titan01 said: BingBlangBlaow said: titan01 said: when you say ---Gift funds CANNOT be used for the 5% or 10% downpayment, must be buyer's own funds
do you mean the buyer has to have the funds in his / her own account X number of months prior to getting the loan?
Yes. Generally two full statement months for documentation. The lender will question any large deposits during that time.
Isn't it normal or common that people may borrow or be given a gift from relatives (mainly parents) in purchasing a house? If the money was "borrowed," it is also a loan and hence not a down payment. If it truly is a gift (no strings attached, no repayment needed), you will be asked for a "gift letter" from the giftor --- at least that is how it used to work.
I have a question. My mortgage was bought by another bank. I have to pay bank for an escrow account to maintain taxes and insurance. Bank is asking copy of home insurance policy. If they are paying my insurance, dont they have a copy?
clockstopper said: I have a question. My mortgage was bought by another bank. I have to pay bank for an escrow account to maintain taxes and insurance. Bank is asking copy of home insurance policy. If they are paying my insurance, dont they have a copy? Your new bank probably didnt get a copy of the insurance paperwork from the old bank. Just send them a copy. They may require you to change the name of the lender in the policy.
uutxs said: titan01 said: BingBlangBlaow said: titan01 said: when you say ---Gift funds CANNOT be used for the 5% or 10% downpayment, must be buyer's own funds
do you mean the buyer has to have the funds in his / her own account X number of months prior to getting the loan?
Yes. Generally two full statement months for documentation. The lender will question any large deposits during that time.
Isn't it normal or common that people may borrow or be given a gift from relatives (mainly parents) in purchasing a house? If the money was "borrowed," it is also a loan and hence not a down payment. If it truly is a gift (no strings attached, no repayment needed), you will be asked for a "gift letter" from the giftor --- at least that is how it used to work.
So a transfer from my parents back account to mine 2-3 months prior to loan approval would require this "gift letter"?
titan01 said: So a transfer from my parents back account to mine 2-3 months prior to loan approval would require this "gift letter"? In general, they can question any recent large deposits/transfers into your account and you should be able to adequately explain it. If your explanation is that "this 10k was a gift from my father", a letter (they may have a template) from him to that effect is required. Exactly what is "recent" and "large" is somewhat lender dependent; I dont know what cutoffs are commonly used these days. I am sure lately they are scrutinizing these more thoroughly.
uutxs said: titan01 said: So a transfer from my parents back account to mine 2-3 months prior to loan approval would require this "gift letter"? In general, they can question any recent large deposits/transfers into your account and you should be able to adequately explain it. If your explanation is that "this 10k was a gift from my father", a letter (they may have a template) from him to that effect is required. Exactly what is "recent" and "large" is somewhat lender dependent; I dont know what cutoffs are commonly used these days. I am sure lately they are scrutinizing these more thoroughly.
In general they ask to see the past two month's worth of bank statements. So if the one two months ago said it had a balance of 20k and the month prior balance was 10k, they might wonder why it went up by 10k. However if the one two months ago said the prior balance was probably about the same, then they probably wouldn't question it. So you'd be ok if you had the money in there 3 months ahead of time before apply. Most people just can't plan that far in advance and there's always the possibility that you never end up buying a place so that money would just be sitting in your account til you found a place.
titan01 said: uutxs said: titan01 said: BingBlangBlaow said: titan01 said: when you say ---Gift funds CANNOT be used for the 5% or 10% downpayment, must be buyer's own funds
do you mean the buyer has to have the funds in his / her own account X number of months prior to getting the loan?
Yes. Generally two full statement months for documentation. The lender will question any large deposits during that time.
Isn't it normal or common that people may borrow or be given a gift from relatives (mainly parents) in purchasing a house? If the money was "borrowed," it is also a loan and hence not a down payment. If it truly is a gift (no strings attached, no repayment needed), you will be asked for a "gift letter" from the giftor --- at least that is how it used to work.
So a transfer from my parents back account to mine 2-3 months prior to loan approval would require this "gift letter"?
I would say it is somewhat common for people to use gift funds. If the lender allows it, there is no problem, it just needs to be documented. The usual form I've seen looks like this:
The point of the letter is that the gifter is certifying that they expect no repayment of the funds (if you were to repay the funds, there would have to be some repayment terms expected, and that could adversely affect your approval).
