts agreed that another way to stay safe is by purchasing insurance, such as an owner's title policy.

Persons: —, Jay Allen Macdougall, Macdougall, Josh Migdal, Migdal, Hayden, Arthur Pfizenmayer, Pfizenmayer, Bridget Berg, Berg Organizations: Service, Toronto, FBI, Federal Trade Commission, Industry, United States Sentencing Commission Locations: Canada, Pfizenmeyer, CoreLogic

While buying a house can set you up for financial success, renting comes with its own benefits, like flexibility. If you can't afford a down payment or monthly payments, you may want to continue renting for now. Homeownership also costs more than just the monthly mortgage payment. This includes your mortgage, property taxes, mortgage insurance, homeowners insurance, and HOA fees, but not costs like utility bills. If monthly mortgage payments would be a financial strain, it could be better to keep renting for now.

☆ Real estate agents are tacking ludicrous 'junk fees' on to every home purchase
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The fee goes by many names: an administrative fee, a transaction fee, or even a "regulatory compliance" fee. Despite the controversy, all signs indicate that brokerages large and small have increasingly embraced the admin fee in recent years. The vast majority of real-estate agents are independent contractors who rely on commissions to earn a living. Admin fees may be one of the most polarizing topics among real-estate agents today. "I'm in a place in my business right now where I can justify paying that," the Las Vegas agent told me.

☆ An explosion of hidden 'junk fees' is making every home more expensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

☆ Windfall tax seizure case in Michigan deepens appellate split on class standing issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The county auctioned Fox's property for about $25,000 — and kept the $22,000 difference between the sale price and Fox's tax obligation. But Fox’s class action did not name only Gratiot County as a defendant. Circuit Court disagreed. The 6th Circuit in the Fox case agreed with the 2nd Circuit's holding that trial courts must consider constitutional standing issues ahead of class certification. The Michigan counties that challenged class certification were represented at the 6th Circuit by Douglas Curlew of Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho.

"It really seems like companies have become addicted to junk fees." Junk fees are making companies billions of dollars richer and the practice spans industries, including banking, telecom, entertainment and hospitality. CNBC sorted some of the biggest junk fee offenders into three separate buckets. "Junk hotel fees and these ancillary fees are bringing in about $3 billion a year for the hotel industry," Wolfe told CNBC, citing a Consumer Reports estimate. Watch the video above to learn more about where junk fees hide, how agencies are proposing changes, where policy falls short and whether increased regulatory oversight may be enough to squash junk fees once and for all.

NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - Fidelity National Financial Inc (FNF.N) will pay $3.5 million to settle New York Attorney General Letitia James' claims that the largest U.S. title insurer illegally conspired with rivals not to solicit each other's employees. Under an agreement made public on Wednesday, Fidelity also agreed to end all "no-poach" agreements within 30 days, and cooperate with James' probe into the title insurance industry. James said no-poach agreements, whether written or oral, reduce competition for workers, resulting in lower wages and benefits and impeding career growth. It promised to notify James' office if it learned of illegal no-poach agreements over the next 10 years. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Be on the lookout for these six red flags in the homebuying process. It could save you thousands, a real-estate attorney said.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

He said real-estate agents can work in their best interest, not their clients', if a contract is weak. Purposefully confusing contracts and some real-estate agents' self-serving motives have some homebuyers getting themselves into tricky positions, said Douglas R. Miller, a veteran real-estate attorney in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Commissions are usually around 6% of the home's sale price and split between the buyer's agent and the seller's agent. Negotiating your broker's fee can be key in saving you moneyIn a home sale, buyers' agents are actually paid by the seller. "Affiliated business arrangement" is the textbook term, and it can be dangerous for buyers, Miller said.

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