Craving a warm bowl of comfort on a cold rainy day in the Bay? We’ve got you covered. Yelp just released its list of the top 100 ramen spots in California, and Ramen Hajime in Santa Clara landed at No. 5! Check them out for house-made noodles and 24-hour broth. Yum!
If you’re young or living on a tight budget, renting a home makes a lot of sense. But there’s no substitute for the power of homeownership to build wealth and financial security. So how do you get the most out of your investment?
The benefits of ownership vastly outweigh the upsides of renting, especially over the long term. According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index, home prices in the San Francisco Metro Area rose a whopping 375% from 1990 to 2021, and every mortgage payment builds your equity and allows you to leverage more of that value. Speaking of payments, instead of basically throwing money away on rents that increase with inflation, a fixed rate mortgage locks in your monthly budget for the duration of the loan. You can also deduct interest payments on your tax return and take advantage of other tax incentives. And if you don’t need the home, you can always rent it out and get an even greater return!
No matter if you’re buying to occupy or rent, the home you purchase should fit your life goals — and your monthly budget. Buying your dream home might not make sense if you’re starting a family or embarking on a new career. Quick turnarounds can also get you into trouble responding to market fluctuations instead of betting on trends. And it’s incredibly tempting to borrow against your growing equity to pay for non-essentials like a new car when you should be accruing wealth and setting yourself up for the future. A better option would be to consider refinancing as mortgage rates decline. You could also think about maintaining a “rainy day” reserve fund for those unexpected curve balls life likes to throw.
Buying a home is a deeply personal decision and possibly the most significant financial transaction you will ever make. We’re here to help, but in the end, it’s your future — and your choice!
Looking for a new brunch spot with great atmosphere and a fusion take on comfort favorites? Cafe Terrace in Mountain View serves up matcha croffles and pesto chicken salad sandwiches every day from 10-3 — and they’re open ‘til 4 on Sundays!
With pandemic provisions running out, most of us are coping with filing our taxes by April 15 again. Already filed? Congratulations! Here are some tips for the procrastinators in the rest of us.
Even though I prefer to use a tax professional instead of relying on an app, there’s still a lot of paperwork to pull together, and it’s easy for things to get lost. For me, it’s as simple as collecting all of our tax documents as they arrive in a special basket next to the rest of the mail. This way, when April 14th rolls around, I know where to find everything.
Paperwork is so old school. The best part about modern technology is you can procrastinate until the last minute and just send your accountant a zip file. Just don’t sleep on your property tax bill! Second installments in Santa Clara County become delinquent — and subject to hefty fines — after April 10th. Good thing they let you pay online. Learn more here.
Don’t forget to wind all your clocks ahead one hour at 2am Sunday morning. Of course, most of our watches and devices update automatically. But it always freaks us out when the coffee maker goes on early!