If you plan on receiving a gift, and the lender allows it, there is no timeframe when the gift has to be made or deposited to your account. The lender will simply want documentation that the funds were transferred to you and a letter stating it is indeed a gift. If your intention is for the lender to not know it was a gift (for whatever reason), you would need the funds in your account at least two months (possibly more depending on the lender) before application. Also, if you are applying at a bank/CU where you keep your deposits, it's possibly they may look back (much) further than two months.
I started selling small items (~$5 profit/item) on eBay. I know that if I have 200 transactions, I will get a 1099K. Does that mean if I sell 100 items (buyer pays me through Paypal = 1 transaction, I withdraw to bank = 1 transaction), I will get taxed on them? Or do 200 sales = 200 transactions? If that's the case then it's not worth it to sell small items.
About to make a large airline purchase. Have a few credit cards, but not sure which one to use to pay for the tickets. Any suggestions on getting the most points or miles?
americano said: About to make a large airline purchase. Have a few credit cards, but not sure which one to use to pay for the tickets. Any suggestions on getting the most points or miles? We need to know: 1) what cards you currently have? 2) are you opposed to getting a new card? 3) by airline purchase - do you mean you are about to spend a lot of money on a ticket(s) to fly? OR are you about to go buy a plane and want put it on a credit card?
matrix5k said: I started selling small items (~$5 profit/item) on eBay. I know that if I have 200 transactions, I will get a 1099K. Does that mean if I sell 100 items (buyer pays me through Paypal = 1 transaction, I withdraw to bank = 1 transaction), I will get taxed on them? Or do 200 sales = 200 transactions? If that's the case then it's not worth it to sell small items.
The withdrawal to bank doesn't count as a transaction. Just the purchase/sale. I thought the 1099k forms were sent for 200 transactions AND at least $20,000? So if you were to sell 201 items for $5 a piece, that would be 201 transactions for $1,005. I don't think eBay is required to send you a 1099k for that.
imbatman said: We need to know: 1) what cards you currently have? 2) are you opposed to getting a new card? 3) by airline purchase - do you mean you are about to spend a lot of money on a ticket(s) to fly? OR are you about to go buy a plane and want put it on a credit card? United Mileage Plus Visa, Cap1 Venture, Penfed, AMEX. Would rather not apply for a new one, but not totally opposed. Yes, buying plane tickets to fly.
americano said: imbatman said: We need to know: 1) what cards you currently have? 2) are you opposed to getting a new card? 3) by airline purchase - do you mean you are about to spend a lot of money on a ticket(s) to fly? OR are you about to go buy a plane and want put it on a credit card? United Mileage Plus Visa, Cap1 Venture, Penfed, AMEX. Would rather not apply for a new one, but not totally opposed. Yes, buying plane tickets to fly.
What's difficult? If the purchase is with United, you get 2x miles with the United card. If not, you get 2 per $ with Venture (you may prefer to use Venture even if it is on United, depending on if you prefer Cap1 miles to United miles). "Penfed" and "AMEX" are too vague to know what the rewards are, but I assume they won't beat the 2% you have on the first 2 cards.
Is there a service somewhere that can auto-bill pay the amount that is currently on the card before the statement hits? I'm finding it tedious trying to keep track of when the card is due and paying it off before it hits to avoid any balances being reported.
imbatman said: matrix5k said: I started selling small items (~$5 profit/item) on eBay. I know that if I have 200 transactions, I will get a 1099K. Does that mean if I sell 100 items (buyer pays me through Paypal = 1 transaction, I withdraw to bank = 1 transaction), I will get taxed on them? Or do 200 sales = 200 transactions? If that's the case then it's not worth it to sell small items.
The withdrawal to bank doesn't count as a transaction. Just the purchase/sale. I thought the 1099k forms were sent for 200 transactions AND at least $20,000? So if you were to sell 201 items for $5 a piece, that would be 201 transactions for $1,005. I don't think eBay is required to send you a 1099k for that.
Oh I thought it was either 200 transactions or $20,000 for a 1099k. If it needs to be both then I'm all set. Thanks!
cloudosaurus said: Is there a service somewhere that can auto-bill pay the amount that is currently on the card before the statement hits? I'm finding it tedious trying to keep track of when the card is due and paying it off before it hits to avoid any balances being reported.
