Tips for Making Tax Season Pain Free

Filing electronically can be an effective and headache-free means of getting your return to the government on time. But it’s not foolproof, as 200,000 customers found last year after a database problem the evening of the tax deadline caused their returns to be delayed.

How can you make sure your return isn’t affected by potential technical delays? The answer is simple: File early. If you submit your return with a few weeks to spare, you ensure that any technical glitches will be worked out well before the tax deadline. If you can’t finish your return on time, make sure you file Form 4868, which gives you a six-month extension on the deadline.

Another tip for avoiding delays is to avoid making the following top ten common returns errors:

1. Not signing and dating the return

2. Providing an incorrect or incomplete social security number

3. Calculating errors

4. Deduction errors

5. Reading tax tables incorrectly

6. Not itemizing

7. Sloppy tax return submission (be sure to attach all W-2s, as well as forms & schedules)

8. Not keeping records of your return

9. Failure to claim credits (energy credit, earned income credit) or calculating them incorrectly

10. Math errors (according to the IRS, a math error is any incorrect number on the return regardless of calculation

Consider these 3 College Dorm Room Alternatives

For many parents of high school seniors, these are hold-your-breath days—the time of year when college acceptance letters begin showing up in their mailboxes. If all goes well, after settling on a school, next comes tackling the array of decisions that follow. Chief among them: where he or she will live. Many parents tend to take the common course, assuming that a college dorm is automatically the best answer—but a college’s room-and-board plan is actually only one of the possibilities. In fact, it may not be the best financial, social or developmental choice for parent or student. Renting a house can be an intriguing alternative. Here are three of the reasons why some parents decide a home rental makes more sense:

1. Cost  

Sharing a home rental is often significantly less expensive than renting an apartment—or even a dorm room. Prices vary, but it’s more than possible to end up paying as much as $4,500 per semester for student housing. If your student lives on campus during the summer, fall and spring terms, that would create a $13,500 bill for the year’s housing (the equivalent of paying more than $1,000 in rent per month). Considering that most dorm rooms are tiny, that translates into a much higher cost per square foot than does a shared home rental.

Renting even a one-bedroom home near campus can give your child more space and quiet time to study without interference from fire alarm-pulling pranksters or noisy roommates. Every student is different, and having a place to escape the hustle and bustle of campus life can provide some kids with the extra focus they’ll need for success.

2. Safety

When students live in crowded dorms, many parents worry that they are more likely to catch colds or other communicable diseases. Being packed into a dorm with hundreds of people who may or may not behave responsibly is a dire way to view dorm life, but that is some parents’ view. When their child lives on his or her own or teams with a select group of roommates, some parents breathe easier. 

3. Responsibility

With a home rental, any student will learn more about responsible adulthood than when campus authorities assume parental-like responsibility for day-to-day living. Students who are on their own may be wholly or partially enrolled in school cafeteria programs, or may learn to shop for and prepare their own meals. Household and maintenance chores will be theirs to handle, rather than being the province of college employees. In that way, a college home rental can serve almost as a youngster's "starter home." They will graduate from college with a rental history, self-sufficiency skills, and home stewardship experience that will prepare him or her to better care for their own home later in life.

Of course, it’s not universally the best answer to the student housing problem: every institution and child combination are different, and different youngsters respond to independence and responsibility in differing ways. But if you haven’t thought about the possibility, it could be worth looking into. If I can help with a referral to a rental agency—or if you’d like to consider buying anywhere in the United States—do give me a call at 513-659-2284!

What’s Your Home’s Emotional IQ?

