home mortgage. YOUR VA

VA Loans from the VA Mortgage Center 800-405-6682 Contact Why a VA Loan? Pre-Qualify VA Loan THE VA LOAN SPECIALISTS If you are among the 29 million veterans or active duty service personnel who are eligible for a Veteran Loan, the VA Mortgage Center can help provide you with the advice and resources needed to buy or refinance the home of your dreams, while ensuring you get the best rates on your loan. GET STARTED WITH YOUR VA LOAN Your State: Select... Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District Of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Unsure Loan Type: VA Home Purchase VA Refinance The VA Mortgage Center specializes in helping veterans with all of their mortgage lending needs. Loan Limits Increased - To $417,000! As of January 1, 2006, qualified Veterans and Active Duty military can obtain a loan of up to $417,000 or $625,500 in high cost areas- with no money down. Let one of our knowledgeable, courteous VA specialists help you maximize your VA benefits today. Prequalify now OUR PURPOSE The VA Mortgage Center is founded on 2 principles. First, we believe every military service member and veteran should be aware of their VA Benefits for home loans. Furthermore, we feel that any and all interested service members should be guided through the VA home loan process by a knowledgeable VA loan specialist. DO YOU KNOW IF YOU QUALIFY FOR A VA LOAN? Almost every veteran is eligible for Veterans Affair benefits like VA home loans. These loans are generally the best choice for veterans who are planning to make a home purchase or to refinance an existing home mortgage. YOUR VA BENEFITS The Department of Veteran Affairs, which originated in 1930, provides a variety of financial benefits for Veterans and their dependents. VA home loans are one of the prime VA benefits provided for by this Department. VA LOAN SPECIALISTS VA Mortgage Center's knowledgeable Veteran loan professionals are waiting to answer all of your questions and help you with the entire VA loan application process. You may contact one of our specialists using our simple online form or by calling a specialist at 800-405-6682. PRE-QUALIFY Apply online for a VA mortgage loan Whether you plan to Purchase a Home or Refinance an existing home loan for a better interest rate (or to take out cash), contact us to obtain your Certificate of Eligibility and get Pre-Qualified. Helpful VA specialists are standing by. Please call 800-405-6682 . EQUAL OPPORTUNITY LENDER " I was a bit nervous to make such a large purchase, but the VA Mortgage Center was there for me every step of the way. Kris, my loan officer, was extremely patient with me, and kept me informed daily as to the status of my loan. I love my new home! " - Paul St. Pierre E-7 Master Sergeant, McGuire AFB Read More Testimonials about the VA Mortgage Center VA Loan Information VA Loan FAQs VA Loan VA Loan Qualification Home Purchase VA Refinance Cash-Out Refinance Contact Us Privacy Policy The VA Mortgage Center is a private lender specializing in VA loans , we are NOT affiliated with any government agency . We originate loans in most states . In order for us to best serve our customers, the VA Mortgage Center may share customer information with trusted affiliates.

Selling Home

Selling Your Home Home | Contact IRS | About IRS | Site Map | Español | Help Advanced Search Search Tips News Essentials What's Hot News Releases IRS - The Basics IRS Guidance Media Contacts Facts & Figures Problem Alerts Around the Nation e-News Subscriptions The Newsroom Topics Tax Tips 2006 Radio PSAs Fact Sheets Armed Forces Disaster Relief Offshore Compliance Scams / Consumer Alerts Tax Shelters More Topics . . IRS Resources Compliance & Enforcement Contact My Local Office e-file Forms and Publications Frequently Asked Questions News Taxpayer Advocacy Where To File Selling Your Home Tax Tip 2005-55, March 18, 2005 If you sold your main home, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly) from your federal tax return. This exclusion is allowed each time that you sell your main home, but generally no more frequently than once every two years. To be eligible for this exclusion, your home must have been owned by you and used as your main home for a period of at least two out of the five years prior to its sale. You also must not have excluded gain on another home sold during the two years before the current sale. If you and your spouse file a joint return for the year of the sale, you can exclude the gain if either of you qualify for the exclusion. But both of you would have to meet the use test to claim the $500,000 maximum amount. To exclude gain, a taxpayer must both own and use the home as a principal residence for two of the five years before the sale. The two years may consist of 24 full months or 730 days. Short absences, such as for a summer vacation, count as periods of use. Longer breaks, such as a one-year sabbatical, do not. If you do not meet the ownership and use tests, you may be allowed to exclude a reduced maximum amount of the gain realized on the sale of your home if you sold your home due to health, a change in place of employment, or certain unforeseen circumstances. Unforeseen circumstances include, for example, divorce or legal separation, natural or man-made disaster resulting in a casualty to your home, or an involuntary conversion of your home. If you can exclude all the gain from the sale of your home, you do not report any of that gain on your federal tax return. If you cannot exclude all the gain from the sale of your home, use Schedule D, Capital Gains or Losses, of the Form 1040 to report it. For more details and information, download a copy of Publication 523, Selling Your Home, or order it by calling toll free 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). Links: Publication 523, Selling Your Home ( PDF 194K ) Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses ( PDF 136K ) Tax Topic 701 — Sale of Your Home Publication 3, Armed Forces Tax Guide ( PDF 206K ) Highlights: Military Family Tax Relief Act Subscribe to Tax Tips Accessibility | FirstGov.gov | Freedom of Information Act | Important Links | IRS Privacy Policy | U.S. Treasury

