Is Trump's tax plan good for homeowners? Nope, says NAR

Is Trump's tax plan good for homeowners? Nope, says NAR

A few of the targeted tax incentives currently in place that help people achieve the dream of homeownership — besides the mortgage interest deduction — include:

• State and local tax deductions, which “make homeownership more affordable,” according to Brown
• 1031 like-kind exchanges, which “help investors keep inventory on the market and money flowing to local communities”

Preparing Your Home for Sale -- Tips to Get it Sold

5 Tips to Prepare Your Home for Sale

By: G. M. Filisko

Published: February 10, 2010

Working to get your home ship-shape for showings will increase its value and shorten your sales time.

Many buyers today want move-in-ready homes and will quickly eliminate an otherwise great home by focusing on a few visible flaws. Unless your home shines, you may endure showing after showing and open house after open house — and end up with a lower sales price. Before the first prospect walks through your door, consider some smart options for casting your home in its best light.

1.  Have a Home Inspection

Be proactive by arranging for a pre-sale home inspection. For $250 to $400, an inspector will warn you about troubles that could make potential buyers balk. Make repairs before putting your home on the market. In some states, you may have to disclose what the inspection turns up.

2.  Get Replacement Estimates

If your home inspection uncovers necessary repairs you can’t fund, get estimates for the work. The figures will help buyers determine if they can afford the home and the repairs. Also hunt down warranties, guarantees, and user manuals for your furnace, washer and dryer, dishwasher, and any other items you expect to remain with the house.

3.  Make Minor Repairs

Not every repair costs a bundle. Fix as many small problems — sticky doors, torn screens, cracked caulking, dripping faucets — as you can. These may seem trivial, but they’ll give buyers the impression your house isn’t well maintained.

4.  Clear the Clutter

Clear your kitchen counters of just about everything. Clean your closets by packing up little-used items like out-of-season clothes and old toys. Install closet organizers to maximize space. Put at least one-third of your furniture in storage, especially large pieces, such as entertainment centers and big televisions. Pack up family photos, knickknacks, and wall hangings to depersonalize your home. Store the items you’ve packed offsite or in boxes neatly arranged in your garage or basement.

5.  Do a Thorough Cleaning

A clean house makes a strong first impression that your home has been well cared for. If you can afford it, consider hiring a cleaning service.

If not, wash windows and leave them open to air out your rooms. Clean carpeting and drapes to eliminate cooking odors, smoke, and pet smells. Wash light fixtures and baseboards, mop and wax floors, and give your stove and refrigerator a thorough once-over.

Pay attention to details, too. Wash fingerprints from light switch plates, clean inside the cabinets, and polish doorknobs. Don’t forget to clean your garage, too.

Related:

• 7 Tips for Staging Your Home

• How to Keep Things Cleaner Longer

G.M. Filisko is an attorney and award-winning writer who has found happiness in a Chicago brownstone with the best curb appeal on the block. A frequent contributor to many national publications including Bankrate.com, REALTOR® Magazine, and the American Bar Association Journal, she specializes in real estate, business, personal finance, and legal topics.

Pricing Your Home - Understanding Comparables

How to Use Comparable Sales to Price Your Home

By: Carl Vogel

Published: August 5, 2010

Before you put your home up for sale, understand how the right comparable sales help you and your agent find the perfect price.

How much can you sell your home for? Probably about as much as the neighbors got, as long as the neighbors sold their house in recent memory and their home was just like your home.

Knowing how much homes similar to yours, called comparable sales (or in real estate lingo, comps), sold for gives you the best idea of the current estimated value of your home. The trick is finding sales that closely match yours.

What makes a good comparable sale?

Your best comparable sale is the same model as your house in the same subdivision—and it closed escrow last week. If you can’t find that, here are other factors that count:

Location: The closer to your house the better, but don’t just use any comparable sale within a mile radius. A good comparable sale is a house in your neighborhood, your subdivision, on the same type of street as your house, and in your school district.

Home type: Try to find comparable sales that are like your home in style, construction material, square footage, number of bedrooms and baths, basement (having one and whether it’s finished), finishes, and yard size.

Amenities and upgrades: Is the kitchen new? Does the comparable sale house have full A/C? Is there crown molding, a deck, or a pool? Does your community have the same amenities (pool, workout room, walking trails, etc.) and homeowners association fees?

Date of sale: You may want to use a comparable sale from two years ago when the market was high, but that won’t fly. Most buyers use government-guaranteed mortgages, and those lending programs say comparable sales can be no older than 90 days.

Sales sweeteners: Did the comparable-sale sellers give the buyers downpayment assistance, closing costs, or a free television? You have to reduce the value of any comparable sale to account for any deal sweeteners.

Agents can help adjust price based on insider insights

Even if you live in a subdivision, your home will always be different from your neighbors'. Evaluating those differences—like the fact that your home has one more bedroom than the comparables or a basement office—is one of the ways real estate agents add value.

An active agent has been inside a lot of homes in your neighborhood and knows all sorts of details about comparable sales. She has read the comments the selling agent put into the MLS, seen the ugly wallpaper, and heard what other REALTORS®, lenders, closing agents, and appraisers said about the comparable sale.

