August 19th, 2008
As part of its major housing legislation (H.R. 3221), Congress has created a tax credit to provide an incentive for first-time homebuyers. The $7500 credit will be available for the purchase of a principal residence on or after April 8, 2008 and before July 1, 2009. Any single-family residence (including condos, co-ops) that will be used as a principal residence is eligible. There is an income limit, with the full amount of credit available for individuals with adjusted gross income of no more than $75,000 and $150,000 on a joint return. A first-time homebuyer is defined as a buyer who has not owned a home during the past three years. The tax credit is refundable. A refundable credit means that if you pay less than $7,500 in federal income taxes, then the government will write you a check for the difference. For example, if you owe $5,000 in federal income taxes, you would pay nothing to the IRS and receive a $2,500 payment from the government. If you are due to receive a $1,000 tax refund from the government, your refund would increase to $8,500 ($1,000 plus $7,500 from the homebuyer tax credit). The tax credit essentially serves as an interest-free loan to be repaid over 15 years.
I wish I had some funny words of wisdome to tell you about this, but I need to do my resarch as well so I can be the subject mater expert.
For more details on the tax credit, click on the links below. I have also attached a pdf document with helpful information as well.
Federal Housing Tax Credit
Homebuyer Tax Credit
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
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August 12th, 2008
I have a military family who got orders to Korea and they need to sell their home. I am trying to help them as much as I can so I was looking at some websites that might be of help. Their HVAC is on the fritz and they need help repairing it. Money is the issue, isn’t it always. Anyway I found all of these websites that helps deployed soldiers and their families back home.
Take a look there may be something for you.
It’s at a website called, America Supports You.
Good Luck out there.
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August 8th, 2008
I was researching building and growth and how it affects the community and came upon some pretty interesting websites. One website that really struck me was Smart Growth, a website that promotes new ways to grow that boosts the economy, protects the environment and enhances community vitality. Their principles include:
- Mix land uses
- Taking advantage of compact building design
- Creating walkable neighborhoods
- Fostering distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place
- Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas
They also promote green building and energy efficient building. These two methods of building not only save you money through tax credits but they lower your power bill which saves money in the long term.
It is all very interesting and enlightening, but here in our fare community there has been almost no emphasise on doing anything that does not conform to the old way of doing things. If it makes them money why change? I think our community is due for a change, but where is it going to come from? Old school builders and Realtors are not going to change, you can’t make a dog learn new tricks. It’s up to……..
Well, who?
These are some good websites to look through too.
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August 7th, 2008
I had lunch with one of my new agents today. He has been in sales all his life but is now just starting the Real Estate business. It is not an easy trade to get into. Oh sure you used to hear about all the money brokers made especially back before the mortgage crisis. But it isn’t true, well not for the majority of agents anyway. The average broker in this area makes about $40,000 a year and is lucky if they sell ten homes in that year.
Brokers are like professional athletes. The average real estate agent is a 52 year old woman, so you see where I compare them to people with cat like reflexes and rippling muscles. This woman started off in school learning her trade, then she had coaches in the minors helping her to perfect her craft, she also studies on her own time to perfect her abilities and finally she was able to combine her skill and abilities with a good bit of luck and Bam!! Professional Real Estate Athlete. And like athletes sometimes you have the skill and ability and passion but the breaks don’t come your way. You are as good as any of those Pros but you are still waiting in the minors for your luck to come.
So how does this apply to my new agent? He is going out and making his luck. That is how business is done, not just Real Estate, but all business. Once he has that luck combined with his skills he will be a professional Real Estate Athlete. He will be hob nobbing with all the big boys in the market place. So catch a rising start he will be on top of the world soon!
Oh, he goes to the gym three times a week as well, so pretty soon he will thrill you with his Real Estate reflexes and rippling muscles.
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August 4th, 2008
About Home Warranties for Home Owners
A home warranty policy protects you from paying for repairs or replacements caused by the unexpected failure of a major system or appliance. You’ll pay a small price for this warranty at closing. And get a policy that protects you for a full year, but not all policies are created equally. A home warranty should provide the following:
- Financial protection so you won’t have to pay for any unexpected major repairs.
- Your home warranty service company should be available to you 24/7 to schedule a repair in a reasonable amount of time. They should also provide you with immediate service should you have trouble with a major system of the house (such as no heat in the middle of the winter).
