Car Loans and Your Taxes

Posted on March 31, 2023 by schatzi

Tax season is upon us, and many people are anxious to find ways to catch a tax break while they work on their income tax returns. There are so many deductions available to claim, but unfortunately, many of these do not apply to the common tax payer. While doing taxes can be a daunting task, and searching for deductions can make it even more difficult, you should definitely look into any deductions that may apply to you. Looking for tax deductible items is complicated, but if you want to save some money this tax season, search for any and all that have to do with your situation, and you will feel much better about dealing with Uncle Sam this year.

One question that may come up when working on your taxes is about the interest on your car loan. Is car loan interest available for tax deduction? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to that question because when dealing with the Internal Revenue Service, you rarely get a straight answer to any tax related question. However, there are two ways that you might be able to get some money back when it comes to your auto loan. As long as you do not falsify any items on your tax return, or claim a deduction falsely, you should be able to carry these out without a problem.

Your Car as a Business Expense
One way you can deduct your car loan interest is by claiming your car as a business expense. In order to do this, you must keep very detailed records on the use of your car, in case the IRS gets suspicious and decides to audit you this year. In order to avoid an audit by the IRS, you should have a legitimate reason to claim your loan interest as a deduction, like owning a real business. Owning a small business and driving your car frequently while doing business related tasks will give you an airtight reason to use your car loan interest as a tax deduction on your income tax return this year. You would also be able to deduct expenses incurred for maintaining your car, such as oil changes and repairs.

Your Car Financed by Your Home Equity Loan
If you used your home equity line of credit to pay for your car, you should be able to claim your car loan interest on your tax return. However, you should definitely be aware of the risks that come with using your home equity line of credit to finance your vehicle. If you have issues with paying your car payment on time, you could risk losing your house. This is why, if you do choose to use your home equity line of credit in this manner, you must be very prompt and even early with your payments, so you do not wind up losing your home.

Be very careful when you decide to attempt using your car loan interest as a tax deduction. If you go into this not knowing every detail about how to handle a deduction like this, you could end up in major trouble with the IRS, a company that you would rather never hear from.

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What Is A Real Estate Wholesaler

Posted on March 30, 2023 by schatzi

A real estate wholesaler is someone that purchases or takes control of properties that have a lot of equity in them and sells the properties to investors for a profit. Just like a wholesaler of washing machines the wholesaler is trying to sell his products to retailers, rehabbers, investors and in some cases to the end consumer. The real estate wholesaler will always have some financial obligation in the properties. The wholesaler may have purchased the property outright or will have purchased an option on the property to purchase the property at a specified price by a specific date. If no money has changed hands then you are not a wholesaler, you are considered to be a bird dog or a jobber.

Where do wholesalers find properties?

Fundamentally a wholesaler is looking for properties that have a lot of equity, and for some reason the seller are selling the property below market value. These could be homes that are in foreclosures, tax sales, bank sales, builders, tired landlords, estate sales and inherited properties with out of area owners and so on.

Foreclosures:

Foreclosures are properties that banks and mortgage companies have made loan on for but the owner of the property is unable or unwilling to continue to making payments. The lending companies usually have worked with the home owner for a number of years trying to resolve the financial problem. The mortgage will be several thousands of dollars in the arrears and the home owner is about to have his credit severely impacted. If the property has gone into the foreclosure process the time available for the wholesaler to close the deal is only from a few days to a few weeks.

Your job Mr. Wholesaler, should you decide to accept it, is to get the outstanding loan paid for or at least out of arrears and to keep the home owners credit from becoming impacted. This deal will self destruct is a few days.

The real estate wholesaler may purchase the property from the lending institution for the outstanding loan price or even lower. If the wholesaler is able to purchase the property below the outstanding loan price it the esthetical responsibility of the wholesaler to negotiate with the lending institution to not try and collect the remaining amount from the owner of the home.

Tax sales:

Tax sales are usually on unimproved land with no outstanding mortgages. Land may have been purchased for speculation or someone may have inherited the land from someone but they are no longer willing or able to make the tax payments. There are exceptions of course, but finding a tax sale on a home that is unencumbered with leans or loans is very rare.

Bank sales and auctions:

Auctions and bank sales are properties that have already gone through the foreclosure process and are offered to the general public. Normally a 5 to 10 percent down payment is required after a successful bid. The auctions are for cash only and are not contingent on the buyer’s ability to obtain financing. Auctions obligate the buyer to purchase the property but it does not obligate the seller to accept the bid. It may take several weeks for the seller to decide to accept the bid or not to accept the bid.

Builders:

Sometimes a builder will not be able to sell all of the properties built by that company. Some below market value new homes are available when a builder has overextended themselves and need the cash to continue to build new homes or to satisfy lending requirements.

Tired landlords:

Some landlords are retiring and ready to move out of the area and are looking to unencumbered themselves from the properties. Out of area landlords and landlords that are just tired of managing properties sometimes are willing to sell properties below market value. The properties may require repair and usually they are not being managed properly.

Where do wholesalers sell there properties?

Properties that are in need of repair are usually sold to rehabbers for fix up or to handyman owners looking for a good deal. Properties that are not in need of repair are usually sold to investors.

How do wholesalers get started?

Join real estate investment groups in your area. Start networking with other wholesalers and investors. If you have a property to sell ask the wholesalers for someone to sell to. It may cost you a $3,000 assignment fee. If you have a buyer call the wholesalers for properties that they cannon sell. This may get you a $3,000 assignment fee.