     When it comes to selling a home in the Greater Cincinnati housing market, the first attributes that will bring in prospective buyers will be found in your listing description: size, location, and all the details that either match prospects’ wish lists (or don’t). Price is in there, too. Next comes curb appeal, which can turn on or turn off prospective buyers. Although it is often the second “at bat” you get when you are selling your home, it’s not usually decisive. The third attribute can be just that—a bunch of factors that can hook your ultimate buyers.
     Call it your home’s “emotional IQ.”  Everything else is important, but emotion plays a powerful role in selling your home. That’s because home is, well, home—where people hang their hats, raise their kids, and spend their precious downtime. When potential buyers come to your house, they may think they are checking out four walls and a roof, but they are much more likely to be seeking a place that tugs at their emotions.
     All very well and good, but how do you up your home’s emotional IQ (and snag the sale in the process)? Look objectively at your home, then think about the emotional plays that will get them where it count—through their senses. Give your home a quick sensory scan, looking for things that cue all five:
     Sight. Is your home clean? Is it decorated and staged (but not so much that potential buyers can’t imagine themselves in it)? Make sure your home is as spotless as possible, and warm but not personal. When room entrances are arranged to feel open, they look welcoming: a strong way to please the eye.
     Sound. Does your home sound like a home? There’s nothing less emotionally pleasing than doing a walkthrough of a perfectly empty shell of a house. Attractive floor coverings (rugs and throws) can eliminate the unbroken echo of footsteps—and make your home feel more inviting; less clinical. And don’t forget a drop or two of 3-in-1 oil or WD40 for squeaking doors!
     Smell. The nose is a powerful emotive factor. Aromas can evoke nostalgia, bringing on the feeling of well-being that comes with familiarity—but it can also sound alarm bells. Make sure the air doesn’t carry strong chemical or perfume smells. Better to throw a few cookies into the oven before walkthroughs arrive. It makes it easy for potential buyers to imagine themselves living, working, eating, and enjoying time in your home.
     Touch. Look for surfaces potential buyers may touch, and make them clean and inviting. Importantly, door latches and light switches should feel sound and serviceable.
     Taste. No—nobody can really taste a home, but selling your house may come down to leaving your personal taste at the door. It’s risky to forget to focus on the most tasteful place of all—the kitchen. The old real estate agent trope that gorgeous kitchens sell houses is more true than not, so if yours is hopeless, you may judicious to spend your upgrade dollars in a modern, open kitchen space.
     How does your home’s emotional IQ add up? If you’re lacking in just one area, congratulations. You know what to fix, and a few subtle tweaks will help a lot. If you’re lacking in many areas, give me a call! I may be able to recommend some quick fixes, or point to a home staging professional. Don’t forget: Whether buying or selling your house, things can get emotional. Take a deep breath, remember the real purpose of a home, and be ready to move!

Title Insurance - A Basic Primer for Consumers

A title insurance policy is just as the name suggests . . . a policy protecting you against loss should the condition of title to land be something other than what you bargained for. Let me explain:

When you buy a home, or any property for that matter, you expect to enjoy certain benefits from ownership. For example, when you purchase a home, you expect to be able to occupy and use the property as you wish, to be free from debts or obligations not created or agreed to by you, and to be able to freely sell or pledge your property as security for a loan. Title insurance is designed to cover these rights you bargain for. Title insurance is particularly important when you are purchasing a foreclosed property, because the risk is increased that there are hidden liens that may exist to haunt you in the future.

The cost of title insurance varies, depending mainly on the value of your property. The important thing to remember is that you only pay once, then the coverage continues in effect for so long as you have an interest in covered property. If you should die, the coverage automatically continues for the benefit of your heirs. If you sell your property, giving warranties of title to your buyer, your coverage continues. Likewise, if a buyer gives you a mortgage to finance a purchase of covered property from you, your coverage continues to protect your security interest in the property. Typically, as a rule of thumb, title insurance runs about $6.00 per each $1,000 in sales price.

Please note: a lender’s title insurance is not the same as an owner’s title policy! The lender’s title policy covers the lender and not you as the homeowner. Also, the lender's policy covers only the amount of its loan, which is usually not the full property value. In the event of an adverse claim, the lender would ordinarily not be concerned unless its loan became non-performing and the claim threatened the lender's ability to foreclose and recover its principal and interest. And, in the event of a claim there is no provision for payment of legal expenses for an uninsured party. When a loan policy is being issued, the small additional expense of an owner's policy is a bargain.

There are different levels of coverage, but in the interest of time and space, I will only review in this blog what types of risks standard coverage typically handles:

- Forgery and impersonation;
- Lack of competency, capacity or legal authority of a party;
- Deeds not joined in by a necessary party (co-owner, spouse, etc.);
- Undisclosed (but recorded) prior mortgage or lien;
- Undisclosed (but recorded) easement or use restriction;
- Erroneous or inadequate legal descriptions;
- Lack of a right of access; and
- Deeds not properly recorded.

Questions? Visit me on the web at http://www.randallwalton.com or send me an e-mail at randallwalton@cinci.rr.com.  Also, don't forget - as the “No Excuses. . . Just Excellence!” Realtor, I am never too busy for your referrals.