Homeowners Are Donating Their Homes For Charity Home Raffles in Order to Avoid Foreclosures

By amit On August 27th, 2010

You’ve heard of “dream home giveaway” fundraisers. A charity or non-profit organization raffles off a home and raises hundreds of thousands of dollars. Well, many homeowners would like to do this with their homes in order to solve their financial problems. However, individuals cannot hold these types of fundraisers unless they partner with a registered nonprofit organization. This article explains why this is happening and how it can be done.

In the past year home values, along with home sales, have declined. At the same time many homeowners who had adjustable rate mortgages saw their monthly mortgage payments dramatically increase. This has created financial hardships for homeowners who are both unable to pay their increased mortgage payments and are unable to sell their homes to get out from under their mortgages. In some cases homeowners are stuck with owing more on their home than it is worth.

This situation has lead to a sharp increase in home foreclosures and bankruptcies in the United States. In times like these people are looking for ways to solve their financial problems. Desperate homeowners have been the target of scammers claiming home raffles are an easy way out. Homeowners have been told that they can easily raffle off their home and raise enough money to pay off their house and donate the rest to charity.

This may sound like a great idea, however, there are legal issues involved in this that homeowners need to investigate before considering a home raffle. There is a difference between an individual raffling off their home and a licensed charity holding a “dream home” raffle. In most states it is considered illegal gambling for an individual to raffle off their own home.

There is a way for an individual to raffle off their home and that is to find a qualified nonprofit organization that is willing to be a partner and handle the raffle. In most states it is legal for a nonprofit organization to hold a raffle for charity fund-raising. Homes that are raffled by charities are usually new or in extremely good condition. A charity is not going to raffle off a run down fixer-upper. The charity will sell a certain amount of tickets at a price of, for example, $150 per ticket with 10,000 tickets being sold. The charity will bring in $1.5 million if all the tickets are sold.

The charity will have to make enough money on ticket sales to pay off the mortgage and cover all expenses such as legal fees, administrative fees, advertising costs, and other prizes. If a certain amount of ticket sales are not reached the raffle will have to be canceled and the money refunded to the ticket purchasers.

If the raffle is a success and the required number of tickets are sold, then the house will be given to the holder of the winning raffle ticket. The winner will then have to pay income taxes on the value of the house. This person will either have to pay a large sum of money to the Internal Revenue Service or will have to take out a new mortgage to cover the taxes. The charity will keep all the money that is leftover after all expenses have been paid.

All of this has to been done strictly according to the law. The charity should make sure that a lawyer and an accountant oversee the entire process. The homeowner should also have his own lawyer representing his interests. At the end of it all what does the homeowner get out of this? He gets his home sold as well as an income tax deduction. This may be a viable option for homeowners who are facing foreclosure.

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What Do You Know About Homeowners Insurance?

By amit On August 23rd, 2010

Most homeowners tend to forget about reviewing their homeowner’s insurance policies; People purchase what’s required by their lender or offered by the insuring agent and stick with the same coverage for years. As years go by and property values appreciate or depreciate, customers neglect the fact that homeowners insurance must be reviewed every year. The insuring company or the agent has their own portion of responsibility in this, because it should be their duty to keep the customer protected and happy with the appropriate coverage.

We all know that property values go up and down, so does the cost for the homeowners insurance. Assuming you live in a $300,000 home, if you have appropriate coverage to protect your home and belongings today, this may not be the case in a year when your house appreciates in value, and in most cases you’ll just forget about revising your policy with a higher coverage. The same goes for a property that has lost some value, why pay for more coverage than you actually need?

Now let’s talk about your personal belongings. Did you know you can include most of your personal belongings within a homeowner’s insurance policy? Yes you can as a matter of fact, that’s what wise folks do. Forgetting to insure your expensive jewelry or fine art could mean a painful loss for you one day, so think about this. The professional digital camera you have could be scheduled under your California homeowners insurance and with a very little premium you could have a peace of mind.

In general most HO3 policies could be trusted for popular items being covered; however there are exclusions and special conditions for certain risks, so please watch out for these conditions. With good policies you can customize your home protection to include hundreds of items including: coverage to your computer hardware, software and data or identity theft coverage, including lost income and legal fees. Top coverage doesn’t have to cost top dollar, especially when you consolidate your various policies with some homeowners policies, you’ll enjoy greater savings, convenience and peace of mind.

When you request a homeowner’s insurance quote, make sure that all the gaps are covered and don’t rush through signing that insurance policy, because at the end, it’s your home and what you have inside is you equity. Including a personal article floater within your policy is as easy as counting numbers, that is why I encourage you to make note of all of the above and pay special attention.

Making the right decision always pays off at the end.

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Improvement in Home Technology to Enhance the Living Experience

By amit On July 2nd, 2010

Home is the inspiration of living, with comfort and security meant to epitomize what it means to have a roof over heads. A true reflection of your style and class is smartly reflected by your home interior. A well furnished home speaks out class where as standard is something for which furniture takes up the major responsibility. But apart from space planning, lighting and furniture, nowadays new technology means having heated bathroom floors, state of the art saunas, towel warmers, eco friendly woods, non-toxic building materials and a technology that controls virtually everything in the house. Let’s look at the areas where we can take edge to change your living experience.

KITCHENS:

Kitchens are the hub of the homes. Apart from huge number of futuristic designs, a good combination of existing and innovative technologies can add more style and class to your kitchens. Instead of usual microwave ovens, more advanced appliances can turn the traditional preparation to bare minimum. Various modern kitchen appliances comes with efficient energy consumption and speedy solutions and that also comes in a good affordable package.

BATHROOMS:

When it comes to bathroom interior decor, many people become blank, perhaps this is because of its smaller size, but in this era, when the splash of modern technology and ideas hit your mind, you get many personal touches for bathrooms, which transform your bath into bliss of peace and tranquility. Ranging from colored wall covering that add depth and texture to your walls to solacing lighting (ambient for mood and task for grooming) is very important. But here the thing doesn’t end, to make it warmer and more comfortable; it must reflect your personality. Don’t just settle for a simple sauna system or electrical appliances, you can opt from whirlpool tubs, steaming showers, mirrors, hang down curtains, luxury towels, delicate soap cases and much more.

LIVING AREAS:

Living Areas include bedrooms, guest rooms, dinning rooms and halls and many modern technologies have evolved to cater such places. Like the most innovative one is Home Theater, that can give you cinematic experience, sitting in your lounge. Modern cooling and heating systems that let you overcome the weather conditions. Similarly better lighting system and other minor but important innovations can make your living experience like heaven.
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