John Lemos's (jplemos) Blog

How to Improve Your Credit ScoreYour credit scores usually determine the price you pay for your money (your mortgages, your auto loans and leases, your credit cards, business loans, etc.). Perhaps the most significant part of your credit report is your credit score. Credit scores range from 350 t...

The 90-Day Window for Cash Buyers:  How it Works & Why it MattersCongratulations on paying cash for your home!  I just wanted to make you aware that the IRS gives you a 90 day window to put a mortgage on your property and gain the tax benefits associated with the coveted “acquisition indebtedness...

How to Get the Primary Residence Capital Gains Tax Exclusion In order to understand capital gain, we first need to understand tax basis. Your tax basis is the cost of buying, building or improving a property. Assume you pay $200,000 for a property. You incur $5,000 in closing costs. Then you spen...

 Over 30% of homebuyers pay cash when they purchase real estate.  However, this may not be the smartest financial strategy.  Here’s why: When you pay cash for a property, you are missing out on the opportunity to earn a rate of return on that cash. In the illustration below, Option 1 is to pay ca...

According to recently released numbers from S&P/Case-Schiller, house prices accross the US are up over 31% from the bottom of the market in 2012 (see chart below).  The markets that have recovered the most include San Fransisco, Las Vegas and Detroit.  The markets that have recovered the least in...

On June 23, 2016, voters in the United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU).  This is commonly referred to as “Brexit”. Although the UK only accounts for about 4% of global economic activity, Brexit is having a domino effect on US mortgage rates.  Here’s why:  Mortgage rates in th...

The federal government requires mortgage lenders to disclose the "annual percentage rate" (APR) whenever they advertise a loan program. But what is APR, and does it really matter to you?  Here's the thing: APR lumps all your "finance charges" into your interest rate. As you can see from Figure 1,...