With interest rates at all-time lows, now is the time to consider refinancing. Did you know there are title policy discounts available to some homeowners when refinancing? There is! Here are the top 5 reasons to refi now.
LOW RATES
Mortgage interest rates are at an all time low and are currently averaging at 3.25% but can be as low as 2.5% for some!
SAVE MONEY
Securing a rate 1-2% lower than your current mortgage can save you hundreds of dollars a month.
PAY DOWN / PAY OUT
Alleviate the burden of high interest debt by refinancing your loan with a new, lower rate or shorter term loan to potentially save thousands of dollars over the course of your loan.
AVAILABLE TITLE POLICY CREDITS
If the loan you will be refinancing is a previously insured loan that is less than 4 years old you may be entitled to a 50% credit on the cost of the new title policy. If the loan being paid off is between 4 and 8 years old you may be entitled to a 25% credit on the cost of the new title policy.
REMODEL OR MAJOR ONE-TIME PURCHASE
Take advantage of the equity you have in your home to take out a home equity loan for that remodel you’ve been thinking about for years or for a major one-time purchase.
For more information on refinancing, or to discuss your options contact your local lender. If you have questions about title insurance and fees contact your local Republic Title Office.
The April 2020 DFW area real estate statistics are in and we’ve got the numbers! Take a look at our stats infographics, separated by county, with MLS area stats on each county report as well! These infographics and video are perfect for social sharing so feel free to post them!
To see past month’s reports, please visit our resources section here.
For the full report from the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center, click here. For NTREIS County reports click here.
The 2020 census aims to count every living person in the United States and five U.S. territories. In mid-March, homes across the country began receiving invitations to complete the 2020 Census. Once the invitation arrives, you should respond for your home in one of three ways: online, by phone, or by mail. When you respond to the census, you’ll tell the Census Bureau where you live as of April 1, 2020.
Why is the census so important?
Responding to the census largely affects the amount of funding your community receives, how your community plans to allocate those funds, and the amount of representation your community receives in the government. Results from the census determine the distribution and allocation of $675 billion in federal funding to hospitals, schools, libraries and housing programs, among others.
How does the census affect real estate?
Results are especially important for REALTORS as the data will inform the federal government about housing needs, demands, and trends. It also helps real estate investors decide where to build new homes, businesses and improve various neighborhood aspects. Ensuring a correct counting of the number of people in the state of Texas helps to provide billions of dollars in infrastructure funding as well as multiple congressional seats. Responses from this census will help produce statistics about homeownership and renting, data which serves as one indicator of the nation’s economy.
At Republic Title we want to help insure that all of our customers elect to be counted in the census and want everyone to know that your personally identifiable information is protected by law and cannot be shared outside of the Census Bureau.
Thanks to our friends at Collin County Association of REALTORs who made videos in 26 different languages explaining the census. https://www.ccar.net/census/
If you have real property for sale, which is used in your trade or business, or is held for investment, you may be eligible to defer the capital gains tax when the property is sold by utilizing a deferred 1031 Exchange. In order to receive this tax treatment, you should contact a Qualified Intermediary, like Texas Escrow Company, a subsidiary of Republic Title of Texas, Inc., and complete the documentation necessary to create your exchange before you close the sale of your property.
The property sold needs to be real estate that you have held for investment or used in your trade or business, such as an office building or rent house. Vacation homes for your personal use, or your personal residence, do not qualify for this tax treatment. You should consult your accountant or attorney for advice on the utilization of a 1031 Exchange, especially if your accountant files your income tax return. It is important that the person filing your income tax return agrees that the exchange achieves the tax deferral you want. Your accountant can also estimate the tax payable on your sale so you can evaluate whether you want to do a 1031 Exchange. The 1031 Exchange only defers the capital gains tax (long or short term) on the sale of real property by purchasing replacement real property of an equal or greater value than the property sold.
