Temporarily Renting a Home

IRS has provisions for homeowners regarding the sale of a principal residence that allows for temporarily renting the home without losing the ability to exclude the gain if the home is sold under the correct conditions.

The rules for the exclusion of gain on the sale of a principal residence are:

• Up to $250,000 of gain may be excluded for single taxpayers and up to $500,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly.
• Ownership and Use must have been a principal residence for two of the five years preceding the date of sale (closing date).  This allows for a temporary rental for up to three years maximum.
• Either spouse may meet the ownership test.
• Both spouses must meet the use test.
• No exclusion has been used in the previous 24-month period.

Let's pretend that a person had owned a home from more than two years.  This person married and moved into their new spouse's home two years, six months ago.  That person decided to sell the home and would have approximately $200,000 of gain in the sale.

If the property is put on the market, sold and closed prior to the three-years that they moved out, the home would still be eligible for the section 121 exclusion on the sale of a principal residence.  If the sales closes after that three-year period, the owner would owe tax on the gain.  If the long-term capital gains rate for the owner was 15%, they would owe approximately $30,000 in taxes.

If you or a person you know is in a situation like this, they should certainly seek professional tax advice as well as discussing the marketing and value of the property with their real estate professional.  This is something that I have experience with; call me at (334) 782-3398.  The timing is very important and critical to a favorable outcome.

Time to Buy Again

For people who have experienced a distressed sale of a home and gotten their finances and credit back in shape, there can still be an unanswered question of "How long do we have to wait to qualify for another mortgage."  The loan types for the new loan will differ in amounts of time based on the event. 

The different lending authorities, VA, FHA, Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FHLMC), establish their own waiting periods.  A borrower may be eligible to qualify for one type of mortgage before another type, even though during this waiting period, that the person was current on all payments and maintained a history of good credit.

The following chart indicates how long a person might have to wait.

A recommended lender can give you specific information regarding your individual situation and can make suggestions that will improve your ability to qualify for a mortgage.  This process should be started before looking at homes because of the time constraints listed here can vary based on current requirements and possible extenuating circumstances of your case.

We want to be your personal source of real estate information and we're committed to helping from purchase to sale and all the years in between.  Call us at (334) 782-3398 for lender recommendations.

Comfort Systems

Heating and air-conditioning are frequently referred to as the "comfort systems."  If one has gone out in the dead of winter or the heat of summer, lack of comfort becomes a primary concern.  Regular maintenance with a HVAC checklist is something that homeowners can do themselves to ensure that the units operate properly.

Periodically

• Change your filter every 90 days; every 30 days if you have shedding pets. 
• Maintain at least two feet of clearance around outdoor air conditioning units and heat pumps.
• Don't allow leaves, grass clippings, lint or other things to block circulation of coils.
• Inspect insulation on refrigerant lines leading into house monthly and replace if missing or damaged.

Annually, in spring

• Confirm that outdoor air conditioning units and heat pumps are on level pads.
• Pour bleach in the air conditioner's condensation drain to clear mold and algae which can cause a clog.
• Avoid closing more than 20% of a home's registers to keep from overworking the system.
• Replace the battery in the home's carbon monoxide detector.

While using this list will prevent some things that may impede the comfort system's proper performance, it is recommended that you have your units serviced annually by a licensed contractor.  Furnaces should also be inspected for carbon monoxide leaks. Preventative maintenance may help avoid costly repairs.

iBuyers - Convenient at a Price

There are an increasing number of real estate companies, termed iBuyers, like Open Door, Offerpad, Zillow, Knock and others that market a service that has an appeal to homeowners.  The pitch for these quick cash offer companies will include some variation of "let us buy your home in days without the normal hassles of listing."

This approach attempts to provide an alternative to selling a home in a normal manner at the expense of not realizing the full equity a homeowner is entitled. There is no fiduciary relationship requiring the broker to put a seller's best interest above their own interest.  An iBuyer does not represent a seller and does not owe client-level services like loyalty, obedience disclosure among other things required by most state license laws.

The offer is based on an automated valuation model, many times, without a physical inspection of the home.  In some cases, a contract is written but there are provisions that allow iBuyers time to possibly "flip" the property to an investor or use an "out" in the contract to void the sale.

The reality is that a company cannot stay in business if they pay too much for the property.  The iBuyer becomes the Seller who now must be concerned with pricing the home properly to cover the normal selling expenses as well as repairs, improvements, and holding costs that will be incurred until the property sells.

There could be circumstances that make it necessary for a homeowner to sell their home at a discount.  The seller could be in a distressed situation needing immediate cash.  They might need a quick sale and don't want to be bothered with repairs or marketing efforts.  Or possibly, they may have found their next home   and need to act quickly. The instant liquidity comes at a cost to the seller in lower proceeds from the sale.

To realize the maximum possible equity, a real estate professional in your area can advise you about the fair market value of your home, a reasonably expected sales price, the costs involved and how long it will take.  Before accepting a price to sell your home to a wholesaler, you owe it to yourself and your family to find out what you can expect if you take a conventional sales route.

