Jul 2, 2026 · 30 min · 11 segments
Happy Fouth of July! To celebrate, *Real Estate this Week* presents our "Independence Day Doubleheader!" A show with twice the information - about all the ways America supports homeownership! We'll…
Chris BirkGuest
Candice SkinnerGuestAnd now it's time for Beyond the Basics, in which we bring your real estate knowledge to the next level.
And today, as we celebrate the 4th of July, you just heard us talk about the VA loan.
But now let's also talk about some of the other ways the United States supports home ownership.
Because after all, money experts will tell you owning a home of your own is the pathway to financial independence.
One thing you might not think of, but it's really important, is the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, a mortgage that's split into 360 payments, payments that will never go up, meaning it's affordable, and you can depend on that same payment for 30 years.
Now, sure, your property taxes might go up, and your homeowner's insurance might go up, but not that mortgage.
Other countries have fixed rate mortgages, but nothing quite like the 30-year conventional fixed rate mortgage that 90% of Americans use to pay for their homes.
If you make a great big profit when you sell your house, first of all, [laughs] congratulations.
But the capital gains exclusion says your profit is tax-free if, as a married couple, that profit is $500,000 or less, and if you're single, $250,000 or less.
You must have lived in the house two years out of the last five, and it has to be your primary residence, not an investment property.
Down payment assistance, programs designed to help home buyers get into a house of their very own.
In others, if you live there five or 10 years, it's automatically forgiven, and still others don't require any repayment at all.
Those programs have helped people from coast to coast get into a home of their own without having to save for another five or 10 years.
And now it's time for Beyond the Basics, in which we bring your real estate knowledge to the next level.
And today, as we celebrate the 4th of July, you just heard us talk about the VA loan.
But now let's also talk about some of the other ways the United States supports home ownership.
Because after all, money experts will tell you owning a home of your own is the pathway to financial independence.
One thing you might not think of, but it's really important, is the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, a mortgage that's split into 360 payments, payments that will never go up, meaning it's affordable, and you can depend on that same payment for 30 years.
Now, sure, your property taxes might go up, and your homeowner's insurance might go up, but not that mortgage.
Other countries have fixed rate mortgages, but nothing quite like the 30-year conventional fixed rate mortgage that 90% of Americans use to pay for their homes.
If you make a great big profit when you sell your house, first of all, [laughs] congratulations.
But the capital gains exclusion says your profit is tax-free if, as a married couple, that profit is $500,000 or less, and if you're single, $250,000 or less.
You must have lived in the house two years out of the last five, and it has to be your primary residence, not an investment property.
Down payment assistance, programs designed to help home buyers get into a house of their very own.
In others, if you live there five or 10 years, it's automatically forgiven, and still others don't require any repayment at all.
Those programs have helped people from coast to coast get into a home of their own without having to save for another five or 10 years.
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