#bestdenverwillsattorney

Co-Owning Real Estate With A Partner Or A Friend

Jul 26, 2016

Co-Owning Real Estate With A Partner Or A Friend

If you’re thinking of buying (co-owning) a home with a partner, if you’re an unmarried couple or just friends, it’s extremely important to protect yourself if there were a death, a parting or foreclosure. The decision you make in co-owning any property can have disastrous repercussions and consequences. Approximately 25% of primary homebuyers in the US are single. Generally speaking, non-married buyers have very little or no estate-planning protection at either the state or f

Getting a Mortgage After a Short Sale or Foreclosure

Keith Gantenbein

Jul 14, 2016

Getting a Mortgage After a Short Sale or Foreclosure

The housing bubble triggered foreclosures to hundreds of thousands of distressed homeowners all over our nation. If you experienced a foreclosure or opted for a short sale, that doesn’t mean you will never be able to own a home again. Your credit will take a hit after a foreclosure or short sale. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans are the most forgiving of foreclosures. You’ll have to wait at least three years after your foreclosure to qualify. The three years sta

How Brexit Might Affect The U.S. Real Estate Market

Keith Gantenbein

Jul 6, 2016

How Brexit Might Affect The U.S. Real Estate Market

By now, most of us have heard something about Brexit (British Exit). In a sentence, Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU) in a historic referendum June 23. The effects of Brexit are being heard around the world. Britain has the world’s fifth-largest economy and is one of the United State’s biggest trading partners. After the vote, Britain’s pound dropped to a 30-year low prompting Americans to change vacation plans to visit Britain and take advantage of the low price

International Businesses- At Risk? French Tax Authorities Go After Major Businesses

Keith Gantenbein

Jun 23, 2016

International Businesses- At Risk? French Tax Authorities Go After Major Businesses

Our own IRS isn’t the only entity to fear when it comes to taxes. Europe has their eye on international businesses as well as wanting their ‘fare share’ of the profits. The French have widened their investigations and are cracking down on these international businesses concluding a nearly 3-year investigation and auditing of Priceline’s Booking.com The French tax authorities operate in a big way - with exactly $397.37 million in unpaid taxes slapped against Booking.com. The m

Signs The Real Estate Bubble Is About To Burst- Again

Keith Gantenbein

Jun 13, 2016

Signs The Real Estate Bubble Is About To Burst- Again

The number of luxury homes sitting on the global market and not selling is beginning to pile up. It may also be a forewarning of the beginning of another housing bubble getting ready to burst. The last time there was a rise in luxury homes not selling was in 2007 and 2008 - right before the housing crash. Analysts and brokers are warning of another housing bubble due to the high number of luxury homes not selling that they think is a sure ‘bubble signal’. The housing market

Keith Gantenbein

May 25, 2016

Reverse Mortgage Advantages and Risks

A reverse mortgage or home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) was signed into law in 1988 as part of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987. The HECM is available only to homeowners who are 62 years or older, have equity in their home and the home is the principal residence. In basic terms, under the HECM, the homeowner can access their equity for personal use and not pay a mortgage payment until they die, sell or move out of the home. The homeowner is still respons

Keith Gantenbein

May 18, 2016

Timeshare Horror Stories

Timeshares came into being during the early 1960s in England where people would share a holiday (vacation) home. The sharing typically would be between four families who would rotate their seasons each year so each family could enjoy the prime times. In the 1970s, timeshares hit the U.S. A company set up shop in south Florida and sold timeshares in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Timeshares evolved into sharing one piece of property, generally a condominium between 50 people, each

Keith Gantenbein

May 5, 2016

Are HARP And HAMP Ending This Year?

Are the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) really be ending at the end of this year? The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt gave a speech last year on both HAMP and HARP programs. He revealed that HAMP would be finished at the end of 2016. Concerning HARP, Watt said ‘we anticipate that this will also be the final extension for HARP.” Originally set to expire at the end of December 2013, the programs w

Want To Save A Ton Of Money? Hire An Attorney Instead Of A Realtor

Keith Gantenbein

Apr 29, 2016

Want To Save A Ton Of Money? Hire An Attorney Instead Of A Realtor

When buying or selling real estate, normally a real estate agent is involved. In the past, one of the main reasons for using realtors were their access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to list the property for all to see. Nowadays the internet is the first tool people use to list, buy or sell their property, especially the “For Sale by Owner” homes. Many are turning to real estate attorneys to ‘close the deal’. The advantage of this is money. Attorneys will charge eith

Keith Gantenbein

Apr 19, 2016

New Student Loan Forgiveness

The Department of Education announced this week they will be sending letters to 387,000 people who have student loans telling them they’ve been identified as eligible to having their loans forgiven under a new student loan debt relief initiative. The student loan relief will be available to borrowers who can’t work due to a disability. The notification letters will begin going out to these eligible borrowers beginning April 18th and will continue being sent over a 16-week per

Life After Foreclosure- The Boomerang Buyers

Keith Gantenbein

Apr 14, 2016

Life After Foreclosure- The Boomerang Buyers

The past seven years have been horrendous for millions of homeowners who lost their homes. Somewhere between 7 and 8 million homes were lost. The majority of homes lost to foreclosure were around 6 million. These were mostly due from distressed homeowners who suffered hardships ranging from losing their jobs to serious health issues. Around 2 million homes were sold as a short-sale (sold for less than what was owed) and given back to the lender by a deed-in-lieu (DIL) that a

Save Big On Taxes With Charity-Related Donations

Keith Gantenbein

Mar 24, 2016

Save Big On Taxes With Charity-Related Donations

When doing your taxes, one of the deductions most overlooked are charitable contributions. You can deduct a maximum of up to 50% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) on Line 36 on IRS Form 1040 for the tax year in which the donation was given. If you find yourself with more than 50% in one given year, the excess may be carried over for up to five years. If you don’t think you give large amounts to charity, think again. Throughout the year, all those little donations can add up

Keith Gantenbein

Oct 13, 2015

Student Loans Need Oversight

Back in the day - when the predatory mortgage loans were being tossed out like candy, so were the student loans. It was easy to get a student loan and only took a few minutes. School employees quickly entered information into a computer, twirled the computer around and said ‘here-press enter’. Just like that you had a loan, there was no need to even sign anything. Problem was, nothing was explained and you had no idea about interest, rates or the pitfalls. The school said th

Keith Gantenbein

Sep 29, 2015

Death Of A City

Housing prices have plummeted in the last year in Ferguson, Missouri. The average home sold for $66,764 in 2014. In the last three months of 2014, average home prices dropped to $36,168 and have steadily declined. Today, the average price for a home is $22,951 and still falling. Ferguson’s housing is in serious trouble. Foreclosures in this hamlet jumped almost 73% in the last few months of 2014 and the first few months of 2015. Almost half the homes in Ferguson are underwate