More ways to pick a home listing price

If you’re still having trouble picking out a listing price for your home, look at the current competition. Ask your real estate agent to be honest about your home and the other homes on the market (and then listen to her without taking the criticism personally).

Next, put your comparable sales into two piles: more expensive and less expensive. What makes your home more valuable than the cheaper comparable sales and less valuable than the pricier comparable sales?

Are foreclosures and short sales comparables?

If one or more of your comparable sales was a foreclosed home or a short sale (a home that sold for less money than the owners owed on the mortgage), ask your real estate agent how to treat those comps.

A foreclosed home is usually in poor condition because owners who can’t pay their mortgage can’t afford to pay for upkeep. Your home is in great shape, so the foreclosure should be priced lower than your home.

Short sales are typically in good condition, although they are still distressed sales. The owners usually have to sell because they’re divorcing, or their employer is moving them to Kansas.

How much short sales are discounted from their market value varies among local markets. The average short-sale home in Omaha in recent years was discounted by 8.5%, according to a University of Nebraska at Omaha study. In suburban Washington, D.C., sellers typically discount short-sale homes by 3% to 5% to get them quickly sold, real estate agents report. In other markets, sellers price short sales the same as other homes in the neighborhood.

So you have to rely on your real estate agent's knowledge of the local market to use a short sale as a comparable sale.

Carl Vogel, a freelance writer and former editor of The Neighborhood Works magazine, lives in a home in Chicago that is not typical of those nearby, so he appreciates a savvy comp.

5 Things That Happen from Contract Ratification to Closing

APRIL 14, 2017

Congratulations! Your home’s under contract. You and the buyers have both agreed to the terms, and you’re excited to officially sell your home.

But there’s still work to do before you reach the settlement table. Here are five of the top time-sensitive items that you or the buyers will need to complete before closing.

1. Home Inspection: Prior to the inspection contingency date, your buyers must schedule (and pay for) the home inspection, review the report and request any necessary repairs to you as the seller.
2. Radon Inspection: The home inspector will typically also handle the radon testing or can coordinate this testing. The buyer is also responsible for scheduling and payment of the radon inspection.
3. Appraisal: The appraisal must be completed by the expiration date of the appraisal contingency. The buyer’s lender will order the appraisal, typically after the home inspection.
4. Financing: The buyers must have a loan commitment letter in place before the financing contingency expires.
5. Termite Inspection: Before closing, you’ll need to schedule a termite inspection and remediate any uncovered issues. As the seller, you’re responsible to schedule and pay for this inspection, which is often paid on the settlement statement at closing.

These are only a few of the items that will take place after your home is under contract. Your real estate agent will work with you on the many other moving parts, ensuring your home is successfully sold.

Painting Your Home Get Ready Tips

Prep Your Home for Painting Day

As we usher in spring, it’s time to take a good look at our homes and evaluate what needs repair, touching up or simply a creative refresh. One of the best places to start is your home’s exterior.

"Early spring is an ideal time to plan ahead and begin some of the prep work that's key to a well-painted exterior," says Debbie Zimmer, spokesperson for the Paint Quality Institute. "Carefully inspect the outside of your home and write down what needs to be done. Your notes will serve as helpful 'marching orders' for the coming painting season."

What to look for? Obviously, any sign of trouble on the siding or trim in the form of paint that's peeling or flaking, but also spots where ugly mold or mildew has taken hold.

Pay special attention to areas where different materials meet and note if the caulk is missing or deteriorated. Gaps in the exterior not only detract from the appearance of a home, but they can also create drafts, letting costly air conditioning and heat escape, possibly leading to water damage as well.

If there's any painted metal on your home's exterior, see if the coating or coatings have been compromised. Is there rust on iron railings or efflorescence (powdery white residue) on aluminum siding, soffit or trim? If so, jot that down.

Note anything else that's amiss with your paint. Nearly any deficiency can detract from the appearance of your home, lessening its protection at the same time. And correcting these problems quickly may help prevent bigger issues in the future. 

According to Zimmer, some projects can be done in almost any weather; others are weather-dependent.

For example, you can remove mildew on any dry day without regard to the temperature. Simply scrub the surface with a bleach solution, allow it to sit for 10 minutes or so, then wash away the offensive growth.

Most caulk can be applied when the temperature hits 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but take into account the overnight lows, which could leave surface materials below the threshold, at least earlier in the day. Just clean adjoining surfaces thoroughly, apply a bead of caulk, and smooth it with a moist finger to produce a tight, protective seal.

Likewise, 50 degrees Fahrenheit is typically the cutoff for exterior painting when using a latex coating (again, take overnight temperature into account). If you're doing touch-ups, scrape away any loose or peeling paint, prime bare wood with quality acrylic latex primer, let it dry thoroughly, then apply one or two coats of 100-percent acrylic latex paint. (By using a "paint and primer" product, you can skip the prime coat.)

Your home is unlikely to suffer serious harm if you leave bare or primed wood exposed to the elements for a short time. But that's not true with many metals, especially iron.