BingBlangBlaow said: titan01 said: uutxs said: titan01 said: BingBlangBlaow said: titan01 said: when you say ---Gift funds CANNOT be used for the 5% or 10% downpayment, must be buyer's own funds
do you mean the buyer has to have the funds in his / her own account X number of months prior to getting the loan?
Yes. Generally two full statement months for documentation. The lender will question any large deposits during that time.
Isn't it normal or common that people may borrow or be given a gift from relatives (mainly parents) in purchasing a house? If the money was "borrowed," it is also a loan and hence not a down payment. If it truly is a gift (no strings attached, no repayment needed), you will be asked for a "gift letter" from the giftor --- at least that is how it used to work.
So a transfer from my parents back account to mine 2-3 months prior to loan approval would require this "gift letter"?
I would say it is somewhat common for people to use gift funds. If the lender allows it, there is no problem, it just needs to be documented. The usual form I've seen looks like this:
The point of the letter is that the gifter is certifying that they expect no repayment of the funds (if you were to repay the funds, there would have to be some repayment terms expected, and that could adversely affect your approval).
If you plan on receiving a gift, and the lender allows it, there is no timeframe when the gift has to be made or deposited to your account. The lender will simply want documentation that the funds were transferred to you and a letter stating it is indeed a gift. If your intention is for the lender to not know it was a gift (for whatever reason), you would need the funds in your account at least two months (possibly more depending on the lender) before application. Also, if you are applying at a bank/CU where you keep your deposits, it's possibly they may look back (much) further than two months.
CokeSlurpee711 said: Use of a zero balance transfer or heloc to pay off a car? Any big downside? Make interest deductible right?
Wouldn't do it anytime soon, but if I had 10-14 months to pay off a car & 18 months no interest am I missing something?
I don't think so. In addition, you don't need to have comprehensive coverage on car insurance, so there's some savings there too if you decide to reduce your coverage.
CokeSlurpee711 said: Use of a zero balance transfer or heloc to pay off a car? Any big downside? Make interest deductible right?
Wouldn't do it anytime soon, but if I had 10-14 months to pay off a car & 18 months no interest am I missing something? With a zero balance transfer, I believe you mean a CC. Note that this may have up front fees (some as high as 5%), which are not deductible and can be higher than the rate on your current car loan.
OK well I guess forget the CCs then. Makes sense. Basically I've got a paid for condo; getting married.. DW to be has a car note. I figure wipe out that note, effectively making those payments back to the CU or bank deductible. Completely forgot about the insurance savings as well....
I have questions how to make sure to set aside short-term capital gains tax from stock market play. Are their ways to shield yourself from paying so much if by taking the gain and reinvesting it somewhere like a stock like IBM for the 365+1 day to get in the long-term capital gains tax, or perhaps, an IRA or something. My earnings doing this to this point have been minor, but I've learned and hit it pretty big on 1500% gain on $3500 invested. I want to shiled what I can from these earnings and any earnings till the end of this year 2012.
kontraband1978 said: I have questions how to make sure to set aside short-term capital gains tax from stock market play. Are their ways to shield yourself from paying so much if by taking the gain and reinvesting it somewhere like a stock like IBM for the 365+1 day to get in the long-term capital gains tax, or perhaps, an IRA or something. My earnings doing this to this point have been minor, but I've learned and hit it pretty big on 1500% gain on $3500 invested. I want to shiled what I can from these earnings and any earnings till the end of this year 2012. One you realize a gain, short- or long-term, there is nothing you can do you "shield" that gain from taxes. There are somethings you can do to lower your tax bill like sell some positions that would net a loss and offset the gains with some losses (i.e., tax loss harvesting).
Putting money in an IRA is completely independent of your gain/loss in a taxable account. In future, you could do these transactions inside an IRA. Then the gains are not taxed (in a Roth) or tax deferred (in a traditional). But the losses, if any, are also not deductible.
I have a wedding coming up this summer and I'd like to maximize any FW methods there are. I just got the Chase SW for 50k points but now I'm considering the Chase AARP as well for the 5% due to the upcoming large purchases coming up ($30k). Via CreditKarma, I have a credit rating of 774 and 3 inquiries showing. I just so happen to be graduating this summer as well and starting a new job right after (probably with a new place as well) so that's gotta be another 2 more inquiries. While I'm telling my life story, my SO will have approximately $40k of Sallie Mae loans at a var rate (currently around 9%). I have enough money (parents & mine) to cover the wedding expenses.
