Lender and Borrower Relationship

Posted on March 20, 2018 by blogeditor

For most transactions lenders and borrowers have a formal relationship. However, when the lender and borrower know each other, whether they are family or friends, is an entirely different story. The Internal Revenue Service has specific rules that govern the transaction especially when the parties know each other.

Colorado Lenders and Borrowers

For starters, the loan must be done in a business-like manner. Even though you know one another doesn’t mean that you don’t have to do everything that you would normally do. You are going to want to have a written note specifying the loan amount, interest rate, term and collateral. The Internal Revenue Service requires that the mortgage be a recorded lien to allow the interest deduction.

You may be in a situation in which you have a less than normal interest rate on your mortgage. Though this is a great thing, remember that there are restrictions on this as well. The rate charged in the note is regulated by the minimum applicable federal rate which is published monthly by IRS based on current Treasury securities. You don’t want to make any of these agencies mad, so make sure you follow the guide lines they specific as closely as you possibly can.

Your tax professional can guide the transaction whether you’re a buyer or a seller and your real estate professional can help arrange to have the documents drawn and filed. If you are looking for a lender, contact Colorado Horse Property for assistance.

Renting for Horse Owners

Posted on March 19, 2018 by blogeditor

Do you own your own horse in Colorado but don’t own your home? Do you rent an apartment and board your horse? There are many reasons why a horse owner should own their own home. Colorado Horse Property has over 10,00 horse property listings. Also, we are committed to getting you into the horse property you and your horses deserve. Here are a few problems with renting in general.

Rending As A Horse Owner

The problem with renting is that you payment is higher that what home owners are paying for their mortgage payment including taxes and insurance. The experts in the field are saying that we may never again experience the incredibly low mortgage interest rates currently available. When you rent, you do not have the same advantage that homeowners have by using their home as a leveraged investment.

If you are renting, consider looking for loans that could help you buy your own home. Talk to a loan professional to find out exactly what types of loans are available and the specific down payment required. Remember, down payments can be a whole lot less than twenty percent, and therefore very affordable. Contact Colorado Horse Property for a referral to a loan professional near you.

Retiring Horse Owners

Posted on March 15, 2018 by blogeditor

Retiring horse owners can sometimes find it hard to relocate. Looking for a horse property is now easier than ever with coloradohorseproperty.com, which has over 3,500 properties listed in Colorado. So, are looking for an equestrian property for sale for you and your horse? We got you covered. Your retirement is for you to enjoy, not to worry about where you will be living.

Retiring horse owners will find a haven in Colorado.

But let’s be honest—when it comes to making decisions, we spend more time thinking about which cell phone plan we want to buy than we do our own retirements. Take a moment and imagine retiring on your very own horse property. It doesn’t take long to sit down and calculate how much money you will have to put towards your retirement is you keep a close watch on your spending. The average American has the ability to save around thirty thousand dollars over a period of fifteen years.

Using around $35,000 for a 20% down payment and closing costs on a $150,000 rental home could give you all the money you will need for retirement and much more. The $35,000 could grow to $153,302. The rate of return on a rental could be as high as 14.19%. Remember, the same agent at Colorado Horse Property who helped you with your home can help you invest in a rental home.

It Costs to Wait on Your Horse Property

Posted on March 14, 2018 by blogeditor

It costs to wait when it comes to purchasing your horse property.

It costs to wait in respect to buying property. The last thing you want to do is pay more later for a property that you are looking at now. There are many things that can affect the price of a home just as there are many reasons to wait and not wait on buying. Here are a few things that you need to know.

Colorado Horse Property knows that buying a home is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make this year, but did you know that waiting could be costing you more money? Financial experts have been expecting interest rates to increase along with home prices. While homes have definitely increased over the past five years, the mortgage rates today are actually lower than they were a year ago.

