Trey McCallie's Blog

    Avoiding Unexpected Expenses It's common for sellers to consider offering and buyers might find it an incentive, but a growing number of homeowners are purchasing the home warranties themselves to limit the unexpected expenses of repairs and replacements.   A home protection plan is a renewab...

  How much evidence is needed to make a decision to get out of the rent race and become a homeowner?   Compare your rent with a mortgage payment on a similar size property. If you want a larger home than your current one, use the rent that property would require instead of what you're currently p...

    Section 1031 exchange for rental and investment real estate is a tool that allows investors to move the gain from one property to another without immediate income tax consequences.  An instant benefit is to postpone the tax due which gives the investor a larger amount of proceeds to invest.  ...

    With interest rates lower than they’ve been in over 40 years, it may be difficult to think of a “window of opportunity” closing.  However, it isn’t difficult to understand that it may very probably cost more to live in a home in the near future due to rising interest rates and prices.   Zillo...

  If it shows better, it will probably sell faster and maybe for more money. Once your home is on the market, it's time to look at it like a commodity and through the eyes of potential buyers. In all likelihood, you'll need to take care of these items eventually, so do them now to help it sell so...

Looking for the Largest Deduction   The 2013 standard deduction for a married couple filing jointly is $12,200 and $6,100 for a single taxpayer.  It doesn’t require any proof of actual expense and has no requirement for home ownership.IRS allows taxpayers the option to take the standard deduction...

  What's the Point? Prepaid interest, sometimes called “points”, is generally tax deductible when a person pays them in connection with buying, building or improving their principal residence.  When points are paid on a refinance, they are not a current deduction but have to be taken prorata over...

    One of the most frequent calls from homeowners to their agents is about the listing’s inactivity due to the lack of showings.  The homeowner commonly believes that the home is shown only when a buyer walks through the house with an agent.   Today’s buyers are more sophisticated than in the pa...

    The Qualified Mortgage Rule came into effect on January 14, 2014 as one of the results to the Dodd Frank Reform Act to protect consumers from predatory lending practices. This will affect the underwriting standards that the majority of lenders will use to qualify borrowers. The ability to rep...

    One of the anxiety highpoints during the sale of a home is waiting for the buyer’s home inspection report.  Most sellers willingly disclose what they know about their home to any potential buyers.  The concern stems from the inspector finding something that they’re totally unaware of and that...