So I guess what I'd like to know is how worried should I be about getting a new CC since it's another hard inquiry, how to go about maximizing rewards, and any recommendations on dealing with that loan via BT or something else.
orky said: how worried should I be about getting a new CC since it's another hard inquiry
None. Employers and landlords don't care about inquiries. They care about lates, collections, bankruptcies, and other stuff that might possibly predict you would flub your obligations, or are in such dire financial straights that you might steal the copper pipes from the building in the dead of night.
kontraband1978 said: I have questions how to make sure to set aside short-term capital gains tax from stock market play. Are their ways to shield yourself from paying so much if by taking the gain and reinvesting it somewhere like a stock like IBM for the 365+1 day to get in the long-term capital gains tax, or perhaps, an IRA or something. My earnings doing this to this point have been minor, but I've learned and hit it pretty big on 1500% gain on $3500 invested. I want to shiled what I can from these earnings and any earnings till the end of this year 2012.
You can play the market in a Roth IRA without worrying about tax implications. Taxes were already paid!
If you are planning to day trade, watch out for settlement periods and pattern day trader requirements.
ETA: Wait, are you saying you turned $3,500 into $52,500 and now want to avoid STCG on that? Did you sell? Do you have to sell soon?
naas said: orky said: how worried should I be about getting a new CC since it's another hard inquiry
None. Employers and landlords don't care about inquiries. They care about lates, collections, bankruptcies, and other stuff that might possibly predict you would flub your obligations, or are in such dire financial straights that you might steal the copper pipes from the building in the dead of night.
Thanks! How about the number of inquiries before credit score takes a significant hit? Or is just a few points for each inquiry?
uutxs said: kontraband1978 said: I have questions how to make sure to set aside short-term capital gains tax from stock market play. Are their ways to shield yourself from paying so much if by taking the gain and reinvesting it somewhere like a stock like IBM for the 365+1 day to get in the long-term capital gains tax, or perhaps, an IRA or something. My earnings doing this to this point have been minor, but I've learned and hit it pretty big on 1500% gain on $3500 invested. I want to shiled what I can from these earnings and any earnings till the end of this year 2012. One you realize a gain, short- or long-term, there is nothing you can do you "shield" that gain from taxes. There are somethings you can do to lower your tax bill like sell some positions that would net a loss and offset the gains with some losses (i.e., tax loss harvesting).
Putting money in an IRA is completely independent of your gain/loss in a taxable account. In future, you could do these transactions inside an IRA. Then the gains are not taxed (in a Roth) or tax deferred (in a traditional). But the losses, if any, are also not deductible.
I do most of my short term trading in my IRA for that reason.
Looking for ways to increase credit before I buy some property later this year.
All I have right now are 2 credit cards. One I've had since I was 18 (I'm 26 now). Started with a credit limit of $250, and is now up to $12,000. Another one I got about 4 years ago and started with $2,000 and is now up to $10,000. Unfortunately, those are the only things I've owned that could increase my credit.
I'm looking to buy my own Condo in about 6-8 months, and was thinking about buying a TV and financing it. I'm not really sure how much that would help my credit, but I was going to buy a TV anyway, and I could certainly make use of it if I bought one now. Places like bestbuy have deals like 6 months without any interest or anything. Obviously I need to do more research and check the fine print, but just wanted to know if it was a good way to increase credit. I'm sure there are better ways, but this way kinda comes at no cost to me since I would have bought the TV anyway.
If you are going to try to get a mortgage soon. Don't open anoter new credit line. Try getting existing credit lines increased with soft pulls. Other than that-don't carry any debt.
I pay off my cards in full about 85% of the time. There was a period of about 6 months where I had about $1,000 in debt on one of my credit cards, but I still paid on time and more than the minimum payment.
Thanks for the tip. I guess this move would have been smarter to do a couple years ago.
orky said: naas said: orky said: how worried should I be about getting a new CC since it's another hard inquiry
None. Employers and landlords don't care about inquiries. They care about lates, collections, bankruptcies, and other stuff that might possibly predict you would flub your obligations, or are in such dire financial straights that you might steal the copper pipes from the building in the dead of night.
