Clean your light bulbs!

What? Who does that? Well, smart people. A dirty bulb emits 30% less light than a clean one. Dust off both the bulb and fixture, and you might be able to cut back on the number or brightness of lights in each room without noticing any difference.

And replace any older bulbs with LED bulbs…….By replacing just five of your most-used incandescent bulbs with uber-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, you could save $75 a year on your energy bill.

And LEDs last 15-20 times longer than incandescents, so you won’t have to replace them nearly as often.

Checkup on your PMI

If your mortgage was for more than 80% of your home’s purchase price, you could be paying more than $50 a month, and as much as $1,000 a year, for private mortgage insurance (PMI). So as soon as you have at least 20% equity in your home, contact your lender to terminate the policy — they aren’t necessarily required to notify you when you reach that threshold.

Another option for ditching PMI? If your credit score or debt load has improved since securing your mortgage, look into refinancing with more favorable terms.

Home Equity Loan Tax Deduction

You can deduct the interest on a home equity loan or a second mortgage. But — and this is a big but — only if you use the proceeds to substantially improve your house, and only if the loan, combined with your first mortgage, doesn’t add up to more than the magic number of $750,000 (or $1 million if the loans were existing as of Dec. 15, 2017).

If you use a home equity loan to pay medical bills, go to Paris, or for anything but home improvement, you can’t write off the interest on your taxes.

Cabin, Cvan on 1 Acre GORGEOUS views of Nome, Bering Sea

The million dollar view from this lot can’t be beat!
The property is located just outside the city limits on the Dexter Bypass road; Road is graveled and there is nice gravel pad on the lot. Included is a 40′ container van in excellent condition and a 16×20 cabin.

I’ve posted a new listing!

This recently renovated home is a study in understated elegance! Spend your spring relaxing in the heated sun-room and barbecuing on the deck that overlooks the Bering Sea!

The owner’s unit has so many details to fall in love with, from the high quality lighting to the custom built baseboard covers to the top of the line appliances to the high quality plumbing ….AND A SAUNA! But one of the best things about this home is that the tenant rents will pay for it! The two adjacent units with separate driveways and separate entrances are currently rented corporately so rent is paid on time with no vacancy.

The home was built in 1982, but has had a ton of renovation and upgrades in the past 5 years, all done with permits by licensed contractors.

Click here for more information!

Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction

Yearly, you can write off the interest you pay on up to $750,000 of mortgage debt. Most homeowners don’t have mortgages large enough to hit the cap, says Evan Liddiard, CPA, director of federal tax policy for the National Association of REALTORS®. But people who live in pricey places like San Francisco and Manhattan, or homeowners anywhere with hefty mortgages, will likely maximize the mortgage interest deduction.

Note: The $750,000 cap affects loans taken out after Dec. 17, 2017. If you have an loan older than that and you itemize, you can keep deducting your mortgage interest debt up to $1 million. But if you re-fi that loan, you can only deduct the interest on the amount up to the balance on the day you refinanced – you can’t take extra cash and deduct the interest on the excess.

Are closing costs Tax Deductible?

The answer to whether closing costs are tax deductible — or mortgage interest and property taxes for that matter — is, maddeningly, “It depends.”

Basically, you’ll want to itemize if you have deductions totaling more than the standard deduction, which is $12,200 for single people and $24,400 for married couples filing jointly. Every taxpayer gets this deduction, homeowner or not. And most people take it because their actual itemized deductions are less than the standard amount.

The one-time home purchase costs that are tax deductible as closing costs are real estate taxes charged to you when you closed, mortgage interest paid when you settled, and some loan origination fees (a.k.a. points) applicable to a mortgage of $750,000 or less.

Talk with your accountant or tax professional!