One Loan for Purchase & Renovations

The FNMA HomeStyle conventional mortgage allows a buyer to purchase a home that needs renovations and include them in the financing.  This facilitates the purchase of the home and the renovations in one loan rather than getting a separate second mortgage or home equity line of credit.

The combination of these loans should save closing costs as well as interest rates which would typically be higher on a home improvement loan.

The borrower will need to have an itemized, written bid from a contractor covering the scope of the improvements.  Any type of renovation or repair is eligible if it is a permanent part of the property.  Improvements must be completed within 12 months from the date the mortgage loan is delivered.

• 15 and 30-year fixed rate and eligible adjustable rate loans are available.
• Typical FNMA down payments are available starting as low as 3% for a one-unit principal residence to 25% for three and four-unit principal residence and one-unit investment properties.
• Borrower must choose his or her own contractor to perform the renovation.
• Lender must review the contractor hired by the borrower to determine if they are adequately qualified and experienced for the work being performed. The Contractor Profile Report (Form 1202) can be used to assist the lender in making this determination.
• Borrowers must have a construction contract with their contractor. Fannie Mae has a model Construction Contract (Form 3734) that may be used to document the construction contract between the borrower and the contractor.
• Plans and specifications must be prepared by a registered, licensed, or certified general contractor, renovation consultant, or architect. The plans and specifications should fully describe all work to be done and provide an indication of when various jobs or stages of completion will be scheduled (including both the start and job completion dates)

Up to 50% of the renovation funds may be advanced for the cost of materials after the closing of the loan.

This mortgage does have a provision for the borrower to do a portion of the work themselves if it doesn't exceed 10% of the total project and it must pass inspection on completion just as the contractor's work.

It is recommended that borrowers thoroughly research this program before they commit to a loan.  For detailed information, see FNMA HomeStyle Renovation Mortgage and Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2017-02.   It is important to work with a mortgage officer who is familiar with these loans who can guide you through the process.

Get Rid of Things You Don't Need

Periodically, you need to rid yourself of things that are taking up you time and space to make room for more of what you like and want.

There's a frequently quoted suggestion that if you haven't used something for two years, maybe it isn't essential in your life. 

If you have books you'll never read again, give them to someone who will.  If you have a deviled egg plate that hasn't been used since the year your Aunt Phoebe gave it to you, it's out of there.  Periodically, go through every closet, drawer, cabinet, room and storage area to get rid of the things that are just taking up space in your home and your life.

Every item receives the decision to keep or get rid of.  Consider these questions as you judge each item:

• When was the last time you used it?
• Do you believe you'll use it again?
• Is there a sentimental reason to keep it?

You have four options for the things that you're not going to keep. 

1. Give it to someone who needs it or will appreciate it
2. Sell it in a garage sale or on Craig's List.
3. Donate it to a charity and receive a tax deduction
4. Discard it to the trash.

Start with your closet.  If you haven't worn something in five years, get rid of it.  Then, go through the things again and if you haven't worn it in two years, ask yourself the real probability that you'll wear it again.

Another way to do it is to move it from your active closet to another closet.  If a year goes by in the other closet, the next time you go through this exercise, those clothes are on their way out.

If the items taking up space are financial records and receipts, the solution may be to scan them and store them in the cloud.  There are plenty of sites that will offer you several gigabytes of free space and it may cost as little as $10 a month for 100 GB at Dropbox, to get the additional space you need.  It will certainly be cheaper than the mini-storage building.

Auto Pay Your Mortgage Payment

In the time that it takes to write one check, you can set it up with your bank and never have to do it again.  You won't have to write checks, envelopes or buy stamps anymore.  You'll save time, money and benefit in other ways too.

1. Never be late ... avoid late fees and protect your credit
2. Schedule additional principal contributions monthly to save interest, build equity and shorten the mortgage term.
   An extra $200 a month applied to the principal on a $200,000 mortgage at 4.5% for 30 years will result in shortening the loan by 8.5 years.  If the loan was paid to term, it would save $52,977 in interest.  Use the Equity Accelerator to see how much you can save.
3. It's convenient ... by doing it online with your bank, you'll have a centralized history of the payments.
4. Protect your credit ... your payment history is the single biggest component of your credit score and accounts for over 1/3 of your credit score.

Establishing the practice of auto bill pay could run the risk of overdrawing an account and incurring overdraft charges.  Monitor your bank account to be sure that you have enough cash to cover your automatic payments.

Schedule the Auto Pay to allow for processing and the time it takes to reach the lender so that you don't incur late fees.

And even though, you set up the Auto Pay, it is still your responsibility to monitor your bank account to see that they are executing it properly.  If you are making additional principal contributions, you must see that the extra amount was indeed applied to principal reduction and not somewhere else like in the escrow account.

Some banks offer email or text reminders to let you know when checks are about to be written or if your balance is low.