It’s officially summertime. For Maui, that means running the AC more than normal. For those of you with kids home from school, it may mean more electricity used during the day too.
It is time to put some energy-saving tips into practice at your home. Check out the advice from the U.S. Department of Energy.
In the end, you’ll help save our planet and your wallet.
Now, that’s cool!
There’s no place like “home sweet home”. But have you ever wondered where that phrase came from or how it impacted our history?
The phrase “home sweet home,” which implies that your home is where you’d prefer to be over all other places, dates back to a song written in 1823 for a play.
Adapted from American actor and dramatist John Howard Payne’s 1823 opera Clari, or the Maid of Milan, the song’s melody was composed by Englishman Henry Bishop with lyrics by Payne. The words are as follows:
Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home;
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there,
Which seek thro’ the world, is ne’er met elsewhere.
Home! Home!
Sweet, sweet home!
There’s no place like home
There’s no place like home!
Listen to it here: http://www.victorianweb.org/mt/parlorsongs/2.html
Sir Henry Bishop was the first English composer to be given a knighthood, and it was said that it was awarded because Queen Victoria loved the song so much.
But the song itself is perhaps most memorable in history for its unification of troops during the Civil War.
Shortly after the Battle of Fredericksburg (Dec. 13, 1862), about 100,000 Federal soldiers and 70,000 Confederates were camped on opposite sides of Virginia’s Rappahannock River. One of the bloodiest battles had just ended with more than 17,000 combined wounded or killed. At twilight, it was customary for regimental bands to begin evening concerts to soothe the troops while they rested or wrote to loved ones back home. On one particular night, a Federal band slowly played the melodic tune. Then, the Union band joined in. And more bands from both sides joined in too. No other sounds could be heard except for the “Home, Sweet Home” melody.
After the concert ended, it was reported that everyone went wild – on both sides of the river – shouting and jumping for joy. According to Frank Mixson, a private in the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, had there not been a river between them, the two armies may have met face to face, shaken hands and ended the war right there and then.
Today, the phrase has become a reliable part of the lexicon and is popular for adorning welcome mats outside of homes. Throughout history though, the idea of “home, sweet home” has always rung true.
After all, there really is no place quite like home.
Do you agree? Are you ready for your very own sweet home? Call me so we can talk – [phone]!
Sources: WiseGeek.com and World History Group
Real estate and home ownership is a huge part of our country’s economy. That’s why Uncle Sam has incentives to encourage Americans to purchase homes. He wants owning a home to be a help for you, not a burden.
Here are some tax incentives for home owners that you might not know about:
As defined by the IRS, a first-time homebuyer is “any taxpayer who has not owned another principal residence at any time during the three years prior to the date of purchasing the home.” The original version of this federal tax credit terminated in 2010 for civilian homebuyers and in 2011 for homebuyers who were members of the military. However, there are other forms of the first-time homebuyer tax credit that still exist, such as the Mortgage Credit Certificate, otherwise known as the MCC.
The MCC allows homeowners to claim a tax credit on some of their mortgage interest paid. This amount is then used to reduce the amount of federal taxes the homeowner would pay to the IRS. The standard rate for the MCC is 20% of the mortgage interest paid annually.
The interest paid on a mortgage can be added as an itemized deduction on a standard Form 1040, Schedule A. Assuming the itemized deduction is greater than the standard deduction, this can lead to substantial savings for homeowners, particularly in the earlier years of homeownership when the mortgage balance (and the mortgage interest along with it) is at its highest.
The IRS allows for the deduction of any extra charges paid by the homebuyer as a part of the closings costs for obtaining a mortgage. Origination points are not deductible because they are not extraneous charges; they are a part of the mortgage fees. By contrast, discount points are extra, and are tax deductible.
After the homebuyer obtains a mortgage, at the end of the year they will receive a Form 1098 Mortgage Interest Statement. The points paid to purchase the home will appear on the form in Box 2. The discount points can be deducted under “Schedule A” of a 1040 tax form. As with the Mortgage Interest Deduction, points can only be deducted if the homebuyer itemizes the deductions.
The Home Energy Credit allows homeowners to recoup up to 30% of the costs of (with a cap of around $1,500) for installing energy efficient windows, doors, furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, hot water heaters, and more.
This is one of the lesser discussed tax deductions simply because it does not save homeowners as much money as some of the other deductions. But mortgage interest credit is an allowable deduction that should not be overlooked.
The simple description of the Mortgage Interest Credit is that it’s a credit designed to prorate your mortgage for the first month if it applies in that scenario. It allows new homeowners to get credited for interest whenever a mortgage closes and funds within the first five days of a given month.
For any individual who is buying, building, or rebuilding their first home, you have the opportunity to distribute $10,000 from your IRA if the money will be used towards expenses related to the home, including closing costs.
And finally, there are home improvement, home business deductions, as well as medical home improvement deductions available to homeowners who meet eligibility requirements.
As you prepare for this tax season or are considering buying a home, remember that there are many tax benefits that come with being a homeowner. While it might take a bit of research to uncover all of them, a good tax accountant can help you take advantage of all the deductions you may qualify for.
Source: IRS.gov
Skyline Financial Corp. and its loan officers are not tax advisors. Always consult a tax professional for details.