home mortgage. YOUR VA

Texas Land Trust Conference

TPWD: News Release: Feb. 2, 2004: TPWD To Host 2004 Texas Land Trust Conference Maincontent Local Navigation Supplemental Information print friendly search Regulations Publications Outdoor Learning Kids Game Warden Grants Get Involved Shop FAQ Calendar Español Experience Texas Fishing & Boating State Parks & Destinations Hunting & Wildlife Land & Water Doing Business Home News & Media Releases TPWD Media Links: Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine Texas Parks & Wildlife Television Program Passport To Texas Radio Program TPWD News Releases Boating Fishing Game Warden Field Notes Hunting Weekly Migratory Bird Hunting Reports State Parks and Destinations News Roundups News Images Radio News Calendar Plain Text: Plain text versions of TPWD news releases are provided for copying and pasting into editing software. To copy text into an editing software: Click a Plain Text link to display the plain text page in your browser. Select all. Copy. Paste in a document in your editing program. If you have any suggestions for improving these pages, send an e-mail to webtech@tpwd.state.tx.us and mention Plain Text Pages. News Releases Note: This item is more than a year old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. Plain Text Media Contact for This Release: Tom Harvey, (512) 389-4453, tom.harvey@tpwd.state.tx.us Feb. 2, 2004 TPWD To Host 2004 Texas Land Trust Conference AUSTIN, Texas – With each passing year, Texans trade in open ranges, grasslands and rivers for strip shopping malls and concrete parking lots. But landowners have other choices for the use of their wide-open spaces, even in a slow economy. The 2004 Statewide Land Trust Conference hopes to offer a few more conservation-friendly options for open lands. Common Ground, Gaining Ground: Tools for Shaping the Texas Landscape on Feb. 27-28 in Austin will offer participants training for land conservation, networking opportunities and meetings with state and federal agencies. Carolyn Vogel, with the Texas Land Trust Council at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, encourages attorneys, appraisers, private landowners, and those involved in land trusts to attend. Vogel said when land is passed down through a family, it often is split up through fences or partitions, which can harm the natural movement of wildlife. Sometimes the inherited property is too small to live off of, and parcels are sold off. Development affects water quality and the ecosystem. “A lot of landowners feel they are backed against a wall,” Vogel said. “The only thing they can do is sell since the land can no longer support them. Texas loses more farmland every year, (about 283 square mile), than any other state in the country.” Landowners, their advisors and the conservation community will come together at the 2004 conference to learn about the range of assistance available to them. This includes technical and financial assistance programs and potential tax incentives. These tax incentives will be discussed as part of an all-day conservation easement workshop on Friday, Feb 27. Another topic will be a recent study by the American Farmland Trust and Texas A&M University called Texas Rural Lands: Trends and Conservation Implications for the 21 st Century. A session and workshop will discuss findings about how and why open land is disappearing and what the future may look like. Continuing education credits in several fields are pending. Early registration by Feb. 6 is $65 for Texas Land Trust Council members and $85 for non-members. After that date, the fee is $100. For more information about the conference, contact Susan Harris at (512) 389-4961 or by e-mail at susan.harris@tpwd.state.tx.us or download a brochure (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/conserve/tltc/bulletinboard/). SA 2004-02-02 Contact Us | Help | Accessibility | Media | Site Policies | Complaints | Intranet | State of Texas | TRAILS Search | TexasOnline | Compact with Texans Texas Parks and Wildlife Department , 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744 Toll Free: (800) 792-1112, Austin: (512) 389-4800 Content of this site © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department unless otherwise noted. Last modified: December 27, 2005, 3:47 pm

