In the market to purchase a home? Answer this - can you afford it?

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help.

A New York Times column asks - Can I Afford to Buy a Home? And then proceeds to a series of  questions that will help you answer the question.  Here we go:

Buying a home is the biggest financial decision most people will make, with many factors going into that decision. In some markets, renting might be a better option, depending on your personal circumstances.

Your Income

Taking on a mortgage is a long-term commitment. You should be confident that your income level will be stable for the foreseeable future, or at least three to five years, the minimum amount of time before it would likely make financial sense to sell or refinance. 

Your Savings

You will most likely be tapping your savings to make a down payment. Keep in mind that mortgage lenders won’t want you to deplete your savings entirely – they will want you to have cash reserves to cover unexpected expenses. Reserve requirements vary, depending on the lender and type of loan, but figure at least two months’ worth of payments.

There's more to read at the Times.  Hope you find it helpful.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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Solar power, even apartment owners can benefit

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help.

We have previously looked at Solar Panels from a title insurance perspective and how they can impact the sale of your home.  I came across the below article in the New York Times on how solar panels can benefit those who live in apartment buildings.

Now Even Apartment Dwellers Can Use Solar Power 

More New York homeowners have tapped into solar power in recent years, as regulations have eased and prices have dropped. But apartment dwellers, for the most part, have been kept in the dark.

Starting this summer, though, renters and homeowners who live in buildings that don’t, or can’t, have solar panels on the roof can join something known as a community solar group. Simply put, these groups allow someone in a Manhattan apartment to lower their electricity bill by connecting to solar panels that happen to sit on the rooftop of, say, a Bronx warehouse.

“I think community solar gives equal access to solar power for those of us in the city,” said Taka Juba, an owner of a Manhattan condominium apartment, who joined the city’s first community solar group run by IPPsolar, a Manhattan-based solar firm. “Anything to offset your bill is great, but there’s a social and environmental impact too.”

To me, the implications are fascinating.  First, from a financial point of view, will the apartment owners benefit financially, and, second, from the title agent's point of view, how to create an agreement that doesn't tie up the title to the real estate.

You can read the full Times article here.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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Live in a condo or home owner association property? Do you understand the budget?

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help.

Residents of condominium and home owner association properties are often surprised when they get a notice of a "special assessment."  Special assessments come about because of the need for emergency expenditures arising after a catastrophe, or because the management of the property did not properly budget for repairs and replacements.

This article from Realty Times outlines the budget process; something that should be understood by you, the #homeowner.

HOA Pencil Sharpening: Crunching the Numbers

Now is the time when most homeowner associations count last year's costs and crunch next year's numbers hoping to squeeze blood out of a turnip. Often it's so dry, there isn't even any turnip juice left much less any O positive. But crunch you must. Here are some of the ways to make the cash flow more freely.

Adjust by Inflation. This is a no-brainer. Check the area Consumer Price Index - CPI and raise all budget items by at least that amount. An exception is utilities which often enjoy a larger rate increase based on the utilities the utility companies expect not to sell added to the cost of maintaining antiquated power generation plants plus a fudge factor they hope to slip by the utility rate commission (a bit of budget humor). 

Add a Contingency. A contingency is 5-10% of the total budget which is used to either cover all those things you forgot to include or could not foresee. 

Continue to the full article for more items.  Hope you find it helpful.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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Selling your home? Do you have a for sale sign on the lawn? Some people would like to ban for sale signs.

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help.

From the New York Times:

Does a For Sale Sign Help Sell a House?

Many towns in the New York area have long banned the lawn signs, but some believe they still have value in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

A planned ban on For Sale signs in New Canaan, Conn., hadn’t even begun before it was over.
 The New Canaan Board of Realtors had publicly announced the six-month trial ban in early June, citing the dramatic shift toward online house-hunting and a desire among its members to improve the look of the pricey town. For Sale signs have multiplied noticeably in New Canaan this year as the community has struggled to attract enough buyers to whittle down its substantial supply.
 “When you have as much inventory as we have, the signs make it look like there’s something wrong,” said Doug Milne, an agent with Houlihan Lawrence who specializes in the towns of New Canaan and Darien, explaining part of the thinking behind the proposed sign ban.

So, is it for giving the neighborhood an aesthetic look by banning signs, or is because a plethora of signs make people thing there's a fire sale?

I'll let you read the full article.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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New Jersey's "exit tax" - It's not really a tax, after all, but you have to pay it

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help.

This is a good article from AskNJMoneyHelp about the so-called "exit tax" which is really not a tax but a way for the state to be sure you file your tax return after you have sold your real property and moved out of state.

As a #titleinsurance agent handling hundreds of closings this year, the subject of when this payment must be made is encountered by us on an almost daily basis.

Here's the full article:

Q. We own a commercial/professional condo in New Jersey and reside in Maryland. Is the property subject to the exit tax since we don’t file there?— Unsure

A. Let’s get things straight about the exit tax, a term that’s often misunderstood.

It’s not necessarily a tax.

“It is a required estimated tax payment to make sure a nonresident seller files a New Jersey tax return,” said Chadderdon O’Brien, a certified financial planner with RegentAtlantic in Morristown. “It is required because New Jersey is concerned that the seller may not file a New Jersey tax return and pay taxes if they are a nonresident or current resident that is leaving the state.”

When you sell a property in New Jersey as a nonresident, you are required to file the NJ GIT/REP-1 form (gross income tax form), O’Brien said.

New Jersey requires you to withhold the amount of either 8.97 percent (New Jerseys highest tax bracket) of the profit or 2 percent of the total selling price, whichever is higher, he said.This withholding requirement is the so-called exit tax.

O’Brien offered a few hypothetical examples to show how it works.Say you continue to rent your condo and do not sell, then the exit tax is not relevant. You just need to continue filing a nonresident tax return for your rental activities in New Jersey.

Or say you sell your property and have a taxable gain. Then you are required to make an estimated tax payment of the higher of 8.97 percent of the profit (capital gain) or 2 percent of the selling price.

When you file your New Jersey tax return, the actual capital gain tax that you owe will be deducted from your estimated tax payment and the rest will be refunded to you.

If instead you sell the property at a loss, or if there is no capital gain, then you must still make an estimated tax payment of 2 percent of the sale amount. In this case, you do not actually owe any tax, so you will get the entire 2 percent withholding back when you file your New Jersey nonresident tax return.

“As I mentioned above, New Jersey requires these estimated tax payments because it forces the seller to file a New Jersey tax return for that year,” O’Brien said. “The good news is that this is not an extra tax – it’s just a way for New Jersey to make sure that you pay any capital gain taxes that you might owe.”

Your specific situation will dictate your required estimated tax payment and how much you receive back in the form of a tax refund. As always, there are exceptions and caveats to the exit tax, so be sure to consult with a tax professional with any questions about your specific situation.

Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com.

Or, you can ask us!

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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