Thanks! How about the number of inquiries before credit score takes a significant hit? Or is just a few points for each inquiry?
It's basically linear. There is no boundary, each one has a small effect, for a small time. The presence of a new credit line will have 10x more effect than the inquiry from it (exception: when you're applying for 10 at once, the inquiries show up instantaneously but the credit lines take up to a month to appear, so for that brief period the inquiries are all that matter, to the small extent that they matter; this is the only reason why people around here are so uptight about inquiries).
Inquiries don't really matter after about 6 months, and disappear entirely after 2 years. Any time you would care so much about your credit (like getting a mortgage), you should probably know about it 6 months in advance, so if you don't already know of a specific need, then don't worry about it. If you're afraid to use your credit, there's no point in keeping it clean in the first place
I hope someone can help me...this is a general question about refinancing.
DH looking to retire in about 5 years...LEO who'll have full retirement, and will get another job/2nd career.
Just paid 21st mtg. payment of 120. Rate is 3.875%.
Saw how far rates had dropped, and want to try to pay off mtg. before DH takes retirement, or at least cut back on the years left. Unfortunately, due to the costs on a refi, it doesn't seem to make sense to refi. I found an online calculator that amortizes your loan including extra payments made. Supposing we kept the same payment we make now, there would have been, at most, a few hundred dollars savings. Once the fees are added in, there's no cost advantage.
My question...is there a formula to figure when it makes sense to refi? Are there any TRUE no cost refinance deals out there that I've missed?
DH has excellent credit, $375K appraisal, balance is $124K. No other debts, pay off CC monthly.
(And there's not a tax benefit to keeping our mortgage...in our case, TurboTax Deluxe is wanting us to take the standard deduction.
amoocow421 said: I hope someone can help me...this is a general question about refinancing.
DH looking to retire in about 5 years...LEO who'll have full retirement, and will get another job/2nd career.
Just paid 21st mtg. payment of 120. Rate is 3.875%.
Saw how far rates had dropped, and want to try to pay off mtg. before DH takes retirement, or at least cut back on the years left. Unfortunately, due to the costs on a refi, it doesn't seem to make sense to refi. I found an online calculator that amortizes your loan including extra payments made. Supposing we kept the same payment we make now, there would have been, at most, a few hundred dollars savings. Once the fees are added in, there's no cost advantage.
My question...is there a formula to figure when it makes sense to refi? Are there any TRUE no cost refinance deals out there that I've missed?
DH has excellent credit, $375K appraisal, balance is $124K. No other debts, pay off CC monthly.
(And there's not a tax benefit to keeping our mortgage...in our case, TurboTax Deluxe is wanting us to take the standard deduction.
If you are confident you can pay off the mortgage in 5 years, why not just go with a 5/1 ARM? You should be able to get a rate well under 3%, and just calculate what you need to actually pay to extinguish the loan before the first reset after 5 years. There are true no closing cost loans - you can look at 15 year no closing cost loans and you could drop the rate a little (I'm closing on a 15-year no closing cost with Cashcall on Friday at 3.5%), but for best rate-bang for your buck, if you don't need a cushion, you will get the best rate on a 5/1 ARM. I know Provident does lender credits if you take a higher rate, so you might could get a rate just above 3% with your closing costs covered assuming your credit is good enough.
Just use your existing card... If you use credit karma you'll see that what gets reported is your balance at the end of the reporting period, not whether the balance is revolving or paid in full each month.
dpatel304 said: I pay off my cards in full about 85% of the time. There was a period of about 6 months where I had about $1,000 in debt on one of my credit cards, but I still paid on time and more than the minimum payment.
Thanks for the tip. I guess this move would have been smarter to do a couple years ago.
Thanks! I'll see if this does the trick Usorry said: You can use quicken payments.
cloudosaurus said: Is there a service somewhere that can auto-bill pay the amount that is currently on the card before the statement hits? I'm finding it tedious trying to keep track of when the card is due and paying it off before it hits to avoid any balances being reported.
I See other people are being offered 50,000 Citi Thank You Points on their Preferred card. I am only being Offered 40,000 Should I take this Personally?
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