According to Forbes.com 10 things first time homeowners need to consider are:

Monthly costs: Mortgage, taxes, insurance and regular fix-up costs

Tax Credit: Keep your eye’s open for a possible extension on the first home buyer tax credit if you were not lucky enough to take advantage already

Getting a Government-Backed Loan: Mortgages by the Federal Housing Administration are becoming harder to receive. Buyers with a credit score of 580 or less are now required to put a 10% down payment.

Avoid Family-Assistance Tax Traps : Structuring parental assistance as a bona fide loan with minimum interest rates set by the IRS. (Nolo.com)

Consider buying a foreclosure: Phoenix, Las Vegas & Central Florida have the best foreclosure markets.

Factor in property taxes: research the specific county that you are looking to buy in, some can be very costly in property taxes!

Shop around for Title Insurance

Consider High-Deductible Home Insurance: Consider lowering your homeowners’ insurance premium by raising the deductible.

Cut Insurance Cost By Upgrading: Security systems and smoke alarms are both upgrades that can cut your insurance premiums.

If you are currently renting, you may occasionally question if you are able to buy something for similar cost – and right now, this might be possible. According to the associated press, the gap between monthly rent cost and mortgage payments is at its lowest level in almost 20 years!! If you are able to purchase by April 30th, you may also qualify for the tax incentives. Incentives for buying a home include capital gains deductions for property taxes and loan interest as well as diversifying your assets, builds equity and provides a means of forced savings as you slowly pay down the principal.

With the potential to appreciate in value owning a home can seem like a win-win situation, however there is also a flipside that owning a home can bring hefty and unexpected repair bills and there is no guarantee that the value will go up.

Weighing the pros and cons of buying vs. owning is something everyone has to figure out for themselves but if buying is an option for you, it might be a great time to take advantage!

The current economy has brought many changes to personal, business and government financial standings and now is showing effects on Social Security payouts as well. This year Social Security will have a flip in it’s financial balances, as it will begin paying out more in benefits than receiving in payroll taxes.
With the poor economic status many jobs have disappeared having 2 large effects on Social Security taxes collected. With jobs disappearing, many people applied for the benefits sooner than they had planned, as well as without as many people currently employed there are less paychecks to tax.
With the US debt rising and less taxes being collected due to unemployment it raises concern. By law, Social Security cannot pay out more than it’s balance in any year given. The often referred to “trust fund” that Social Security has serves as a way to track pay-as-you-go revenue and outlays over time, the “balance” is actually a history of its vast cash flows (a total of all past revenue minus outlays). In a year such as this, the “paper gains” from the interest earned on the securities will more than cover the difference between what it takes in and pays out.
Projections show the effects of the recession easing in the next few years with possible small surpluses reappearing in 2014 and 2015. In the following years as the baby boomers leave the work force, and start collecting rather than contributing, outlays will exceed revenue every year regardless of the economic status.

Solutions to this problem are few including raising taxes, lowering benefits, or pulling funds for general revenue.

LeadPile hopes to see bigger and better things with the economy in the future months coming!

It is once again that time of year to start thinking about getting your taxes done. Uncle Sam is ready to collect his money, unless you are one of the lucky ones and expecting a return. Whether or not you owe or are owed money, there are both pros and cons to filing your taxes early.
The IRS officially starts accepting returns as early January and gives you the choice to file as soon as your W2 and 1099s are received.

Advantages to filling early can be:
*Receiving your refund faster
*Getting it over with
*Avoiding crowds and long lines at the post office
*Avoiding the possibility of being late, and owing more
*Giving your self time incase you realize something is more complicated that originally though

Advantages to waiting to pay your taxes until they are due:
*Maximizing your interest by keeping the money you owe in an interest-bearing account until April
*Possibly decrease your chances of being audited. Some think that it’s best to put your taxes off until the very extreme, and this will lessen your chances of being audited
*Tax forms can sometimes be updated during the tax season, the changes might not be reflected yet if you file early

If you are receiving money back it may be hard to wait, lending out your money to the government interest free is very nice, but not something that we all want to do for extended periods of time. If you are going to have to pay, it might be worth the wait!

Imagine this….. you fell behind on your mortgage and you are going to have to move out of the home you spent your hard earned money building to your satisfaction. Out of anger you do some things to this home to express your frustration of the situation you are now in. Broken windows, damaged walls, and you decide on your way out you are going to put a nice little hammer to the A/C unit.
Unfortunately, this consumer’s damaged house needs to be then put up for sale by the bank for some other consumer to purchase. Who is going to want to purchase a home that requires so many repairs before even moving in? Fortunately, someone else’s “garbage” is another person’s treasures. With a great deal on the home, that home sells to a new consumer who sees so much potential with this damaged foreclosed home. The new homeowner also did their homework and found out with the Obama Plan, there are tax credits available to homeowners for things such as windows, HVAC, and a few other home improvements. In an effort to help consumers who are willing to purchase these damaged foreclosure homes, and for those that have to stay in their home and can not sell, the Federal Government rolled out some great tax credits for 2009 and 2010. The tax credits available are up to 30% of the cost of the designated repairs up to $1,500. There have been tax credits available to consumers in previous years, however to this level they have never been available.
Leadpile Lead Exchange works with the home improvement vertical and thinks maybe assistance like this, will only help with the demand for this lead type. Leadpile is currently looking for publishers that can potentially bring in this lead type so we can connect homeowners wanting to take advantage of these credits, with the advertisers that want to provide the services.

Tax Day is just about here and many Americans are scrambling to file their taxes.  According to Internet News, 87 million tax returns were filed electronically in 2008. This means a lot of extra personal information is circulating on the internet for thieves to get their dirty paws on.

Data thieves used to be interested in credit card numbers, however with all the added security a credit card has, there is now not much use for just a card number. Therefore, things such as tax returns are very attractive because they contain everything from banking information to personal information that can be maliciously used. Experts suggest if you are filing your taxes online that you install some sort of internet security package and scan your PC for malware.  Another crime tax filers should watch out for is the individuals that prepare your online tax returns.  Using a trusted company to help you with your taxes seems to be the best option.  As I have pointed out on a previous Leadpile blog post, BE AWARE where you enter your information and this also applies to you with your tax returns.

DON’T forget to file your taxes by April 15th!