Consider the following scenario. Interest rates have increase by 1% over the next year while homes appreciated at 5.5%. That means that a $260,000 home would go up by $16,000 and the payment would be well over two hundred dollars more. The increased payments alone would amount to $17,800 for the next seven years. When facing a decision to postpone a home purchase, you should ask yourself: “how will it feel to have to pay more to live in basically the same home?”

Use the Cost of Waiting to Buy calculator to estimate what it might cost to wait to purchase you horse property based on your own estimates of what interest rates and prices will do in the next year. This cost of waiting calculator is a great tool that you can use to get yourself prepared. Finding out how much it costs to wait on buying a home should be your first step in the home buying process.

What About Refinancing?

Posted on March 13, 2018 by blogeditor

If you are planning on refinancing your horse property, consider not taking money out of it. I know that might sound ludicrous at first, but there are advantages to this strategy. You could more than likely come out of the deal with a lower rate, allowing you to build equity faster so that you can pay off your home sooner. Also, if you are looking for a horse property for sale in Colorado, contact Colorado Horse Property today and speak with one of our horse-person realtors.

Refinancing Horse Property

Paying off your home sooner than later can be the smartest decision you’ve ever made, especially when it comes to being a homeowner in today’s economic climate. So, if you have the extra cash sitting around, opt into lower rates and avoid the low savings rates being paid by banks these days.

Here’s how it works—Consider the following scenario. You, the homeowner, have made nearly fifty payments of over thirteen hundred dollars, making the current mortgage a five percent for a thirty year loan. Now, consider that you decide to refinance for a rate of fifteen years at a little over three percent. If the homeowner puts in $36,000, their payments will be slightly more but the mortgage will be paid off in fifteen years. At that same point, if they keep the current mortgage, their unpaid balance will be well over one hundred thousand dollars. Talk to your financial adviser to see if a cash-in refinance is the right thing for you.

Mortgage Interest Points

Posted on March 7, 2018 by blogeditor

Did you know that when loans are quoted by lenders, there is little to no notice of the mortgage interest points that may be charged along with the rate? You may not even realize that these points exist if you are not familiar with the home buying process. Also, if you are looking for a horse property for sale in Colorado, contact Colorado Horse Property today and speak with one of our horse-person realtors.

Mortgage Interest Points

Mortgage interest points correspond to one percent per point of the mortgage amount. This is the previously paid interest that affects the loan’s return. Buyers and sellers can elect to pay these points to reduce rates. However, you should be aware that there can be limits on paying for points based on underwriting guidelines. These can be easy to miss because they differ from types of loans.

Lower note-rates would obviously make the payments less, but with a little analysis you can discover some helpful information. Knowing how much points paid up-front can save a borrower. Also, whether they can get back additional costs is very useful. If a buyer stays in a home for ten years, they can save $2,000 over the cost of the point. A less obvious advantage will be realized because the unpaid balance on the lower interest rate loan will result in an additional savings.

Tax Refunds and Home Buying

Posted on March 5, 2018 by blogeditor

Tax season can be very stressful, but for a lot taxpayers the reward is receiving a refund. Though refunds differ from state to state and person to person, the average tax refund is around three thousand dollars for most Americans. Tax refunds and home buying go hand in hand. Colorado Horse Property would advise you not to use your tax refund on just anything, especially if you are thinking about buying a home.

Tax Refunds and Home Buying

While the average tax refund might not cover the down payment on a median priced home in Colorado, it definitely helps out. Ranging from two to three percent of the the purchase price, closing costs for originating new mortgages can be expensive; that’s where your tax refund can come in handy. Most lenders will let you pay part or even all of the closing costs on your new home based on what is agreed upon and outlined in the sales contract.

Just have it written in the agreement that you will pay for your closing costs with your refund. If you are able to get a low down payment, then your refund can certainly go towards that cost as well. Many buyers think it takes 10% or more down payment to purchase a home, and though that could be the case it is oftentimes lower than you might thing. There are VA and USDA mortgages that have no down payment for qualified buyers. FHA has a 3.5% down payment program and FNMA has 3% down payment mortgages for qualified creditors.

