Having drastically higher average credit score than that of your spouse sometimes presents a problem. Especially if your incomes are quite different, and you and the spouse are applying for a mortgage together to use both incomes in order to qualify. Both will be on the mortgage application. Normally, the spouse with the higher income is a primary borrower, whereas the spouse with the lower income is a co-borrower.

In ideal scenario, primary borrower has higher income and higher or close to that of the co-borrower average FICO credit score. But that is not often the case, so what happens when the co-borrower spouse has higher credit score?

If the average FICO score of the higher earner is only lower by 20 to 25 points than that of the spouse, he or she can remain primary.

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Credit Score, Higher

Q: Do I have to pay tax after a short sale? I am selling my house short and the neighbor told me that the IRS requires lenders issue form 1099C for all debt that was forgiven. In my case, it is almost $70,000 and paying taxes on that much will be impossible.

A: Is this short sale on your primary residence? If yes, you should be fine, because The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 does not consider forgiven debt on your principal residence as a taxable income for either short sale or foreclosure. It also applies for debt reduced through mortgage restructuring. This provision is valid for up to $2 million in debt for a married couple, forgiven from 2007 through 2012.

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Short Sale, Tax

A mortgage prequalification is the very first step of home loan application process. Typical prequalification is issued by a loan officer and more than often based on ball park numbers which you provide, including salary and recurring expenses to estimate approximate maximum loan amount you may eventually be approved for. Your credit report is normally not pulled at this stage and no cost or obligation on behalf of either party is involved. So while a mortgage prequalification helps determine the dollar value of a potential loan, it is not by any stretch, a commitment to lend you money. A loan officer can’t make an approval in any shape or form, but give you a prequalification letter which you can use when making an offer on a property.

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As I mentioned in December 2010 in Economy is improving? I don’t think so, any economy two-thirds of which based on consumer spending has problems and big ones. And the US consumers will buy much less now as Chinese-made goods will get more expensive and gas prices are about to reach $5 per gallon. Both charts clearly show the Chinese yuan rising drastically in value against the US dollar in the last two to three weeks. The price of everything made in China will be going higher. And Walmart which caters to a huge number of US consumers and sells more of Chinese made goods than other retailers, seeing the problem.

CEO of Walmart, Mike Duke noticed something rather unsettling – Walmart shoppers, most of whom live quite literally paycheck to paycheck and shop in bulk at the beginning of the month when the paychecks come in, frequent the stores less and buying less.

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Economy

Investing in an IRA is quite easy. Your IRA investment offers tax advantages on retirement savings so you can potentially accumulate more money. But before you start thinking about how to invest, understand the following risks and limitations,
1. an IRA as any investment can decrease in value
2. withdrawing from a Traditional IRA before age 59½, will most likely force you to pay ordinary income tax plus a 10% federal penalty tax on withdrawal amounts unless an exception applies
3. while any amount converted from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA is not subject to the 10% federal penalty, you will have to pay ordinary income tax – converted taxable amount is added to your income taxes and your regular income rate is applied to your total income
4.

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Ira

You have to watch out for counterfeit silver bars. A 100 ounce silver bar today sells for around $4,200 USD. Certainly, a very attractive chunk of silver that simply inspires bad folks to fake itself. Unlike American Silver Dollar, Canadian Maple Leaf or any other silver bullion with elaborate design, the 100 ounce bars are much easier to counterfeit and the profit is quite high. I stopped by one of the coin shops today, there were a few customers and one seller, who came with three 100 oz Johnson Matthey bars. The owner first weighed them, then took a hammer and start pounding lightly on each bar after enclosing it into a clear plastic bag. I guess the passed the test and weren’t fake, as he paid to the seller and put the bars away.

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Bars, Counterfeit Silver, Counterfeit Silver Bars, Silver Bars