Before getting a Home Warranty recognize that these companies that sell Home Warranties are in business to make money, like any other business and when money is involved bad stuff can happen. Do the research to find the right company and get the right policy. One thing I always tell my Clients is that insurance companies are in the business of making money. They don’t do that by paying claims. And if one has ever worked in insurance, one knows that the first line of defense is to deny a claim, regardless of whether or not the claim has merit. One needs to review the warranty carefully, as the insurance company accepted the warranted items condition when the insurance company accepted the premium payment. Had the insurance company done an independent inspection, the insurance company would have then had the opportunity to deny coverage, return the premium, and not issue the policy. The insurance company did not do that, therefore, the insurance company accepted the condition as warrantable and issued the coverage.The reason why insurance companies deny claims is twofold: (1) they hope the homeowner will give in and accept their rejection of the claim; and (2) they think that your cost to get an attorney to fight them will be more than the cost to just go ahead and pay for the replacement yourself.Once you have your Policy and your claim is rejected what can you do? I recommend that you contact the NC Real Estate Commission and the NC Department of Insurance. This could save you some pain. You may be wondering who I recommend for a Home Warranty Policy, well I am in a transitional phase right now doing my own research to find the best company with a proven record provided by reviews and Customer Satisfaction. If you have any comments good or bad let me know and I will keep you posted when I do find the best Home Warranty Company.
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July 15th, 2008
This past weekend I was at two listing appointments. Both families received orders taking them to another base. And both homes will be listed next month and they will sell in a reletivley short period of time. The average days on market may be about six months but these two homes are in strong neighborhoods and they are inexpensive. The medium price of a home in the Fayetteville area is about $145,000 and both homes are at that or below. It occurred to me, I work with a lot of families looking for new homes and they all believe that Fayetteville is a buyers market. To be sure there are ways to get the house you want at the price you want. But we are a pretty strong market, our Foreclosure rate was only one percent last quarter. We have Soldiers and their families moving in and out of the area all the time. We have the VA loan programs that help families buy a home. But, we’re not Charlotte, our prices are not still going up while the rest of the countries prices drop. Our home prices have remained pretty stable in some areas dropping a bit. But we have an advantage that a lot of markets don’t. We are in a place where typically the seller will pay some of the closing costs for the buyer and make concessions, unheard of in many places, but it happens here in the good times and the bad. It is a good time to buy because there are plenty of homes to choose from, our inventory is up. This and the belief that it is a buyers market do help in getting the best house your money can buy.
It also helps to have a professional, loyal and knowledgeable Realtor to help you buy or sell a home. Hello right here!!
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July 9th, 2008
I took my son recently to visit my parents in Pineville MO. I found that the tiny little town of Pineville has some limitations compared to our own metropolis. From one, we arrived at night and it was pitch black on the road, we would have missed the house if I had not been to their guest cabin before. Pineville is unhampered by our high society street lights. Two, I didn’t have any cell phone coverage at the cabin, I had to drive two miles, at least, to make or receive calls. Of course this can be a good thing, not to be bothered by the techno leash. However since my livelihood is one based on accessibility it was not a great thing to be out of touch. Three, I didn’t have internet at the cabin. Sadly I had to walk about two hundred meters to get internet at my folks cabin. But, at least I had it, there is nothing like walking in the rain with your laptop to go and delete spam. And finally, there was no Starbucks coffee, I drank tea ( not a replacement at all). But I did find where there was a Starbucks, in Rogers AK, just a short thirty five minute drive away. At least gas was just under $4.00 a gallon while I was there, we only went twice. The great thing was that there were three Starbucks within walking distance.
So what does this have to do with real estate you ask. Well, as you may know you are going to spend a pretty penny to buy land here, especially waterfront. But there on the Big Sugar it is very reasonable and it’s peaceful, lots of birds and animals, you can canoe down the river and fish. So you don’t have cell coverage or internet, it is a very nice place to relax.
Oh did I mention the flooding!!
The river is about one hundred meters away and downhill!
At least they have canoes.
 
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June 15th, 2008
There are good foreclosures out there! But the two biggest factors in finding them is luck and skill. OK, well that sums it up right there. My next blog post will be about removing the smell of animals from the inside of your house.
Oh wait, let me tell you this story.
