Five Often Overlooked Tax Deductions
*By Barbara Pronin According to tax experts at Kiplinger Personal Finance, there are five legitimate tax deductions taxpayers frequently overlook. Consider these, which can save you a bundle if they apply: State sales tax – The state sales tax deduction, which expired at the end of 2011, was re-instated on January 1 as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations – and is retroactive for 2012. Congress offers a choice between deducting state income taxes paid or state sales taxes paid. Choose whichever gives you the largest deduction. (The IRS has tables that show how much residents of various states can deduct based on income and state and local sales tax rates.) State taxes paid last year – If you paid tax when you filed your 2011 state income tax return...
Read MoreFive Attention-Grabbing Ways to Get Hired
*By Barbara Pronin, RISMedia Columnist In today’s economy, according to business consultant Jim Kukral, you need to be more than experienced, qualified, and personable to get the job you want. You need to stand out from the crowd, approaching your job search in ways that grab –and hold – attention. “No employer today is going to remember someone who falls in the middle of the pack,” says Kukral, whose book, “Attention! This Book Will Make You Money,” instructs individuals and businesses in the art of using creativity and the Web to find success. Kukral offers five ways job-seekers can stand out from the crowd: Ramp up your resume – To most hiring managers, resumes look pretty much the same. Make yours stand out by delivering it in a catchy, unusual...
Read MoreThree Questions to Ask Yourself Every Morning
*By Jared James I recently held our first training call with our new virtual coaching platform, and noticed that the one topic that drew the most interest was when I covered “the three questions to ask yourself every single morning.” By simply asking these three questions, you will find that you can be more productive and have better direction for your day. Here are the three questions: 1. What – The first question to ask yourself every day is, “What do I want to accomplish today?” It is such a direct question that forces you to focus on a specific direction for the day. Most of us wake up most mornings and do whatever shows up on our desk or in our inbox. Please remember this though – not all movement is progress and it is important not to confuse...
Read MoreShort Sales Streamlined
Guidelines for short sales are expected to streamline and speed the process (click ‘more’ to see video). Tweet
Read MoreFourth Quarter Results: 84 Percent of Refinancing Homeowners Maintain or Reduce Mortgage Debt
Freddie Mac released the results of its fourth quarter refinance analysis showing homeowners who refinance continue to strengthen their fiscal house. This release also contains annual statistics on refinances for the ten largest metropolitan areas and four Census regions of the U.S. In the fourth quarter of 2012, 84 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage either maintained about the same loan amount or lowered their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing table; just shy of the record 85 percent during the fourth quarter of 2011. Of these borrowers, 46 percent maintained about the same loan amount, and 39 percent of refinancing homeowners reduced their principal balance. The average interest rate reduction was...
Read MoreBuilder Confidence Virtually Unchanged in February
Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes was virtually unchanged in February with a one-point decline to 46 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released recently. “Following solid gains over the past year, builder confidence has essentially leveled out and held in the same three-point range over the last four months,” notes NAHB Chairman Rick Judson, a home builder from Charlotte, N.C. “This is partly due to ongoing uncertainties about job growth and consumer access to mortgage credit, but it’s also a reflection of the fact that builders are now confronting rising costs for building materials and, in some markets, limited availability of labor and lots as demand for new homes...
Read More
Vincent Dudziak
Owner & Mortgage Broker CA RE#01302233 NMLS #233623 | Vincent NMLS #285072 | Oak Tree
You can learn more about Vincent and his services on Read More
Follow Me!
By PDGACO payday loans uk