12 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE^ 09/
AHEADthan 15,000 savings bonds
are returned to the Trea-
sury department each year
because they’re undeliver-
able. You can search for in-
formation on series EE and
series E bonds at Treasury
Hunt.gov (unfortunately,
the database doesn’t include
records of bonds issued be-
fore 1974).
The IRS also has about
$1 billion in unclaimed re-
funds for people who failed
to file a tax return. This
year, the average unclaimed
refund was $763.
You have three years
after the return should have
been filed to claim your re-
fund; after that, it belongs
to Uncle Sam. If you failed
to file your 2014 federal tax
return, for example, you
have until April 17, 2018,
to file and claim your re-
fund. Once you file your
tax return, you can track
the status of your refund by
using the “Where’s My Re-
fund?” tool at http://www.irs.gov.
Although finding money
you didn’t know you had
is a lot of fun, remember
that those dollars could
have been working for you
instead of gathering dust
in state or federal coffers.
To keep track of your hard-
earned cash, keep good
records of bank and broker-
age accounts, and prepare
a checklist of all accounts
at institutions you need
to notify when you change
your address. Don’t forget
to notify your financial
institutions, as well as your
employer, if you change
your name because of a
marriage or divorce. And
it never hurts to check your
pockets before doing the
laundry. RYAN DONNELL
INTERVIEWHOME BUYERS FACE
TOUGH COMPETITION
To win in a hot market, take advantage of
tech to find homes as soon as they are listed.Nela Richardson is chief econ-
omist for Redfin, a national
real estate brokerage.How would you describe the
housing market? Hot and
record-breaking. This past
spring, strong demand and
a shortage of inventory re-
sulted in the lowest supply
and the fastest pace of sales
that we’ve seen, and the
trend will continue this fall.
Basically, starter homes
have disappeared. Price
growth was astounding
everywhere—not only on
the coasts, but in places
like Omaha, Grand Rap-
ids, Mich., and Buffalo,
N.Y. In most markets,
buyers must be intrepid,
and they need to under-
stand that sellers are
under a lot of pressure,
too. Sellers want to feel
confident that the deal
will close so they can
buy their next home.How can buyers find
a home? Arm
yourself with
tech tools to
find available
homes quickly.
With the vari-
ety of apps
available today,
you can receive
listing alerts so
that you’re no-
tified as soonas a home in your price
range or search area hits
the market. The Redfin app,
for instance, lets you search
by school boundaries, find
open houses or schedule
a tour for the same day.How can buyers win the day
without offering more money?
Buyers will gain an advan-tage from whatever conces-
sions they can offer. Instead
of a small earnest-money
deposit, we’ve seen buyers
put into escrow their entire
down payment or even half
of the purchase price.
You needn’t waive a con-
tingency for inspection
in the purchase contract.
Rather, you can agree to
pay the seller, say, $2,500,
or next month’s mortgage
payment, if you walk away.
Work with a local or rep-
utable lender to get a pre-
approval for your mortgage
that includes full documen-
tation of your means to
obtain a certain amount
of financing in advance of
a signed purchase contract.
That may give you the con-
fidence to waive a contin-
gency for financing, and
it’s almost as good as cash
for closing a deal quickly.
Because sellers can sell
their homes in days but may
take months to buy, you can
gain leverage by offering to
“rent back” their home to
them for a certain number
of months.Is fall a good time to
buy? Yes. Home prices
generally peak in the
summer and ease up
in the fall. There’s a
bit less inventory, but
many fewer buyers.
Plus, sellers who list
in the fall are serious
because they must leave
because of job relocation,
divorce or something else
that made them miss the
top of the season. So the
next time I buy, my
kids will have to move
during the school
year. PATRICIA MERTZ
ESSWEIN