Once you scrape or sand away rust and expose bare metal, it must be primed immediately and painted as soon as possible afterward, or the rust could reappear in just a couple days. Therefore, don't start this project unless the weather is warm enough to finish the job.

Make progress now on your spring painting by inspecting your home's exterior, planning the work, and even tackling some projects right away. That's the way to get a great jump on things!

For more tips to prepare your home for spring painting projects, contact me today.

Source: Paint Quality Institute

Avoid These Financial Faux Pas

Avoid These Financial Faux Pas

Managing your finances can feel like a full-time job. And, even the most fastidious types can unwittingly make a mistake that harms their current and/or future financial well-being. According to Forbes, these are some of the biggest money mistakes people make:

• Not saving for retirement. Even if retirement is a long way off, it takes a long time to save enough money to live comfortably once you leave the workforce. Starting today, make sure to save part of every dollar you earn.
• Not understanding the true cost of student loans. Many students and parents of students see student loans as a standard operating procedure for getting through. Make sure you and your child know exactly what your monthly payments will be—and for how long—before taking out the loan.
• Not having a budget. You may feel that you have a good awareness of your income vs. expenses and, therefore, don’t need a budget. However, you’ll never have a true picture of how much you’re spending until you commit it to paper and track it religiously. Once you’ve taken this step, map out a budget and stick to it.
• Not having savings. Make sure your budget includes putting at least a little money away for unexpected expenses in order to build up an emergency savings. According to Forbes, your emergency savings should be enough to cover six months' worth of income. Therefore, when your income goes up, so should your savings.
• Not taking care of your credit score. You may think you’re doing all the right things credit-wise, but that may not be how credit-scoring firms evaluate your profile. Your balances may be too high, you may have too many credit cards, or you may have been late on a payment or two. All of these things affect your credit score, so be sure to check your credit report three times a year and dispute any mistakes you find. 

Avoiding these mistakes will help put you on the road to financial peace of mind, hopefully leaving you a little money to spare.

Contact me today for more financial tips you can't afford to ignore.

Is Your Dream Home the Right Home for You??

How to Decide If Your Dream Home Is a Good Deal

That's the ultimate question, and there's no one correct answer or even a single way to determine that. By Jessica Thiefels

It's an amazing neighborhood, the price is right—but is the house your dream home? That's the ultimate question, and there's no one correct answer or even a single way to determine that. Ultimately, a mix of listening to your emotions and turning to the facts will help you paint a clear picture of what life would be like in this new house. Below are a few tips for determining if the home you really like is the one that you'll love forever. Listen to Yourself—Literally The way you react when you see and walk through the home is an important indicator of how you feel about the home. Pat Trainor, a REALTOR® in Blue Ridge, Ga., told Forbes that he knows a house is a good fit when people start talking about furniture as they're touring the house. "I believe that most buyers form an impression in the first few seconds after they walk into a house. Is this a happy house? Or does it depress me? Notice how you respond—and trust your reactions," explains Trainor. If you're looking at a number of houses, jot down what you felt as you walked through immediately after you leave. These notes will be helpful as you look back and compare emotions with features, needs met, etc. Ask Yourself: How Much of My Priority List Is Compromised? You have a list of non-negotiable items going into the house-hunting process. From number of rooms to floor plan, how many items can you check off your list? If you find that you're compromising on more than half of the items that matter most to you, it may not be your dream home—even if you love the style or location. Laura Gummerman explains that it's important to make sure you're not confusing must-haves with preferences, as well. She shares her experience with this "mental negotiation" process: "Decide which things are preferences vs. needs on your list...For example, I loved the vaulted ceilings we had at our last house and really wanted to have them in our next space, as well. I kept trying to hold out for tall ceilings, but the house that fit our top priorities was actually a mid-century ranch. No vaulted ceilings anywhere. I had to realize that what was a 'need' was actually more of a 'want' and just switch my visual expectations a bit to get the things that really mattered most." Turn to the Data Buying a home is emotional: stressful, frustrating, exciting, scary, and more, all at once. When deciding if a potential house is your dream home, it's important not to get too wrapped up in the emotion and take time to check out the data. You can't deny the facts, and the following tools will help you get them. How will the home appreciate? Use this home appreciation tool to see how much it will appreciate based on the listing price. Is the home accessible? What's the Walk Score of the home? If you want to be close to stores, retailers, restaurants and parks, look for a Walk Score of 70 or above.  Is the house overpriced? Use this home value estimator tool to get five value estimates from leading sources, like Zillow. Is the house priced appropriately? Is the area loud? Get the Soundscore of your potential dream home—the heat-mapping technology will allow you to see how loud or quiet the area is. Learn More About the Community Whether you're a single homeowner or a family of four, the community surrounding your home will be a big part of your life. As such, you need to know as much about it as possible. Start to learn by doing research. Look up everything that's most important to you, including: Crime rates School quality and availability Public transportation (School buses, too—do they come to the neighborhood to pick up the kids?) Commute to work (Is there a lot of traffic in the morning or at night?)  Finding your dream home isn't easy, but when you tune into your emotions, check out facts and stay true to your list of needs, the process is easier. Use these tips to make the best decision and find the home you'll love forever.