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Buying a home represents one of the biggest purchases that an individual can make in his or her lifetime. As such, the decision should not be taken lightly, and you'll want to review many factors as you search for your dream residence. The U.S. Census Bureau reported 501,000 homes were sold in the United States last year, up from 437,000 homes one year earlier. Furthermore, the U.S. economy continues to rebound from the Great Recession. This means the number of homebuyers may

Make the most of your energy dollar. Just follow these simple guidelines and enjoy lower gas bills this season. Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter. For each degree you raise your thermostat setting, your fuel bill climbs 3 percent. So dress accordingly. Consider slipping into a sweater before you crank up the temperature. Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed. A simple task like this and those in No. 3 could improve your system

When Mom told you to turn out the lights, she was thinking of saving energy dollars, not rolling blackouts and bankrupt utility companies. Rarely have Moms words of wisdom been as fitting as they are now and not just in California. Electricity rates are going up everywhere. Besides switching off lights, there are several other painless methods to conserve energy and save money on your electric bills. Plug Ins Look for those electronic devices, especially those with digital ti

Information To Help You Throughout The Home Buying Process 1. Are You Ready? Step 1 of 10 Knowledge and experience are the keys to successful real estate transactions. REALTOR.com® contains an enormous amount of valuable information, and such data -- combined with the expertise, experience and training of local REALTORS® -- can be the essential keys to your success. One of the keys to making the homebuying process easier and more understandable is planning. In doing so, you'l

401k Plan Loans - An Overview Allowing loans within a 401k plan is allowed by law, but an employer is not required to do so. Many small business just can't afford the high cost of adding this feature to their plan. Even so, loans are a feature of most 401k plans. If offered, an employer must adhere to some very strict and detailed guidelines on making and administering them. The statutes governing plan loans place no specific restrictions on what the need or use will be for l

Your DVR is full of home improvement shows, you’ve got the soul of Bob Villa, and a masters degree from YouTube University. Now that you finally ready to buy that fixer upper home, you have an outlet for your DIY ambitions. But there’s one more checklist you need to go through before you get started. The bones and guts Have a professional check the structural integrity, electric wiring, and plumbing before you buy. You should also check to see if there’s any lead paint or asb

The challenge of buying a home for the first time can seem so daunting that it's tempting to either just go with the first place in your price range or continue to rent. To help you demystify the process and get the most out of the purchase, we'll examine what you'll need to consider before you buy, what you can expect from the buying process itself, and some handy tips to make life easier after you purchase your first home. Who Is a First-Time Homebuyer? U.S. Department of H

It may seem hard to imagine but, yes, the cycle has spun around and in some markets there are bidding wars leaving buyers wondering, "What can I do to make my offer stand out?" The real estate market is again heating up and many buyers are trying to get into the market now after taking a long break. For some, it's a chance to become first-time homeowners. For others, it's a chance to make a move up to a larger home or to buy a second home. Still others may have owned in previ

Residential homeowners have a number of tax benefits, the most important of which is the exclusion of up to $500,000 profit made on the sale of the principal residence. But real estate investors -- large and small -- still have to pay capital gains tax when they sell their investments. And since most investors depreciated their properties over a number of years, they often have to "recapture" the depreciation, as well as paying a lot of capital gains tax. There is a way of de

You have signed a contract to purchase a house. Your potential lender has qualified you for the mortgage loan, on the condition that the house will appraise high enough to support the loan. Now you have learned that the appraisal has come in too low, and the lender is not prepared to commit the loan. You have a number of options. Let's take this example. Your contract price is $500,000, and you are seeking a loan which will be 80 percent of the purchase price -- or $400,000.