Owning Your Home
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Home Price Appreciation
- Appraised value is a certified appraiser's opinion of the worth of a home at a given point in time.
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Improving Your Real Estate
- The biggest factor outside of a homeowner's control is market conditions.
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Property Taxes
- Property taxes are what most homeowners in the United States pay for the privilege of owning a piece of real estate, on average 1.5 percent of the property's current market value.
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Refinancing
- Refinancing your home can be an excellent way to bring down your monthly mortgage payment, raise cash, or consolidate debts with high interest rates.
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Insurance
- A basic policy can be expanded to include additional coverage, such as for floods and earthquakes and even workers' compensation for servants or contractors. Home-based business-coverage, an increasingly popular rider, does not cover liability associated with the business.
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Tax Considerations (Check with your tax advisor)
- The Mortgage Credit Certificate program allows first-time home buyers to take advantage of a special federal income tax credit. more...
Avoid Foreclosure
- This situation is known as a "short sale." Sometimes home owners can negotiate with lenders and have them split the difference between the sale price and loan amount, which still must be paid.
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Hiring a Contractor
- While hiring contractors recommended by friends is usually a safe route, never hire a construction professional without first checking him or her out first.
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Whom to Contact (Other Ownership Issues)
- For information about homes with historic value, contact the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington, D.C. at (202) 673-4000.
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Neighbor Disputes
- A homeowners association can both enact and enforce such pet restrictions.
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Homeowner Associations
- The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act does not require strictly residential apartments and single-family homes to be made accessible.
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Building Permits & Zoning
- Building codes are established by local authorities to set out minimum public-safety standards for building design, construction, quality, use and occupancy, location and maintenance.
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Reversed Annuity Mortgages
- A reverse mortgage is a special type of loan available only to equity-rich, older homeowners.
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Whom to Contact (Maintaining & Improving)
- For information on architects, contact the following: American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Avenue, N.W.; Washington, DC 20006 or call (202) 626-7300.
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Fixer-Upper Loans
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 203 (K) rehabilitation loan program is designed to facilitate major structural rehabilitation of houses with one to four units that are more than one year old.
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