201412.30
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Short sale tax break signed into law

No wonder our legislators and President are suffering such low approval ratings right now – with just 2 days to spare, they have finally re-enacted the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Relief provisions which keep Short Selling home occupants from facing stiff taxes on phantom income.    Unfortunately, 2015 is upon us and once again the collection of…

201412.16
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Timing Your Short Sale

Southeastern Virginia is blessed to have a relatively high percentage of military homeowners and therefore a higher percentage of homes than in most parts of the country with VA loans and therefore, thanks to the low down payment requirements for VA loans,  a higher lingering inventory of “upside down” or “underwater” homes.   Military homeowners…

201412.08
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Where to Focus YOUR Lobbying Efforts

In our blog earlier this month we included legislative contact information so that you could let your Senators and Congressmen know how important you feel it is to extend the taxable income exclusion for forgiven debt on your primary residence.   That exclusion was originally part of a tax relief package begun in the Bush era…

201408.11
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When the Going Gets Tough . . .

Over the past five years, our short sale practice has become ever more streamlined and efficient.  We’ve seen time required for approvals drop as all the major lenders in the Virginia market recognize our firm name and even have first name relationships with some of our staff members who have been with us throughout the…

201407.14
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Status of Mortgage Debt Relief Act

Still no news as of this post on the resurrection and extension of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act passed by President Bush in the final days of his administration.   A proposed bill cleared the Senate subcommittee on finance several months ago but it has not made progress through the full Senate or House yet.  President…

201405.07
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It Was Inevitable – Thanks a lot QM!

We try not to wander too far afield into the political end of things.  But sometimes you just have to give credit where credit is due and point out some of the obvious consequences of laws affecting lenders, borrowers, default, and legal ramifications.   Dodd-Frank and the ensuing Quality Management or QM regime enforced upon the…

201404.29
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Home Prices Continue Modest Rise

Nationally, we have seen between 2% to 7% rise in home prices over the past year.   Big California cities have seen the biggest increases. The latest news is based on the increase in prices and reduction in time on market between February 2013 and February 2014.   “Black Knight Financial Services released its Home Price…