Thursday, September 1, 2011

How We'll Live in 2020 | Apartment Therapy New York

rosie9111.jpg

Working at Apartment Therapy, my email inbox could be compared to Grand Central - very busy, lots of arrivals and departures and definitely full of interesting characters. I never know what will arrive next. Yesterday evening brought something out of the ordinary that I thought you all would be interested in. 2000 members of the IFDA (International Furnishings and Design Association) took part in a once-a-decade survey all about how home life in America will change between now and 2020. Check it out and see if you agree with the design industry professional's predictions...

Well people really live like this in 2020

Now that is Hauling in style wouldnt you say?

Dale_

Forgiven Debt after Utah Foreclosure or Utah Short Sale

Forgiven Debt after Utah Foreclosure or Utah Short Sale

This is some great information. David Robison did a great job explaining deficiency balance and what could happen

Bubblecover

Some homeowners in financial distress think that they can just let their house go back to the lender through foreclosure or short sale and they will be able to move on with their lives. What they don’t realize is that there are repercussions after foreclosure or short sale. One of those repercussions is taxable income from cancelled or forgiven debt.

In a foreclosure or short sale situation, the lender may forgive the remaining balance of the loan. This is good for the homeowner because it relieves them of what is often a large deficiency balance, but doesn't mean they are completely off the hook.  Under the tax law, cancelled or forgiven debt is considered income to the borrower and the lender is required to send the borrower a 1099c-- a tax form used to identify cancelled or forgiven debt.

Taxes
Having to pay taxes after the homeowner has lost their home is less than ideal. Fortunately, the tax law also spells out circumstances when a homeowner will not have to pay taxes from forgiven or cancelled debt. These exclusions include the following:
  • Debt canceled when a person is insolvent.
  • Debt that qualifies under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act
Before choosing to do a short sale or let the property foreclose, the homeowner should consult with a competent accountant to identify what tax consequences they may have to deal with. They should also ask about the exclusions listed above.  

The Robinson Team specializes in Utah foreclosure prevention and short sales in Utah. If you are facing foreclosure or considering a short sale, contact us now. We can help you understand your options and answer your questions.

The Widening Gap between New and Existing Home Prices : Economists' Outlook

The Widening Gap between New and Existing Home Prices

The price of newly constructed homes refuses to budge downwards.  After hitting the cyclical low of $204,000 in October of 2010, the typical transaction price of new homes has been around $220,000.  In July, the median sold price of a new home was $222,000.  Though construction workers’ wages have not changed in the past four years (stuck at $38 per hour on average), the costs of construction materials have been rising.  As a result, homebuilders simply cannot lower the price without suffering a financial loss.  That is, it is better not to build than to build and then have to slash the price.

Meanwhile, existing home prices have to respond to supply and demand pressures, and supply has so far had a better hand.  As a result, lowering the price was the only option for many homeowners, other than pulling the home out of the market completely.

Due to the stubbornly high new home prices and lower existing home prices, the gap between the two has opened up.  From consumers’ point of view, therefore, existing homes offer an increasingly better value.  Because of this, we should expect new home sales to lag behind in the recovery as compared to existing home sales.

commentary090111

-->

This is crazy if only the supplier could see that by keeping supply for new construction so high they are effecting the ability of the builders to build