Credit Scores - Know them when purchasing a vacation home in Ocean City MD.

Know your credit scores. Buying a second home for summer vacations, retirement, or investment may stretch your budget. Know what you can qualify for with a second mortgage and check your credit scores to understand your financial position. Homes in Ocean City MD are available in all price ranges from single-family, townhomes, and condominiums. I will help you connect the dots and clarify your real estate goals so that when you make a purchase, you are spot on for the lifestyle of your dreams. Contact me for information and for a FREE Homes by Email portal. You can search beach properties from the comfort of your home. Susan Antigone - ShoreFun4U with Long & Foster Real Estate

Boost Your Credit Score Timely Payments And Low Balances Key To Good Scores When it comes to qualifying for a low-interest home loan, credit card or auto loan, your credit score is vitally important. Potential lenders use the score and your credit history to determine the type of mortgage and interest rate they’ll offer you. The higher your score, the lower the rate you pay. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of credit score products in today’s market, but they’re all calculated using the information collected about you by one or all of the credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Your credit reports contain a great deal of information about you: Your name, address, Social Security Number, date of birth and employers. How much you owe and limits on your credit cards and loans. Whether you pay your bills on time. Any overdue debts, bankruptcies, foreclosures, suits, wage attachments, liens and judgments. Credit scoring companies use your credit report information to come up with your score — a number that tells lenders how risky it would be to give you a car loan, a credit card, a mortgage or some other type of loan. Unfortunately, credit reports often contain outdated information and mistakes, so it's a good idea to review yours at least once a year and certainly before you apply for any credit. You can order a free annual credit report from each of the three credit bureaus every 12 months by going to http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ or calling (877) 322-8228. If you find errors or inaccuracies, act quickly; it can take as long as 30 days for corrected information to appear on your reports. Use Only Part Of The Credit You’re Offered One of the biggest factors in your credit score is called “credit utilization.” That’s corporate shorthand for “How much of the credit we offered this customer did he use?” Keep your utilization to 30 percent or less. For example, if you’re offered a $10,000 credit line, use no more than $3,000. Rule of thumb: It's better to have several cards with low balances than a few cards with high balances. Having even one card that’s maxed out will hurt your score. Even better, pay off your balances every month so your utilization is closer to zero. Pay On Time The second most important factor in your credit score is late payments. Paying all your bills on time (and that means the payment got to the lender by the due date) pushes up your score. Paying 30 days or more late lowers your score. If for some reason your credit score isn't up to par, it doesn't have to haunt you forever. When you get a credit score from a lender or by purchasing it, you’ll also get a list of risk factors. Focus on improving your performance on those risk factors to raise your score. Because the score keeps changing to reflect your evolving credit history, you can raise your credit score over time, and then maintain it, by following these three tips: 1. Pay more than the minimum amount you owe. Typically, you’ll see your credit score rise when you bring down your balances. 2. Keep your oldest credit card open to lengthen your credit history and avoid new credit cards you don't need. 3. Maintain unused credit cards. Closing them can make your utilization ratio appear higher.

Mortgage Interest Deduction Makes Homeownership Even Sweeter Long & Foster and Prosperity Mortgage can help you finance a summer vacation home in Ocean City MD. Ask about options and to be pre-qualified. I will help you out each step of the way to determine if now is a good time to buy real estate. Susan Antigone - ShoreFun4U homes in Ocean City MD Most taxpayers can deduct the interest on a home mortgage of up to $500,000 ($1 million for married, joint filers) used to buy, build or improve a home, plus interest on a home equity loan of up to $50,000 ($100,000 for married filers) used for any purpose. Here are 10 more things you need to know to claim your mortgage interest deduction: 1. You must file your taxes on Form 1040 and itemize your deductions. 2. You have to be legally obligated to pay the mortgage. In other words, you can’t deduct mortgage interest paid, for example, on your parents' home unless you have a legal duty to pay their mortgage. 3. The Alternative Minimum Tax rule may limit you from taking the mortgage interest deduction if your 2013 adjusted gross income is more than $51,900 ($80,800 for married, joint filers). 4. Your mortgage must be a secured debt, meaning your lender can foreclose on your home if you don’t pay your mortgage. 5. The interest on your main home and a second home is deductible. Either one can also be a boat, mobile home, house trailer, condominium, cooperative or similar property, which has cooking, sleeping and toilet facilities. Certain other exceptions apply. 6. You can deduct late payment charges as though they were interest as long as your lender didn’t perform a specific service in exchange for the fee. 7. If you pay off your home mortgage early and you have to pay a prepayment penalty, that amount also counts as interest, as long as your lender doesn’t charge the fee in exchange for a specific service performed or to cover the cost of something connected to your mortgage (like giving you a payoff statement). 8. If you make annual or periodic rental payments on a redeemable ground rent, you can deduct them as mortgage interest. Payments made to end the ground lease and payments for nonredeemable ground rent aren’t deductible as mortgage interest. 9. Reverse mortgage interest generally isn’t deductible until it’s paid — and you don’t usually pay interest on a reverse mortgage until you (or your heirs) sell your home and pay off the reverse loan. 10. If you own a cooperative apartment, you’ll get a Form 1098 from the co-op telling you how much interest you paid on any building-wide mortgages. You can deduct that amount along with the interest you paid on your individual unit loan (if you got a mortgage to buy your shares in the co-op).

