Mortgage

Figuring out the formula for mortgage rates can seem like magic. There are so many factors that can nudge rates up or down. So here at Dream Finders Homes, we thought we’d offer a bit of insight into what makes mortgage rates change.

What Does The FED Have To Do With It?

The role of the Federal Reserve Bank in mortgage rates is a bit confusing. The members of the Federal Reserve Bank do not set mortgage rates. Rather, they control the Fed Funds Rate, which is the interest rate at which financial institutions borrow money from each other in order to meet short-term loans and withdrawals. Short-term interest rates do not impact long-term financing, like mortgages.

What about the “prime rate”? Each bank decides on its own prime rate, which is the interest rate for lending money to customers with good credit. These financial institutions may set their prime rate according to the Fed Funds Rate, often a few percentage points higher. Credit cards, for example, reflect the prime rate. If you have a good credit rating, you get a lower interest rate on your credit card balance.

The employee tax assessment for 2018 can already be submitted to the tax office (preferably via FinanzOnline). If you do not file a 2018 assessment and still qualify for a tax credit, the Internal Revenue Service will perform an automatic (no application required) employee assessment under certain circumstances. This article is intended to give you some tips on how you as an employee can get money back from the tax office.

Deductions

Deductions reduce the tax to be paid. Examples of deductions that are generally already taken into account in the monthly statement are the transportation deduction for employees or the pensioner deduction for retirees.

Single earners/single parents can claim a deduction of € 494.00 per year for one child (€ 669.00 for two children, € 889.00 for three children and € 220.00 for each additional child) in the employee tax assessment under certain conditions. Child support may be entitled to a child support deduction. The Family Bonus Plus is not available until 2019.

A discussion has broken out in BETTERHOMES-Town: All the newspapers say that due to the current historically low interest rates, investing in your own home and thus buying is much more attractive and cheaper than renting. Is this true?

Do you really fare so much worse as a renter than as a buyer at the moment? And are the low mortgage rates really a cheap ticket to home ownership??

Switzerland is considered the classic renter's country, with more than half of the population living for rent. This is despite the fact that mortgage interest rates are historically low at the moment. One thing is certain: buying has not been as cheap as it is now for a long time. Then why doesn't everyone buy?

Are you dreaming of country living? Moving to a quaint home that’s secluded from the rushed city lifestyle does sound relaxing. The good news is, there are many home financing options available to make that dream come true.

For now, we’d like to introduce you to the most significant mortgage savings — and that’s by financing your new home with a zero down payment USDA home loan.

Types of USDA loans

Like FHA, a government agency sponsors the program, but local lenders handle 100% of the transaction. There are two options when it comes to USDA home loans.

It is two days before your taxes are due. You have a big box of receipts, pay stubs, invoices and forms. And you don't want to pay another late filing fee after the deadline has passed. How it works?

You could spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on an emergency tax session with an accountant. Or you can use the power of Excel to get everything in order.

Use of VLOOKUP for tax tables

The VLOOKUP function has a very useful optional operator. If this operator is set to FALSE, the function will return an error if the value you are looking for is not displayed. However, if set to TRUE, the next lower number will be returned. This is perfect for control tables. Here is a hypothetical control table:

You rent out a room through Airbnb? Then you will be interested in how this income must be correctly declared in the tax return.

Sending confidential data to one's own private email can lead to termination without notice. Read about such a concrete case in this newsletter.

Inheritance divisions are often a cause for dispute when it comes to the fair distribution of the inheritance. A possible solution is an auction for a fair distribution.

Up to now, energy-conscious building has focused on reducing energy consumption in winter. Thanks to sufficiently thick insulation layers for thermal insulation, builders and experts now have this aspect well under control. Now it is time to go one step further and consider protection against heat as an important aspect of energy consumption.

People's expectations of comfort are rising. Living comfort means not only warm temperatures in winter but also pleasantly cool ones in summer. Currently, we save heating energy in the winter, but energy consumption has increased significantly in the summer due to more air conditioning.

In fact, Italy already uses more energy in the summer than in the winter. The power supply failures of recent years have highlighted the peak of the problem and brought the issue of summer overheating into focus. Here, a professional discussion on the topic is indispensable. Experts, planners, builders and construction companies are called upon to pay more attention to heat protection in order to achieve energy savings in the summer as well.

A mortgage is a loan made by a bank or other financial institution to help you buy a home. The home you purchase with the mortgage serves as collateral for the loan. This means that the lender can foreclose on your home if you default on your mortgage payments. The difference with credit cards, for example, is that there is no collateral here.

Mortgages are typically repaid over a period of 15 to 30 years, although some lenders may offer terms of up to 40 years. The longer the term of your mortgage, the lower your monthly payments, but the more interest you pay over the life of the loan.

Two types of mortgages

There are two types of mortgages: fixed-rate mortgages and adjustable-rate mortgages. With a fixed-rate mortgage, your interest rate stays the same throughout the life of the loan. With an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), your interest rate may change periodically, usually in response to market changes.

Financing the construction of your dream home is a complex process. It's not just about finding the best possible terms on your loan. The topic of construction financing will possibly accompany you for decades and should definitely be aligned with your life planning. In addition, there are important details such as unscheduled repayment, terms, different repayment and loan forms – and much more. We report about it. All contributions are based on individual and long-term experience of our authors and do not replace legal and professional advice.

It is not for nothing that there is a high demand for advice in this line of business among loan seekers, because construction financing is quite complex and there are some important details that you as a customer can decide on or. need.

Determine financing requirements and find the right real estate loan

Before you start a construction financing, you should determine your financing needs. This is usually derived from the purchase price for the house you have chosen. In addition, there may be the purchase or ancillary construction costs, which should by no means be underestimated. If you have equity, this naturally reduces your borrowing requirements, i.e. the amount of real estate loan you need. The following example shows how you can easily and quickly determine your financing needs:

The reasons for taking out a loan can be quite different in reality as well as on the dream level. One person may want to buy a new house, while another needs the money for a wedding. Even the purchase of a washing machine may require an installment loan.

Those who are currently dealing with this topic will probably not be surprised if they also dream of a loan. After all, dreams often show the events of the current day. But what does it mean if this subject is foreign to you?? What message can then be hidden behind the dream symbol "loan"?

Dream symbol "loan" – the general interpretation

On the general level of dream analysis, the symbol of the loan is mostly considered as a bad omen. For the dreamer is willing to make a financial commitment to a friend, which can quickly lead to the end of that friendship. He should therefore carefully consider whether he wants to take such a risk in waking life.