A good real estate wholesaler will have acquired a list of investors and rehabbers over the years. You only need a small handful of experienced investors and rehabbers that do not have the time to spend hunting down great real estate deals. A wholesaler wants to buy and sell as quickly as possible with a reasonable amount of profit. He is not in the business of long term real estate investment. Wholesalers that try and make a killing on each and every property and if the wholesaler takes advantaged of distressed home owners are usually not in business very long.

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Advantages of E-Mail Marketing Using the Lighthouse Marketing System

Posted on March 29, 2023 by schatzi

You are in network marketing and you have decided that marketing your multi-level marketing (MLM) business on the internet makes perfect sense. One of the methods to generate interest in your opportunity is by way of e-mail marketing offered by the Lighthouse Marketing System. E-mail marketing is one of the many techniques taught in the Lighthouse Marketing System.

E-mail marketing can be one of the most effective marketing, advertising, and sales tools. It is one of the most cost-effective ways of distributing huge amounts of information, coupons, special offers, promotions, and new product announcements.

Sounds great? Right? Before you dive into this technique there is something you need to know. There is a right way and a wrong way to do e-mail marketing. Many newbie online marketers I come across think that buying e-mail lists found in those home business or work-at-home type magazines is the way to do it. Wrong!

Buying those lists can get you into trouble because those lists contain people who are NOT targeted to buy into your product or service. Even if they are, they are NOT targeted to buy from you, the online marketer. Part of this reason is because lots of the people on those lists do not know who you are and will automatically hit the spam button on their screen or simply delete your e-mail. If you get too much spam complaints, you better be looking for another home-based business to get into because your website and account can be shut down.

In the Lighthouse Marketing System, you will be taught the right way to do e-mail marketing by sending e-mails to people who are targeted for your business opportunity. That means you will have to painstakingly build your own opt-in list. This takes time and money on your part. No joke!

Once you have built an opt-in list, you can start marketing to them. Many of the benefits that Lighthouse Marketers find when doing e-mail marketing are that:

  • e-mail is quick and reaches your prospects instantaneously.
  • e-mail marketing lets you to target or sectionalize your prospect list by interest, geographic location, sex, and age.
  • e-mail marketing requires no stamps or envelopes to lick, no printing, no burning of gas to get to the post office, and no waiting in line at the post office.
  • e-mails can be tracked so that you will know if prospects opened your e-mail offer and initiated clicks on the links found in your e-mails.
  • e-mail response rates are higher than traditional advertising.
  • e-mail automation with LMS notifies you if e-mail addresses are legitimate or not and allows you to remove the “bad apples” in the bunch.
  • e-mail marketing is a proven and effective means of advertising.

The simple rules you need to be aware of with regard to the LMS e-mail marketing system are that you must comply with the laws involving spam. The last thing you want as an online multi-level marketer is being labeled as a spammer. When you send out campaigns, you want your prospects and existing customers to show interest, read your e-mail, make a purchase, or pick up the phone to call you about your online opportunity.

Another rule you must heed is that you must respect their privacy and include a way for uninterested individuals to opt-out of your list.

E-mail marketing is a great way to connect to your prospects to develop that rapport with them before you introduce to them your business opportunity.

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Home Equity Loan Interest Rate – Getting the Best Deal

Posted on March 28, 2023 by schatzi

Many home owners today are choosing to catch up on major expenses by seeking a home equity loan. The home equity loan interest rate that you are able to obtain will make a huge difference in the amount of money that you will be repaying over the term of the loan. In order to get the best possible deal, here are some things to consider.

What is a Home Equity Loan?

It is a method of financing whereby a homeowner borrows an amount based on the difference between the market value of the home and the amount still owing on the original mortgage – if any. An equity loan on your home may also be known as a second mortgage or borrowing against the property. The loan may be received as cash, payment of bills, line of credit or as collateral for other property.

Where Can I Find the Latest Information?

In the past, home loans were often issued by banks, savings and loan institutions or other mortgage lenders at the local level. Today, there are many equity loans available through the Internet. These loans may be associated with private or large commercial lenders. They may specialize in second mortgages or be available from a regular mortgage lender.

What Factors Affect the Interest Rate?

Many factors affect the rate of interest that will be charged on a home equity loan. The creditworthiness of the homeowner is just one example. The amount of collateral accrued in the home is also taken into consideration. There is often a cap placed on the loan-to-value ratio of the second mortgage. The term of the loan and the size of the loan will also affect the rate of interest charged.

Fixed Rate or Variable Rate?

A fixed interest rate is one that is determined at the beginning of the loan period and remains the same throughout the loan. It tends to be somewhat higher than a variable interest rate. A variable interest rate is one that can be adjusted up or down during the repayment period. The adjustment is usually based on an outside factor such as the prime lending rate.

Uses for a Home Equity Loan

THis form of finance is usually an option considered when the homeowner has upcoming major expenses and needs cash or credit. The loan may be taken to pay for major improvements on the home that will increase its value. It is sometimes used to pay for college expenses or for catastrophic medical bills. Another common use for the loan is to pay off credit card bills with a higher interest rate.

Loan Term

The loan term is the length of time allowed for repayment of the loan. It may be as long as 25 or 30 years in some instances, or a short as two or three years. The lender is usually willing to structure a loan so that you can afford the payments within your budget.

Before choosing additional loans or credit of any type, you should make sure that it is the best fit for your long-term financial needs. By seeking the best home equity loan interest rate, you will pay less money overall. You will be on a better financial footing so that you can pay the loan off more speedily.

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