Rodney Saves the East Coast (City) - Ocean City MD. ShoreFun4U - Susan Antigone

Biggesst Home Seller Mistakes

Data provided by ActiveRain.com. ActiveRain is an online community of real estate professionals who exchange best practices, write real estate blogs, and get free education from the industry and their peers.

ShoreFun4U - Susan Antigone with Long & Foster will help market your property and make sure it is point on for pricing.

Body Language can make or break a real estate deal

Real estate agents’ body language and speech can cost them business Find out which gestures cause clients to lose trust in you Bernice Ross Bernice Ross Contributor share this article Jan 23, 2014 [Susan Antigone - ShoreFun4U with Long and Foster in Ocean City MD will work with you, whether buyer or seller, to make your real estate experience a smoothe transition.] What does your body language say to clients when you negotiate? Are you confident and strong, or weak and ineffective? Your tone of voice, stance and a host of other unconscious physical signals reveal much more than you may realize. If you want to become a more effective negotiator, paying attention to your body language is critical. A great place to begin is by making a video of your next listing presentation or offer negotiation. Here are some of the critical points to evaluate. 1. Did you keep your body language still? Barbara Walters is one of the most effective interviewers ever. If you study her interviews carefully, you will notice that she keeps her body very still. This makes it easier for others to trust her. If you gesture when you talk, you will be more effective if you keep your hands and body still. This provides your clients with a sense that you are calm and in control. It’s also less intimidating. While it may be uncomfortable initially, this approach can definitely help you close more deals. 2. The ‘power pose’ Several years ago I was tasked with making sure that more than 100 agents in a very important meeting didn’t leave the room to take business calls. I stood directly in front of the exit with my feet planted firmly apart and crossed my arms. Several agents considered moving until they looked at me. Everyone stayed seated. Amy Cuddy from the Harvard Business School has found that the “Wonder Woman” pose changes a woman’s body chemistry so that she feels more confident and successful. While this pose is usually too aggressive for most negotiations, using it prior to your client meeting can give your confidence a big boost. 3. Did you appear weak? Do you stand with one foot in front of the other or with your ankles crossed? If so, these are both weak poses that suggest you lack confidence. So does fidgeting, playing with your phone, or brushing back your hair. To break yourself of these habits, practice breathing in to the count of five, holding your breath for the count of five, and then exhaling for the count of five. This stops rapid breathing, makes you feel more relaxed, and greatly reduces any nervous fidgeting. 4. Did you make direct eye contact? An especially challenging issue for many women, as well as many younger people, is looking others in the eye. When you fail to look someone directly in the eye, it decreases trust. Moreover, it signals weakness, as does dropping your chin. If your mother ever said, “Stand up straight and look me in the eye,” she was giving you excellent advice on how to negotiate effectively. 5. Did you use downstrokes when speaking? One of the most common ways that agents sound weak is by using upstrokes when they speak. This is especially true for women, since they are more likely to use this speech pattern to avoid being confrontational. In fact, when Hollywood wants to cast a “dumb blond,” they will make sure that she uses upstrokes when she speaks. What is an upstroke? Listen to the difference when you say, “Hello” vs. when you say “good morning” or “good evening.” The word “hello” normally ends with an upstroke. In contrast, the words “good morning” and “good evening” end with downstrokes. While most American men speak in downstrokes, most American women end their sentences with upstrokes. This is also true for people who speak languages such as Vietnamese that vary word meaning based upon tonalities. To avoid sounding weak when you negotiate, practice ending your sentences with downstrokes. A good sentence that illustrates what this sounds like is, “It’s raining outside.” Again, a good way to see whether you use upstrokes or downstrokes is to record an actual presentation. Keep practicing until you master this skill. 6. Did you intimidate or try to control your clients? Maintaining a powerful body position while negotiating is important, but avoid becoming controlling or intimidating. As mentioned before, keep your body language still. It’s equally important, however, to use what is known as “charge neutral.” This refers to speaking in the tone of voice you might use when dealing with an upset child. While it may be tempting to raise your voice to someone who is yelling at you, avoid doing it. Virtually all anger and obnoxious behavior results from fear. When you yell at someone who is afraid, you only add more energy to his or her fear. The result is that you exacerbate the situation rather than improving it. If your mother ever said, 'Stand up straight and look me in the eye,' she was giving you excellent advice on how to negotiate effectively." If you want to up your negotiation skills, try applying some of the techniques outlined above. You may be very pleasantly surprised how much more smoothly your negotiations go. Bernice Ross, CEO of RealEstateCoach.com, is a national speaker, trainer and author of the National Association of Realtors’ No. 1 best-seller, “Real Estate Dough: Your Recipe for Real Estate Success.” Hear Bernice’s five-minute daily real estate show, just named “new and notable” by iTunes, at www.RealEstateCoachRadio.com. - See more at: http://www.inman.com/2014/01/23/real-estate-agents-body-language-and-speech-may-be-costing-them-business/#sthash.EiRgMQeY.dpuf

