Maria Marriott | Real Estate Home Loans www.SacramentoMortgageInfo.com

Lowering Your Property Taxes...


Hello Everyone ~

A couple of items of interest for those who work and/or own a home.

By now you should have received your current property tax statement for 2011-2012. If you have an impound account, your lender will pay this for you. if you don't have an impound account, these installments needs to be paid by 12/10/2011 and 04/10/2012.

If you feel your assessed value is too high, you have until 11/30/2011 to ask for an appeal. Here's an example of an appeal form that could help you lower your property taxes - Sacramento County. Remember that the county is assessing the value of your home from January 2011, and you must find recent sales during that time to have them adjust the assessed value.

Some good news for social security recipients, as your monthly income will be increasing by 3.60% starting January 1st, 2012.

The not so good news for those who earn over $100,000 annually...Your FICA tax, which currently taxes your earnings up to $106,800, will now be taxed up to $110,100.

With that, have a great weekend and enjoy this wonderful October weather.

Because it's crucial to have the knowledge and confidence you need to make the right decisions when purchasing a home, we've teamed up with local top Real Estate agents to offer a dynamic and comprehensive home buyer class. Our goal is to educate the home buyer on the current real estate and lending markets as well as the entire purchase process - from the very start to finish. This class has been helping families get in their own homes feeling confident and comfortable with their decisions.

November 17th - 2011 | Registration Starts at 6:00pm | Class from 6:30 - 7:30pm

THIS IS A FREE COMMUNITY SERVICE | NO COST OR OBLIGATION TO YOU

CLICK HERE

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION

Buying a home is exiting and most likely the biggest purchase one will ever make in a lifetime. It can also be stressful and challenging if you're not ready for it.

Learn about...

Making Successful Offers | How Much Can I Afford To Buy | How To Avoid Common Purchase Pitfalls

How To Successfully Buy Short Sales and Foreclosed Homes

How To Choose The Right Realtor and Lender | All About Credit | Down Payment Assistance Programs Loan Programs Current Available

REGISTER HERE

Protecting Tenants At Foreclosure Act of 2009

This may come as old news for some of your but it's my understanding that a lot of tenants are still not aware of this Act.

It's no news that the foreclosure crises has become a huge problem for tenants who are now facing the possibility of having to suddenly pack and find another place to live. Investors have let their properties go and, often times, tenants don't even know that the property is facing foreclosure because their landlord didn't bother to tell them so. So when they least expect, there's a sheriff knocking on their door saying "get packing...need to go". Can you imagine?

Do you know that most mortgage servicers and banks will honor a lease agreement as long as the tenant can document their rent payments?

Here's one important note. The Federal Protecting Tenants At Foreclosure Act of 2009 says that all the banks are mandated to do is to give the tenant 90 days to vacate the property. Beyond that it's up to the bank.

Now, about the validation of the lease agreement. If you are a tenant and want to make sure the bank accepts your lease agreement, it is a good idea to save your canceled checks to show proof of payment. That way there will be no question on the validation of the agreement.

If you or one of your clients is in the process of getting evicted, make sure to "get your ducks in a roll.

Top 10 Ways To Save Money -

Your're buying a home and with that comes a lot of unexpected expenses. Home owner's insurance, property taxes and appliances that you may have to purchase, just to name a few. It's time to create a serious budget and start saving some money.

To help you get started, here's a list of 10 ways to save money by cutting down a little on your expenses. A little goes a long way and is my hubble opinion that no one should be spending more money than needed.

1. Have a Budget - And stick to it. How many of your have one? I need to start on mine right away.

2. Cut Your Food Costs - I eat out a lot. I don't even try to add up all my restaurant expenses because I know it will make me depressed. Even if we cut down by a day or two, it helps. It also promotes health since we can control what goes in our food at home but not in a restaurant (i.e. salt, msg, fat, etc.). That dinner out can cost you more than what you pay for your weekly groceries.

3. Don't Stop At Starbucks - Huge one. It may not apply to you but I can safely say that a lot of people could save a ton of money by cutting down the Starbucks drive-thu. By the way, they've just jacked up their prices. In CA by quite a bit (if not mistaken, $0.30 a cup). I'll make this my motivation.

4. Avoid Brand Names - Often times there's actually no difference between the band names and the generics. It really doesn't matter who makes the foil or the toilet paper you use (well...some would question this last one...).

5. Kick Expensive Habits - Smoking is a good example. It can become even more expensive than just the packs you smoke a day. Once I read "if you have an expensive habit, saving money is probably just one of the many reason to drop it."

6. Go Easy On The Plastic - This one is a "no-brainer". There's a lot of wisdom on Shakespeare saying "NEITHER A BORROWER OR A LENDER BE."

7. Use Coupons - My husband is wonderful on this. He almost never pays full price for anything. If you really take the time to look, there's a coupon for basically anything you buy. It just takes a little bit of work and organization to make sure you get all the discounts. We go out to lunch every Sunday after church and it's been quite a while that we've paid full price for our meals. Go to restaurant sites and sign up for their news. Most likely you'll get emailed coupons. Mimi's Restaurant is a great one for this, if you have one in your area.

8. Don't pay unecessary fees - Some examples: $1.50 fee for using the ATM sitting right next to you, late fees for returning videos, etc. I'm sure we can find plenty of those unecessary fees everywhere.

9. Pay less for long distance - Take a close look at your phone bill and check how much you're paying per minute. I've just discoved that I was paying way too much for mine and had no clue.

10. Have Direct Deposit - Money going directly to your savings, IRA, etc. will be money not spent with unecessary "stuff".

I hope this list of the top 10 was to save money gets you inspired to make some changes and save some cash.

If you need someone to help you with your home loan, please contact me. I can save you some money there...

Here's an useful tip for buyers and sellers.

Let's face it. Taking inventory of everything you own is not an easy task, specially if you have never done so. So many rooms...so much "stuff"...it's been so long! Where do I get started? How do I track it in an organized manner?

I came across a great website that can help you take and keep track of your possessions. A great tool if you'd like to take and inventory of your home and don't know how to get started.

It's also an useful tip for when you're buying or selling a home and need to get insurance and really don't know everything you have. Very practical, easy to use and FREE! Yep...the word we all like.

What You Own Home Inventory is a free software that assists you in taking inventory of your possessions. You can organize it all by rooms and categories, print reports, just to name a few of the basic features. Very helpful.

It's always hard to get started taking inventory of your home. With this cool tool it may become easier and, who know, fun? Well..."fun" may be a little bit of a stretch for some of us.