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program - HUD Housing About Housing Contact us Keywords Single Family Hospitals Multifamily OAHP Reading room Online forums Work online HUD news Homes Communities Working with HUD Resources Tools Webcasts Mailing lists Contact us Help Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program Information by State Print version Email this to a friend Summary: The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program enables older homeowners to withdraw some of the equity in their home in the form of monthly payments for life or a fixed term, or in a lump sum, or through a line of credit. Purpose: The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program (HECM) can enable an older home owning family to stay in their home while using some of its built up equity. The program allows such a household to get an insured reverse mortgage-a mortgage that converts equity into income. Because older persons can be vulnerable to fraudulent practices, the program requires that persons receive free reverse mortgage housing counseling from a HUD-approved reverse mortgage counseling agency before applying for a reverse mortgage. FHA insures HECM loans to protect lenders against loss if amounts withdrawn exceed equity when the property is sold. Type of Assistance: HECM can be used by homeowners who are 62 years of age and older. The total income that an owner can receive through HECM is the maximum claim amount, which is calculated with a formula including the age of the owner(s), the interest rate, and the value of the home. For example, on the basis of a loan at recent interest rates, a 65-year-old could borrow up to 26 percent of the home's value, a 75-year-old could borrow up to 39 percent, and an 85-year-old could borrow up to 56 percent. Borrowers may choose one of five payment options: (1) tenure, which gives the borrower a monthly payment from the lender for as long as the borrower lives and continues to occupy the home as a principal residence; (2) term, which gives the borrower monthly payments for a fixed period selected by the borrower; (3) line of credit, which allows the borrower to make withdrawals up to a maximum amount, at times and in amounts of the borrower's choosing; (4) modified tenure, which combines the tenure option with a line of credit; and (5) modified term, which combines the term option with a line of credit. The borrower remains the owner of the home and may sell it and move at any time, keeping the sales proceeds that exceed the mortgage balance. A borrower cannot be forced to sell the home to pay off the mortgage, even if the mortgage balance grows to exceed the value of the property. A HECM loan need not be repaid until the borrower moves, sells, or dies. When the loan must be paid, if it exceeds the value of the property, the borrower (or the heirs) will owe no more than the value of the property. FHA insurance will cover any balance due the lender. Two mortgage insurance premiums are collected to pay for HECM: an up front premium (2 percent of the home's value), which can be financed by the lender, and a monthly premium (which equals 0.5 percent per year of the mortgage balance). The lender's loan origination charge can vary, but only up to $1,800 in such charges may be financed by HECM. Borrowers may be charged appraisal and inspection fees set by HUD; these charges can also be financed. As part of the HECM program, HUD has provided for free reverse mortgage counseling (with training for the counselors) for persons considering using such an instrument, and a toll-free information line (1-888-466-3487). Eligible Grantees: Any lender authorized to make HUD-insured loans- such as banks, mortgage companies, and savings and loan associations-can participate in the HECM program. Eligible Customers: To be eligible for HECM, a homeowner must (1) be 62 years of age or older, (2) have a very low outstanding mortgage balance or own their home free and clear, and (3) have received HUD-approved reverse mortgage counseling to learn about the program. An eligible property must be a principal residence, but it can be a single-family residence, a one- to four-unit building with one unit occupied by the borrower, a manufactured home (mobile home), a unit in an FHA-approved condominium, or a unit in a planned unit development. The property must meet FHA standards, but the owner can pay for repairs using the reverse mortgage. Application: Homeowners who meet the eligibility criteria above can apply through an FHA-approved lending institution, which in turn submits the application to the local HUD Field Office for approval. Borrowers can locate FHA-approved lenders through HUD's searchable listing . Because there has been a problem of some senior citizens being charged thousands of dollars for information on HECM that is available free, HUD recently directed HECM lenders to stop doing business with companies that charge such fees. Funding Status: In FY 1996, the HECM program insured 3,604 homes with a value of $369 million. Through September 30, 1996, approximately 16,000 HECM loans had been made. Technical Guidance: TECHNICAL GUIDANCE: This program is authorized by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, Section 417, Public Law 100-242 (12 U.S.C. 1715z-20). Program regulations are in 24 CFR 200 and 206. This program is administered by the Office of Single-Family Housing in HUD's Office of Housing-Federal Housing Administration. For More Information: Homeowners who want to learn more about this program, or who were charged for HUD approved reverse mortgage counseling should call HUD's toll-free housing counseling information line, 1-800 569-4287 or see the searchable list of HUD approved reverse mortgage housing counseling agencies or call 1-888-466-3487. Additional information is available from two nonprofit organizations: the American Association of Retired Persons' (AARP) Home Equity Conversion Information Center (202-434-6044) and the National Center for Home Equity Conversion (NCHEC) at 7373 147th St., Room 115, Apple Valley MN 55124. Content updated April 26, 2002 Back to Top FOIA Privacy Web Policies and Important Links Home U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 7th Street S.W., Washington, DC 20410 Telephone: (202) 708-1112 TTY: (202) 708-1455 Find the address of a HUD office near you