Using exchange funds to purchase like-kind replacement real property for an investment, or use in your trade or business, and then later selling that replacement property in another 1031 Exchange to purchase other replacement property, will continue to defer the capital gains tax, plus any additional gain that might accrue by virtue of an increased value of the replacement property. In many cases, once you start exchanging real property, you need to continue using 1031 Exchanges to purchase real property if you wish to continue deferring the capital gains tax. When you sell the replacement property without using a 1031 Exchange, capital gains taxes will be due.
We suggest that you review the supplemental Definitions and Rules of a Deferred 1031 Exchange which is written in easy to understand language to familiarize yourself with some of the terms and rules, that are involved in a 1031 Exchange. All the definitions and rules of a deferred 1031 Exchange should be discussed with your tax advisor, accountant, attorney and a Qualified Intermediary before you do any exchange transaction. The rules encompass all kinds of situations and we repeat that it is imperative to consult with your tax advisors and a Qualified Intermediary about the transaction you have in mind before you sell and, in some cases, before you even contract to sell.
For more information on 1031 Exchange, please reach out to our Texas Escrow Company team:
As business continues to shift each day and we are all working in this new normal, we asked Shaun Neidigh, Vice President/Business Development for a sneak peek at his new Mind Over Market class where he discusses fears in the market and how to overcome the six roadblocks that might be holding you back.
Mind Over Market with Shaun Neidigh
Real Estate can be a rollercoaster for many of the people that call it their career. For many of us, the rollercoaster ride does not come from the market itself but rather how we adapt to the changes it brings. As we all know, there are many reasons why change happens in the real estate market. When talking to our peers in real estate, one major theme that came up repeatedly when discussing change was the element of fear.
Let’s start by identifying what fear really is. According to Dictionary.com, fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Many people believe there are two distinct types for fears, real fear and physiological fears also known as phobias. Specifically for this article we are focusing on physiological fears and how they can control the decisions and direction of our real estate career.
While researching this topic to develop our Mind Over Market class, we interviewed several Realtors and were able to come up with six specific areas, or roadblocks, that agents seemed to struggle with that had a direct impact on their business.
Fear of the contract
Fear of talking to people
Fear of no business
Fear of too much business
Fear of competition
Fear of having a difficult decision
In our class Mind over Market, we go into great detail on these six roadblocks and how each one can impact all levels of experience for both individual real estate agents and large teams. We look at how developing daily task regiments and the idea of “living by your calendar” can help organize your mind and take some of the anxiety out of the things we can and can’t control. We highlight the use of your relationships (especially when you are new to the business) and how those relationships can blossom into partnerships for a long career in real estate. Finally, we discuss the tools available to real estate agents that if put into practice can set the stage for true success no matter what type of market is given to us.
At Republic Title, we want to be a resource for your success. Our Mind Over Market class is one of many educational opportunities that we provide to help you take your business to the next level. To learn more about this class or any others, please reach out to Republic Title’s Education Department at education@republictitle.com.
Republic Title is proud to announce that we have completed 100 Remote Online eClosings in 2020.
What is a Remote Online eClosing and how does it work?
Remote Online eClosing takes place…wait for it…online! The signer and the notary need not be in the same room, or even in the same state!
This type of eClosing allows all parties to be remote and perform the closing through videoconference via a webcam. All documents are signed and notarized electronically during the videoconference. This is the most highly regulated type of eClosing, and special commissions are required to electronically notarize documents. Remote online eClosings are very popular and useful for the seller side of the transaction since, in most cases, there are no loan documents involved for the seller.
Republic Title has completed these 100 Remote Online eClosing through eVolve, our newest digital settlement and signing services division, which provides an alternative closing experience for sellers, buyers and real estate agents. eVolve’s approach is to provide a completely digital real estate closing process from start to finish, through the delivery of title and escrow services by way of secure collaboration and Remote Online eClosings.
eVolve has been operating in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas market for the past 12 months and will allow Republic Title to handle digital transactions in every major market in Texas (including Austin, San Antonio and Houston).