The Home Page — September 2026 | The file on your house nobody reads
Labor Day weekend is the last honest weekend of the year, the one where you can still pretend the gutters are a September problem. This month is mostly about paperwork, which is unglamorous and also where the money is.
[Editorial]
The heat pump tax credit is gone, and some contractors are still quoting like it isn't
What it is: Section 25C and Section 25D both expired on December 31, 2025, repealed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Anything you install in 2026 gets nothing back from the IRS. Fall is HVAC replacement season, and a lot of sales material has not caught up.
The number: On a $16,000 ducted heat pump, the old credit was worth $2,000. On a $28,000 solar array, 25D was worth about $8,400. What survived is the state rebate side: HEAR pays up to $8,000 toward a heat pump for households under 150 percent of area median income, and HOMES pays $4,000 to $10,000 for whole home efficiency work with no income cap in most states.
The move: Ask any contractor to name the specific incentive program on your quote. If the answer is "the federal tax credit," be skeptical of the rest of the number. Then check your state energy office and your utility yourself, before you schedule the install, because most rebates require pre approval and will not pay retroactively.
[Save money]
Your payment went up, your rate didn't change, and the letter explained nothing
The problem: Once a year your servicer runs an escrow analysis, compares what it actually paid out in taxes and insurance against what it collected, and adjusts. When the two bills underneath rise faster than the projection, you get a shortage plus a higher going forward deposit, stacked into one number that arrives with no plain English attached.
The number: The average 2026 escrow shortfall is about $2,157, which spread over twelve months is roughly $180 a month. Escrow costs rose about 30 percent nationally in 2025 and now make up 30 percent or more of a typical mortgage payment in 35 states. Of borrowers who saw an increase, 62 percent pointed to property taxes and 48 percent to homeowners insurance.
The move: Request the full escrow analysis statement, not the summary, and check the disbursements against your actual tax bill and declaration page. If the analysis shows a surplus of $50 or more and you are current, your servicer owes you that money within 30 days. Confirm the cushion is no more than two months, which is the RESPA cap. Then go after the inputs, because the account is only a mirror.
[Most people don't know this]
There is a seven year claims file on your house, and it includes the last owner's water damage
What it is: It is called a CLUE report, maintained by LexisNexis, and it tracks every claim filed on your address for the past seven years regardless of who filed it. Most major carriers feed it and most read it when underwriting. It often captures inquiries too, so a prior owner asking whether something would be covered can sit in the file as a loss.
The number: A survey commissioned by insuranceQuotes found 86 percent of Americans do not know insurers price new policies partly on a previous owner's claims. A first claim raises a premium 18 to 28 percent on average, and water damage sits at the steep end. On a $3,000 premium that is $540 to $840 a year, with most of the damage concentrated in the first three years.
The move: Pull the report. You get one free every twelve months under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, at 866 312 8076 or consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/request. Read it for wrong amounts, duplicate entries, and inquiries logged as losses, all of which are disputable with a 30 day investigation window. Only the current owner can request it, which is why you do this now and not during renewal week.
And one more thing
A Colorado listing went around online recently in which buyers were told they may not tour the house, may not enter the house, and will be taking their chances with whoever is currently living in it. Which is a more honest disclosure than most listings manage, and a reminder that the least expensive way to learn what a house has been through is to read its paperwork before you own it.
— Anil
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What Rafter members also received this month
Illustrative example, not a real member.
🏠 3BR/2BA in Winnetka, IL | Owner since 2019 | Cincinnati Insurance policyholder
🚩 September home care flag: schedule the furnace inspection now, before the first cold snap books out every tech in the county
📡 Leak sensor: active — 168 readings this month, 0 alerts
💸 Available discount: Cincinnati smart home discount — $265/year, not yet claimed