5 ways to become a better real estate negotiator | Inman News

5 ways to become a better real estate negotiator | Inman News

Ocean City MD. Brown box Theatre Project. Art League of Ocean City. Under 30 discount. Enjoy an evening out.

Are you under 30 and living in Ocean City? Brown Box Theatre Project is offering discounted tickets to the upcoming show Two Wrongs at the Art League of Ocean City MD. Use the promo code U30 and get 20% off your ticket. Grab a date and come to this hilarious comedy--prefect for Valentines weekend February 14-17.

Two Controversial Mortgage Products Agents Should Know About

Two Controversial Mortgage Products Agents Should Know About

[Homes in Ocean City MD are bought for retirement, summer vacations, or investment.  OCMD is a great retirement community.  For a view of available real estate, contact Susan Antigone-ShoreFun4U with Long & Foster.  I'll be happy to share what is available; and if you prefer, open a portal to "Homes by Email" so you can check out homes at the beach from the comfort of your home.]

Two Controversial Mortgage Products Agents Should Know About

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:00 AM PST

Today we are pleased to welcome back Nikki Buckelew as our guest blogger.  Nikki is the Founder and CEO of the Seniors Real Estate Institute.
We already know from NAR that 1 in 4 home sales in 2012 involved a seller over the age of 65. It’s also no secret that the aging population is growing rapidly, creating the commonly referred to “Senior Tsunami.”
With this massive demographic shift and impending related changes in the real estate market, agents have little choice but to expand their knowledge base in order to better serve this aging clientele and the buyers of their homes.

Reverse Mortgages

There seems to be a lot of curiosity (and skepticism) these days around the reverse mortgage products on the market and whether or not agents should familiarize themselves with them.
Of course, we have all seen the infomercials featuring Fred Thompson, Henry Winkler, and others touting the many virtues of the Reverse Mortgage for older homeowners, but why should real estate professionals learn about them?

1. Not only can seniors over the age of 62 use a reverse mortgage to access the equity in their current residence, in most U.S. states, they can also use the reverse mortgage to purchase a new home. This presents savvy agents specializing in the seniors’ niche with a unique value proposition and tool to list and sell more homes.
2. As older adults with current reverse mortgages (many now in their 80’s and 90’s) are taking advantage of the up-tick in the market and liquidating their primary residence in search of senior living communities, their agent will be looked upon as their guide and expected to assist in navigating the reverse mortgage payoff.
3. Because many older adults choose to age-in-place as long as they can, they often use reverse mortgages to make necessary home modifications. While some agents have a tendency to fall short at follow up during the sometimes extended sales cycle, those who introduce their senior adult clients to the reverse mortgage product are often appreciated and thus called upon first when it is time for the homeowner to make a move.

FHA 203K Loans

This loan is one that a lot of agents we talk to seem to avoid. Maybe it’s because these loans can require a bit more effort to process, or it could be because they have just not taken the time to research the benefits of using them.
Here are a few reasons why agents may want to pay attention to this otherwise obscure FHA offering in the coming year.

