Category: Home

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    Locked Out? How to Break Into Today’s Housing Market 

    For many young people today, the prospect of buying a home can seem out of reach. High prices, elevated interest rates, and limited inventory all make the current housing market a challenging one. Fortunately, homeownership can still be an attainable goal. It may just take a bit more planning, flexibility, and creativity than it did…

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    Tax Benefits of Home Ownership 

    In tax lingo, your principal residence is the place where you legally reside. It’s typically the place where you spend most of your time, but several other factors are also relevant in determining your principal residence. Many of the tax benefits associated with home ownership apply mainly to your principal residence — different rules apply…

  • The Cost of Building a New Home in the U.S.

    This infographic breaks down the average cost of building a new single-family home in the United States in 2024 by stages of construction. The data is based on a survey of 4,000 U.S. home builders by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).  Home construction breakdown: what costs the most?  Building a new home is…

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    Understanding Home Energy Tax Credits 

    A couple of federal personal tax credits were available for the installation of certain energy efficient or clean energy property in your home. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), these credits have expired for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025.  The Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit and the Residential Clean…

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    Refinancing Your Mortgage 

    When you refinance your mortgage, you take out a new home loan and use some or all of the proceeds to pay off the existing one.  Why refinance your mortgage?  There are a variety of reasons why you may want to consider refinancing your mortgage, such as:  When should you refinance?  It used to be said that…

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    I need a bridge loan for a home purchase. Is securities-based lending a possible option? 

    You’re retiring and want to downsize to your dream house. However, you have a problem: You need to use the proceeds from the sale of your current home to pay for the new one. One option you might consider is using a securities-based loan (SBL) or line of credit as a bridge financing solution, potentially…