With COVID-19 comes new ways of doing business. Although we have always provided mobile closings as part of our services, we are happy to share that our technology allows for Remote Online Notarization. WHAT EXACTLY IS RON? RON is when the notary is in one location and the signer is in another. Instead of being […]
Selling a home is a long and arduous process that involves countless complex steps—and this the norm when we aren’t in the midst of a global pandemic! Selling a home today, during the time of the coronavirus crisis, will add a level of safety issues to the process. If you’re trying to sell your home […]
What is Homestead Exemption? If you own your home, reside there permanently and are a Florida resident as of January 1, you may qualify for Homestead exemption. Homestead can reduce your taxable value on your home as much as $50,000, saving you approximately $750 annually. More importantly, your assessed value, which is used to calculate […]
Credit scores play a big role in determining whether you’ll qualify for a loan and what your loan terms will be. So, keep your credit score high by doing the following: Check for errors in your credit report: Thanks to an act of Congress, you can download one free credit report each year at annualcreditreport.com. If you […]
The Florida homeowner portability benefit can reduce the tax burden for property owners moving into larger or smaller homes Portability is the ability to carry accrued property tax savings from one piece of property to another. Any homeowner who is thinking of either purchasing a larger home or downsizing to a smaller one should consider […]
How to Prepare to Finance a Home 1️⃣ Develop a budget.Instead of telling yourself what you’d like to spend, use receipts to create a budget that reflects your actual habits over the last several months. This approach will better factor in unexpected expenses alongside more predictable costs such as utility bills and groceries. You’ll probably spot […]
Vocabulary: Loans & Lending Terms Amortization With each mortgage payment, some of the money reduces the loan balance and some pays interest. This allocation is called amortization. While the earliest payments mostly cover interest, the split changes over time. That’s because as the loan gets smaller, less interest gets charged. Annual Percentage Rate (APR) The APR […]
Title Insurance protects consumers from financial loss and hardship related to unknown judgments and liens, forged transfers, inconsistencies within a property’s title or misapplication of fiduciary funds. Title insurance is an exclusively American invention. Its purpose was well stated in the first advertisement for title insurance back in the late 1800s: “This company insures the purchaser’s of […]
Home sweet home– it’s a phrase that carries a different kind of weight in your golden years. When you’re deciding on lifestyle arrangements that will both meet your needs and allow you to live life fully, the choices can be confusing. We sorted through some of the top options to help you make this important […]