Monday, November 9, 2020 / by Stephanie Cornacchione
If you’re thinking about buying a home that needs some work and you want to use the bank’s money to pay for it, we’re going to show you how to do that today.
Believe it or not, you have a lot of different options when it comes to getting a renovation loan. FHA, VA, and conventional products all have renovation loans as an option. There are a lot of different ways to go about getting one, but they’re structured similarly.
However, the process is the same for all of them. First, you find the property you want to renovate, then you go out and determine what kind of work you want to be done on the property and how much that is going to cost. You will then submit those quotes and the purchase contract to an appraiser, who will appraise the property based on its completed condition.
“FHA, VA, and conventional lenders all offer renovation loans.”
Once that happens, the bank will fund the loan to complete the purchase and set aside those fu. ...
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Thursday, October 1, 2020 / by Stephanie Cornacchione
“How can I transition from my current home to my next home without juggling two mortgages or ending up homeless?”
That’s been a common inquiry from my clients lately, so today I’d like to share five ways this can be done—three of which are traditional, while the other two aren’t as traditional.
One traditional method for transitioning between homes is to market your home for sale until you have an interested buyer. Once you do, make sure your contract stipulates that you’d like to stay in the home after escrow is closed. This allows you to carry equity from your sale to the bank and bolsters your purchasing power when you’re making an offer on a new home.
The second method is to market your current home while also searching for and purchasing a new property all within a matter of days— also known as a concurrent close. This, of course, would mean you’d have to synchronize the purch ...
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Monday, September 7, 2020 / by Stephanie Cornacchione
If you’re thinking about selling an investment property, you’ll want to avoid capital gains taxes. Here are three ways you can do that.
If you’re a real estate investor and you’re looking to sell a property while also minimizing your capital gains taxes, here are three different solutions that you can explore:
1. A 1031 exchange. This refers to the U.S. tax code that allows a homeowner to sell an investment property and transfer the equity to another one without incurring a tax. It’s a pretty straightforward and commonly used option.
“A charitable trust will allow you to control your assets as a trust manager.”
2. A Delaware Statutory Trust. A DST is less common, but a great tool for homeowners who have an investment property and are looking to end their obligation as a landlord and minimize their risk and exposure. A DST is an entity that has been set up for a large-scale investment where that homeowner can transfer t. ...
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Monday, August 3, 2020 / by Stephanie Cornacchione
Undertaking a renovation project is a big step, no matter if it’s for one room or a whole home. Here’s my advice if you’re in a similar situation.
If you’re thinking about buying a home that needs some work, or making a renovation to your current home, here are three things that you need to consider:
1. Know your ability. We aren’t all interior design specialists. If you don’t know how to pick a tile or what backsplash looks good in a kitchen, get some help. We work with designers who can advise you, and it’s not nearly as expensive as you might think.
2. Be realistic about your project. As you tackle one project, it may make the rest of the home look like an eyesore. Be realistic about the scope of your project, and don’t go too narrow or too wide.
“Design consultants might have access to cheaper, better materials.”
3. Manage your finances. A lot of people don’t realize that there are a. ...
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Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / by Stephanie Cornacchione
San Diego real estate doesn’t stand all on its own. Our real estate market here is more global than you might think, but will the coronavirus have an effect on our real estate and/or economy?
Truthfully, I feel that the economic situation that’s unfolding could be a great thing for the market. Markets do ebb and flow as part of normal cycles every 10 years or so. We’re about 13 years removed from the last “contraction,” so the markets have been looking for some reason to correct.
“Demand remains strong for real estate in San Diego.”
If you look at all the things that could cause a correction, from wars to a financial system disaster to the E.U. breaking up, the coronavirus isn’t going to have a particularly lasting effect. In about six months, I believe this issue will play itself out and enthusiasm will come back to the market quickly in response.
In the San Diego real estate market, we’re still on fire in. ...
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