I have some clients who I have been working with for about a year and a quarter. Their requirements are very exacting in what they are looking for in a home. It would be less than $300,000, it must have at least four bedrooms and three baths. It must be big enough that the parents can find some solitude from hormone crazed teenage girls and it must be able to accommodate three horses. So it must have at a minimum of three acres but more would be better. You can pretty much guess that it would take a while to find such a house. We have found homes that were close, but no cigar. We have looked in the Fayetteville area MLS, the Pine Hurst/Southern Pines MLS and the Triangle MLS for homes. We have looked in Military by Owner, Realtor.com and for sale by owner, and other websites, newspapers magazines, etc. but we have always come up a little short. That is where that skill part comes in, finding the best places to look, keeping the search going and filtering out the bad from the good. Now the luck part, the day before yesterday I did my search and low and behold, there it was. I Found The HOUSE!!! Yea!!! It is over three thousand sq ft, it has four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms and ten acres. And best of all it is only about ten miles from their current home. This will keep the gas prices down. I emailed the house to my clients, we set up an appointment, and we went and had a look on Sat. I called the listing agent to gather any other info I could about the house. He told me that the inside had some issues, it needed new flooring and paint and so on. And he said the last owners had had animals and the animals had made a mess of the place. If that was the worst of it then we were golden.
I got to the house early and walked around to check it out. It was in great shape and only needed a pressure washing. I then opened the front door, that is when I learned something about atmospheric pressure. On the outside I could smell the flowers and fresh cut grass as I entered the doorway into the hot stagnate house my hand rose to my mouth and my stomach began to heave, it was a totally different environment. I walked outside, flowers, I walked inside, the unbearable stench of animal urine and feces that have been cooking in a hot and enclosed house. I guess I didn’t believe the listing agent about the animals!
There is always something about a foreclosed home. And this time it was only the small thing, the stench. Again if that is the only problem that can be fixed. It is a great house and will make a great home once they get the animal smell out.
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June 10th, 2008
The other day I went over to talk to my neighbor, he was not home but his handyman was there cleaning up around the house. As I was walking home the handyman was over talking to another of my neighbors, we’ll call him Walrus. So Walrus and Handyman were talking and I strolled over and listened to them talk, it is always interesting to hear what some of the older generation are talking about, (they both had to be a good ten years older then me). The two men have known each other since they were kids. The talk centered on the old days, what else. I knew there was a lot of old money in Fayetteville, these two didn’t have it by the way otherwise I would have hit them up for a loan, but I have never seen it myself and I am not old Fayetteville so I never will. But it seems that Handyman grew up in a well to-do family that was big in Real Estate and had a lot of land and holdings. Walrus keep his eye in the proverbial prize and joined the military and then became a successful businessman. Handyman fell into the trap of fast living, he still has his house and some land but not so many teeth. Part of that fast living was he liked to pick fights, unfortunately for him he didn’t know how to fight, being drunk doesn’t help apparently.
The two of them began to talk about a very prominent man in town, we’ll call him Crackman, who was also into the fast life. He decided he liked crack, hookers and living on the edge. It would seem though if you are old Fayetteville you know the best and most influential attorneys, of course. And no I can’t give you his name to get you out of that scrap you’re in. So Crackman contacted said attorney and has yet to spend a day on jail or have his name mentioned in the newspaper or TV. I don’t think I can categorize rehab as real incarceration.
It is interesting what you learn as you go through life. There are quite a few stories like that around town, but no one every hears about them. And that my friend is my goal, to be the new old money in Fayetteville. The problem is that my wife would really frown on this whole crack hooker thing.
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June 10th, 2008
On June fourth I was reading the business section of the Fayetteville Observer and found a very interesting article. The article was about Shani Gates’ business “Curbing Creations”, a business that deals in decorative curbing and a lot more. Well, not only does she do great work, but she is a smart lady with very good business sense. In just a four year span Curbing creations has taken off with work coming from all corners. Shani and her crew travel all over creating their art, last week she was in Pinehurst, designing, fabricating and installing her creations. If you would like to see some of her work go by her office at 6835 Raeford, look at her advertisement in this months Cityview magazine or go to her website at Curbing Creations.
You may be wondering why I am plugging concrete, I am always looking for companies that are helping homeowners in many different ways. Shani helps homeowners by beautifying their homes and adding value to the home as well. If you see her work at her office or website and like what you see let her know.
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