Columns

If anyone is thinking of buying property this year, they should consider doing it sooner rather than later. The Fed is beginning to take the foot off the bond pedal by buying fewer and fewer mortgage bonds, allowing for mortgage rates to rise. They started in December when they reduced their purchases from $85 billion to $75 billion in mortgage and treasury bonds per month,” he writes, “and they’re telling us that they are going to continue to ‘taper’ their purchases every six weeks until they are buying $0 in bonds. What does this mean to a consumer? You will …

For many of us, our cellular phone never leaves our sight. Why not use it to help with your next real estate purchase? Years ago, a Sunday consisted of driving around wasting gas in an area in which you were looking for a home in. You would look for the “Open House” signs and tour the property. Many were not what you were looking for, though, and many Sundays were wasted. Nowadays, all you need is a smart phone! There are many applications for real estate that feature basic settings like alerts when a property becomes available, whether that property …

At the time of this article was written, the unemployment rate had just dropped to 7 percent and the economy’s three-month average of job creation was approximately 180,000 per month. While this number was far from being great, at least it was moving in the right direction. On Feb. 1, Janet Yellen will become the first female Federal Reverse board chairperson. While she is known for being less concerned about inflation and willing to keep rates down longer, other economists are convinced that the Fed will have to start reducing its bond purchases, which will undoubtedly increase interest and mortgage …

Many in today’s market are encountering a problem. Do you sell your home first, or do you buy your new home, and then sell your original home? Each comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Selling first may put you under a stringent deadline to purchase a new property. If the sale is going smoothly, this may only leave you days to find a new home in order to avoid storage and living accommodation fees. Those fees can double your moving cost and then some since you are in effect moving twice. I recommend looking for properties with a qualified broker …

Anyone who was born in America can take his citizenship for granted. Many others who were born in Italy and elsewhere and moved to America had to decide whether to become an American citizen or not. Many Italian immigrants to American 100 years ago presumed they would only stay here long enough to make money to send home, and then return to Italy when they were rich! That dream eluded the vast majority of Italian immigrants, and many settled in American permanently. At some point, when the reality settled in that they would not return to live in Italy, they …

Do you expect Medicare to pay for your rehabilitation in a nursing home after a stay in the hospital? Then you better know about this rule! A problem often occurs when someone goes into the hospital for surgery and then goes immediately to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) for rehabilitation (rehab). Most people assume that the rehab stay in the SNF will be covered by Medicare. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case. Medicare mandates that a patient must spend at least three consecutive days, meaning three midnight stays, in a hospital as an inpatient on admitted status in order …

Starting this year, there will be two new rules in effect for “qualified mortgages” or QMs, one that affects the amount that lenders can charge and one that affects the amount the buyer can borrow. The change mandates that lenders cannot charge fees of more than 3 percent of the loan amount. This limit such mortgage charges as underwriting fees and origination fees, but excludes title and attorney fees. This has most of the mortgage industry in an uproar because it limits what a mortgage company or bank can charge a consumer. Personally, I believe that this is a good …

You decide it’s time to finally place your property on the market and contact a real estate broker to list it. The Realtor explains the listing contract to you, which is a legally binding contract and is enforceable under United States laws. The contract should always include basic information such as the parties’ names and a sales price along with being signed by all parties involved. Make sure the terms are specific. In Illinois, a contract written for more than one year can, or one that is automatically renewable after one year, can be determined void. One of the biggest …

Last month we talked about all the information you can find from a death notice, and all the information you probably won’t find. I spent a lot of time this summer and fall looking for death notices and then visiting the graves of the dearly departed. I have found that both can lead the curious genealogist to the names of other relatives who you might not have known about. The death notice might list the names of other relatives who have passed away, and the gravesite might have other people in the same lot that are related that you didn’t …

On Oct. 17, lawmakers finally passed an amendment to increase the debt ceiling and reopen the government, which had been closed since Oct. 1. Reports were telling us that if the U.S. had defaulted, we would have seen mortgage rates spike. Since the lawmakers came together and raised the debt ceiling, one would think that everything is fine and that we should be carrying on just like we did before, but that’s not the case. The government shutdown came at a time when the Fed was still very worried about the economy’s weak state. This costly game of chicken between …