For those who sold their home this year, it's important to understand how selling your home may impact your tax returns, now that tax season is upon us.  The following information explains how capital gains work for those who have recently sold a home.
 
If you sell your primary residence, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of gain – $500,000 for married couples – from your federal tax return. To claim the exclusion, the IRS says your home must have been owned by you and used as your main home for a period of at least two out of the five years prior to its sale.
 
There are a few catches: You also must not have excluded gain on another home sold during the two years before the current sale. However, special rules apply for members of the armed, uniformed and foreign services and their families in calculating the 5-year period.
 
If you do not meet the ownership and use tests, you may use a reduced maximum exclusion amount. But only if y. ...

For those consumers who have a foreclosure on their record, it may feel like they will never repair their credit enough to become a homeowner again. It can happen, but it will depend on a variety of variables.
 
Bouncing back after a foreclosure will depend greatly on your individual circumstances, as well as the mortgage interest rate you are willing to pay. Foreclosures can remain on your credit record for seven to 10 years. Most lenders will consider your request for a home loan two to four years after your foreclosure, although your interest rates will be higher.
 
Keep an eye out for predatory lenders that will issue a home mortgage in less time than average, but will charge you obscenely high mortgage interest rates, fees, and penalties.
 
A quality lender will expect you to show that you have cleaned up your credit. In this light, a borrower who has worked hard to reestablish good credit may also be shown some leniency by the lender.  
 
Repairin. ...

Weeding through all of the available information on mortgage rates can be exhausting. From trends to current percentage fluctuations, there is always a surplus of information at your fingertips. Below are three things you should know about today's mortgage arena.
 
They're on the way up – but still look good. Today's rates are higher than they were a year ago, but they're still relatively low. Recently, mortgage rates were weighing in around 4 percent, which isn't as low as 2012's 3 percent, but is still a great rate.
 
They shouldn't stop you from buying. If you're waiting to purchase a home because you think mortgage rates may drop – don't. While mortgage rates do increase and decrease slightly from month-to-month, larger changes happen extremely slowly. If a fraction of a percent increase or decrease dramatically changes how much house you can buy, then you may be shopping a bit out of your price range.
 
There could be upcoming changes.&nb. ...

Tax season is approaching fast, and for those who sold a home this year, it's important to start thinking about how this may impact your taxes. Below are several of the need-to-know facts about tax season for home sellers.
 
Under $250,000? You may be able to exclude gains. Just because you profited on your home sale does not mean you have to pay taxes on it. In fact, if you're eligible to exclude your gains, you don't even need to note that you sold your home at all when you file.
 
To be eligible, you need to have made a profit of less than $500,000 on a joint return or $250,000 on an individual return, and the home must have been your primary residence for at least two years prior to sale.
 
You may not have to report your home sale at all. If you can exclude all of the gain--meaning it was under 500,00 on a joint return or $250,000 on a single--you probably don’t need to report the sale of your home on your tax return at all. Double check this with y. ...

Being a homeowner is one of the most rewarding parts of life, but it is also a large undertaking. From the day you move in to the day you sell your home, there will always be something that will need to be repaired or remodeled. You may want to undertake some changes simply to elevate your comfort level – like installing central air conditioning – or to spruce up the home’s aesthetics, such as adding a few stained-glass windows. But other work will need to be done to maintain the property and minimize problems later on. These may include replacing a hazardous roof, fixing broken windows, and repairing leaky pipes. These are all necessities. Left undone, they can lead to major problems and damages within the home.  If you decide one day to sell, other improvements will likely be made to increase the home’s value and appeal to potential buyers.
 
From the very beginning, get in the habit of taking an inventory, at least once every year, of every nook a. ...