I have often been asked: “Are department store credit cards best?”

Not really. Many times they will offer you a discount on todays purchase if you apply for their cards. There are several reasons I would stay away from these cards.

1. Department store credit cards are many times harder to qualify for.

2. Everytime someone pulls your credit, it lowers your scores.

3. Many times the interest rate is higher.

4. You limit your self to buying in that store alone, where with a Visa, Master Card or Discover Card , you can use the card almost anywhere.

In my opion you should never charge more than you can pay off within one week. Keeping your balance at zero to $10 insures you keep your scores as high as possible.

We have taken the time to help you find cards that will benefit you on our web site at http://hope4usa.com/credit-cards/.

Everyday at HOPE we help our clients make wise decisions about their credit. If you would like to know more please call us at 704-503-3669. we are waiting on your call.

Good Reasons to Buy a Home Part 5

Every day this week we are sharing with you good reasons why you should buy a home. Here are our final tips for now.

1. Interest rates are at an incredible low point.  Typically speaking, bad news in the economy results in good news for home loan rates.  Interest rates continue to hover at historic lows.  Seizing the opportunity to lock in a long-term fixed rate right now will save you thousands over the life of the loan.  Maybe even tens of thousands.  Interest rates could go up again anytime, so waiting could be financially dangerous.  Furthermore, if you qualify for an FHA loan, you can lock in your rate, then refinance for free in the future if rates go even lower.  Talk about a win-win situation!

2. Home choices are plentiful and it is a strong buyer’s market right now.  There are lots of homes on the market so there is plenty to choose from.  Don’t wait for the seller’s market to return.

At HOPE we help our client everyday in making wise decisions regarding their credit. If you would like to know more about how the HOPE program works please give us a call at 704-503-3669. Our friendly staff is standing by.

Good Reasons to Buy a Home Part 4

Every day this week we are sharing with you good reasons why you should buy a home.

Today we are continuing to discuss the tax breaks associated with buying a home

6. Credit for first-time home buyers. If you purchased a primary residence after April 8, 2008, and before July 1, 2009, and are a “first-time” home buyer, you can qualify for a new tax credit for 10% of up to $75,000 of the purchase price. To be eligible, you must not have owned a residence in the U.S. in the previous three years. Nor can the credit be taken if your mortgage is funded with tax-free bonds that states and localities issue to give below-market mortgages.

The credit phases out between $150,000 and $170,000 of AGI for married couples and $75,000 to $95,000 for single filers. It is refundable to the extent it exceeds your regular tax liability — which means that if the credit more than offsets your tax liability for the year, you’ll get a refund check for the balance — but does not offset the AMT. If you buy your home in the first five months of 2009, you can elect to take the credit on your 2008 income tax return.

Beware: This credit is more like an interest-free loan from Uncle Sam rather than a gift, because it will be recaptured ratably over 15 years. The recapture period starts two years after the year the credit is claimed. Thus, if you claim a $7,500 tax credit for a purchase in 2008, you will have to pay an extra $500 of income tax in 2010 and in subsequent years until you have repaid the full $7,500. If you sell the residence before the credit is fully repaid, the balance is due in the year of the sale. (If your profit on the sale is less than the unrecaptured credit, though, the amount due is limited to the amount of your profit.)

7. First-time home buyer tax credit of $8,000.  If you have not owned a home in the last 3 years, you can get paid $8,000 to purchase a home.  Unbelievable.  I am still astounded by this.

President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law .  This stimulus package is enormous and has many facets.  I’d like to focus on just one aspect of this law: the first-time home buyer tax credit.

First-time home buyers who purchase a home between January 1, 2009 and November 30, 2009 will be eligible to receive up to an $8,000 tax credit.  This money does not have to be repaid.  The home must then be used as the buyer’s primary residence for the next 3 years (otherwise the tax credit does need to be repaid).

This is a great opportunity for first-time home buyers to buy a home.  Combine this with the current buyer’s market and low interest rate and this truly is one of the best times to buy.

At HOPE we help our client’s everyday in making wise decisions regarding their credit. If you would like to know more about how the HOPE program works please give us a call at 704-503-3669. We are waiting on your call.

Good Reasons to Buy a Home Part 3

Every day this week we are sharing with you good reasons why you should buy a home.

Today we are continuing to discuss the tax breaks for buying a home:

3. Real-estate taxes. You can deduct the local property taxes you pay each year, too. The amount may be shown on a form you receive from your lender, if you pay your taxes through an escrow account. If you pay them directly to the municipality, though, check your records or your checkbook registry.

In the year you purchase your residence, you probably reimbursed the seller for real estate taxes he or she had prepaid for time you actually owned the home. If so, that amount will be shown on your settlement sheet. Include this amount in your real-estate tax deduction. Note that you can’t deduct payments into your escrow account as real-estate taxes. Your deposits are simply money put aside to cover future tax payments. You can deduct only the actual real-estate tax payments made from the account by your lender.

New for 2008: For the first time, homeowners who take the standard deduction instead of itemizing can deduct part of their property taxes. Joint filers can add in up to $1,000 of property taxes paid to the amounts shown above. Singles can add in up to $500 of real estate tax payments.

4. PMI premiums. Buyers who make a down payment of less than 20% of a home’s cost usually get stuck paying premiums for private mortgage insurance (PMI), an extra fee that protects the lender if the borrower fails to repay the loan. For mortgages issued after 2006, PMI premiums can be deducted by home buyers.

At HOPE we help our client’s everyday in making wise decisions regarding their credit. If you would like to know more about how the HOPE program works please give us a call at 704-503-3669. We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Good Reasons to Buy a Home Part 2

This week we are sharing with you good reasons why you should buy a home.

There are tax breaks for buying a home!

Buying your first home is a huge step. When you leave the world of renting behind, you begin building equity in an investment. Uncle Sam is there to help ease the pain of high mortgage payments.

The deductions now available to you as a homeowner will reduce your tax bill substantially. If you have been claiming the standard deduction up until now, the extra write-offs from owning a home almost certainly will make you an itemizer. Suddenly, the state taxes you pay and your charitable gifts will earn you tax-saving deductions, too. Here are a few examples of tax breaks available to home owners:

1. Mortgage interest. For most people, the biggest tax break from owning a home comes from deducting mortgage interest. You can deduct interest on up to $1 million of debt used to acquire your home. Your lender will send you Form 1098 in January listing the mortgage interest you paid during the previous year. That is the amount you deduct on Schedule A. Be sure the 1098 includes any interest you paid from the date you closed on the home to the end of that month. This amount is listed on your settlement sheet for the home purchase. You can deduct it even if the lender does not include it on the Form 1098. If you are in the 25% tax bracket, deducting the interest basically means Uncle Sam is paying 25% of it for you. A $1,000 deduction will reduce your tax bill by $250.

2. Points. When you buy a house, you usually have to pay “points” to the lender to get your mortgage. This charge is usually expressed as a percentage of the loan amount. If the loan is secured by your home and the number of points you pay is typical for your area, the points are deductible as interest if you paid enough cash at closing — via your down payment, for example — to cover the points. For example, if you paid two points on a $300,000 mortgage — $6,000 — you can deduct the points as long as you put at least $6,000 into the deal. And, believe it or not, you get to deduct the points even if you persuaded the seller to pay them for you as part of the deal. The deductible amount should be shown on your 1098 form.

At HOPE we help our clients everyday in making wise decisions regarding their credit. If you would like to know more about how the HOPE program works please give us a call at 704-503-3669. We are waiting on your call.