1. As our population ages and more entry-level homes hit the market, needing repair and updating, this loan is only going to increase in popularity.
2. Because first time homebuyers often need to use the more affordable FHA loan products to purchase a home; older homes, needing repairs and updating, are filtered out of the home search.  Agents familiar with the FHA 203K can increase the pool of available listings for entry-level buyers.
3. Senior home sellers are more apt to choose the “as-is” listing option instead of making costly foundation, roof, wiring, or mechanical repairs. By promoting the FHA 203K loan option to qualified buyers, agents increase their pool of potential buyers for such homes.

Reverse mortgages and FHA 203K loans are just like any other financial product: they are neither good nor bad. Their use depends upon the market and each client’s unique circumstances.
By becoming familiar with the market and the best uses for each type of loan, savvy agents can access an otherwise untapped market and carve out a niche that adds sales to their bottom line.
Be sure to consult with your local real estate broker or mortgage lender about any questions you may have concerning reverse mortgages and FHA 203K loans.

Boomers' Demand Shifts to Change Real Estate

Ocean City MD Homes for sale - ShoreFun4U - Susan Antigone can help you find a retirement home at the beach that suits your needs.   Contact me and ask for a my FREE 'Homes by Email' service.

Boomers' Demand Shifts to Change Real Estate

Do you own a home? What you should know about your home and about your 2013 taxes.

Are you a homeowner? What you should know about your home and your 2013 taxes. What You Should Know About Your Home and Your 2013 Taxes [As a REALTOR as well as a tax preparer for H&R Block, I like to be sure all my customers have the most up to date information to save them money on their home and their tax return. If you have a question, don't hesitate to contact me at Susan@ShoreFun4U.com - Ocean City MD. Homes for sale, rent and investment with Long & Foster. H&R Block phone: 410-860-8635. Susan.Antigone@tax.hrblock.com ]

Published: December 12, 2013 By: Dona DeZube It’s the last year for three sweet home tax benefits, but the first for a way simpler home office deduction. These days few things start a fight on Capitol Hill faster than taxes. Despite the fact that three important tax benefits used by millions of American homeowners are days from expiring, Congress is unlikely to do anything to re-up them any time soon. So if you’re eligible, tax year 2013 is possibly the last time to claim the private mortgage insurance (PMI) deduction, the energy tax credit, and debt forgiveness benefit, all of which all expire on Dec. 31, 2013. At least there’s one piece of good news for homeowners: If you have a home office, there’s a new, simpler option for calculating the home office deduction for which you may qualify on your 2013 taxes. Meanwhile, here’s what you need to know about those expiring benefits as you ready your taxes: PMI Deduction This tax rule lets you deduct the cost of private mortgage insurance, which is what you pay your lender each month if you put down less than 20% on a home. PMI protects the lender if you default on the home loan. Your deduction could amount to a couple hundred dollars depending on your tax bracket and other factors. Find out if you qualify for and how to take the PMI deduction. Energy-Efficiency Upgrades This sweet little tax credit lets you offset what you owe the IRS dollar-for-dollar for up to 10% of the amount you spent on certain home energy-efficiency upgrades, from insulation to water heaters. On the downside, the credit is capped at $500 (less in some cases). But on the bright side, the right improvement could lower your utility bills indefinitely. Related: Take back your energy bills with these high-ROI energy-efficiency practices. Debt Forgiveness When you go through a short sale, foreclosure, or deed-in-lieu, your lender typically lets you off the hook for some or all of what you owe on your mortgage. That forgiven mortgage debt is income, on which you’d typically have to pay income tax. Suppose you’re in financial distress and your lender agrees to let you short-sell your home, say for $50,000 less than you owe on the mortgage, and forgive you for the balance. Without the protection of the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act, you’ll owe income tax on that $50,000. It’s likely if you had the money to pay income tax on $50,000, you’d have used it to pay your mortgage in the first place. New Simplified Option for the Home Office Deduction This may be the last year for the benefits above, but a new one kicks in for the 2013 tax year. If you work from home, you may qualify to use a new, simplified option for claiming the home office deduction when you file your 2013 taxes. http://www.houselogic.com/blog/tax-deductions/tax-deductions-credits-for-homeowners-2013/?cid=eo_sm_fb_mxm-social#

Homes Are Getting Smarter, More Connected

How about texting your refrigerator?

Homes Are Getting Smarter, More Connected

Buy now and save on mortgage payments

"Harvard: 5 Financial Reasons to Buy a Home" http://feedly.com/k/1d6whKq

NAR's Exisiting Home Sales Report [INFOGRAPHIC]

Sales down.  Prices up.

NAR's Exisiting Home Sales Report [INFOGRAPHIC]