Let’s Talk Home Lighting

Posted on March 2, 2018 by blogeditor

Getting the right kind of home lighting for your home is essential. Even if you had the nicest home in Colorado, it will not look that way without good home lighting. Fortunately, since the passing of a new energy act in 2017, it is now required that new energy-efficient light bulbs are used. Also, if you are looking for a horse property for sale in Colorado, contact Colorado Horse Property today and speak with one of our horse-person realtors.

Home Lighting

Standard incandescent bulbs do a poor job at lighting up your home. Therefore they are phasing out and eventually will be unavailable. However, you should still shop around when it comes to these new alternative bulbs because they differ considerably in price. For example, LED bulbs are the most efficient but they also cost the most. If you are looking for a bulb that will show off your new Colorado horse property but don’t have a fortune to spend, then CFLs are a less expensive alternative. Keep in mind that the more expensive replacements offer lower operating costs and longer economic life.

If you are making the decision to replace your home lighting, then you should have a plan in place. It could be very expensive to replace all the bulbs in your home at one time. What if most of the bulbs still work? Do you just throw them out? Colorado Horse Property would advice homeowners to only replace the bulbs in the rooms where the lights are used the most such as kitchen, family rooms and bathrooms. Bulbs differ in light output (lumens) as well as color of light.

The Tax Cut and Jobs Act

Posted on February 28, 2018 by blogeditor

Buying a home is a big decision, and the tax laws in the past can weigh hard on that decision. In today’s economic climate buyers who worry about what might happen to the tax laws affecting home ownership should feel more confident about moving forward with their decision to buy. This is all thanks to The Tax Cut and Jobs Act. Also, if you are looking for a horse property for sale in Colorado, contact Colorado Horse Property today and speak with one of our horse-person realtors.

The Tax Cut and Jobs Act

The good news: The Tax Cut and Jobs Act continues to treat real estate as a favored investment. Whether it is for your home or a rental property, the tax laws are in place. The only thing that might still be concerning are mortgage rates which are expected to rise as well as prices. But don’t give up just yet. Your dream home can still be yours and sooner than you think.

Not only is the mortgage interest deduction intact for most taxpayers, the capital gain exclusion for principal residences up to $500,000 is also still in place. Taxpayers can annually elect to take a newly increased standard deduction or itemize deductions; the taxpayer will pick whichever will benefit them the most.

A house payment under the new laws, along with taxes and insurance, is most likely cheaper than to rent because rents will continue to rise in the future. Rental properties are still great investments because Section 1031 exchanges, capital gains and depreciation remain the same for rental properties.

Time Management

Posted on February 21, 2018 by blogeditor

Time management is very important but also very underrated. If you have a family or an active lifestyle, then you know how precious time can be. Your schedule fills up quick with more things to do than there are hours in the day. Do you have an appointment in the morning? The kids have lessons to get to? Do you still need to go shopping to fill the empty pantry?

Time is valuable and no one wants to waste it, most of all real estate agents. Agents know that you can’t put your life on-hold while you’re trying to buy or sell a home. Whether you have a family, a couple, or you are single, life continues and the time constraints of moving can become burdensome. Agents at Colorado Horse Property are committed to helping you save time while making the experience of buying or selling a home memorable. We know the process and the potential problem areas and can help you move through them. So to preserve your precious time, and your agents time and energy, here are a few things you can do.

Time Management

First and foremost, if for what ever reason you are no longer able to buy or sell depending on what you are trying to accomplish, always let your agent know as soon as possible. There’s nothing worse than an agent spending hours trying to find the perfect home for you and then find out later that you changed your mind the day before. Secondly, if you agent is on time for appointments than you should be.

Cancelling appointments with agents should be done with as much notice as you can possibly give. One of the biggest set backs in the buying process is not having all of your required documentation. So work with your loan professional by providing all requested documentation when it is needed. If you gather all the required documents on the same day for an appointment and store them in the same place, you can reduce the chance of forgetting anything.