Paul & Jerri Stracener

Here's a recent e-mail we received from Athens attorney, Chris Nichols.

Good news on the real estate front! State Senator, Bill Cowsert, was successful recently in pushing through a bill that will provide for a $3600 tax credit for anyone purchasing a home or condo for use as their primary residence over the next 6 months. It is House bill 261. The credit is good up to the amount of the buyer's tax liability not to exceed $3600 and is capped at $1200 per year, i.e. if they qualify for the full $3600 tax credit they would have to spread the credit out over three years taking a $1200 credit in each year.

I'm sure details on how to qualify will be coming out soon.

Robert Osborne's Classic Film Festival is an annual non-profit event of the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. The event will be March 19-22, 2009 at The Classic Center. The 2009 festival selections are: Goldfinger, King Kong, Rear Window, Funny Girl, Sunset Boulevard, For Your Consideration, The Godfather, and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

There will be a free Friday matinee showing of Rear Window. Tickets for other shows are $10 for individual shows or you can purchase a pass to all shows for $60 ($45 for sudents).

Each of the movies in the festival have been carefully chosen - representing different film genres from several different decades. After each of the screenings, some of the talented people who either worked on the film or is a specialist in some element of the movie business will be on stage to talk about them as well as answer questions you may have about them.

Here is the schedule. Go to www.classiccenter.com to buy tickets.

The $8,000 (or 10% of the purchase price) tax credit for first time home buyers in 2009 is actually a tax refund... See the full article from CNN Money here.

More details from our friend, Terry Berding at Wells Fargo:

Here are some of the basic provisions in the bill pertaining to the tax credit for first time home buyers:

• The tax credit is available only for first-time home buyers. The IRS definition of a "first-time home buyer" is a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.
• There is a $75,000 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) limit for an individual and a $150,000 limit for joint filers. Higher incomes may receive partial credit up to AGI of $170,000 for joint and $95,000 for individual returns.
• Up to $8,000 tax credit is available only for primary residence purchases. The credit is 10% of the purchase price of the home. Example: a $70,000 purchase price will receive a $7,000 credit. A $100,000 purchase price is capped out @ the $8,000 limit.
• The tax credit does not require a repayment in most cases. The tax credit does have a repayment provision if the homeowner does not occupy the property for a minimum of 3 years from the closing date.
• The home buyer must purchase a home between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009.
• The $8000 tax credit is received when the tax return is filed. If only $6,000 in taxes is owed, then a refund of $2,000 will be sent to the individual.
• The credit is claimed using IRS Form 5405

Tips for FSBO

1. You can search the local Tax Assessors website to see what has sold in your neighborhood. This will help you determine a good list price. Do consider that the market has slowed about 40% from 2008 so you'll need to adjust your price accordingly.

2. Make sure your house is in tip-top condition. With so many homes on the market, if you don't give buyers a reason to remember your house, they probably won't. Make sure you eliminate the clutter and keep the house ready to show at a moments notice.

3. Check out all the websites for posting ads for your house. The more exposure you can get, the better chance you'll have of getting potential buyers to see it.

4. Be willing to pay a real estate commission if an agent calls. There are lots of houses for agents to show so make sure you make it worthwhile for them if they have a buyer that might be interested. Typically, you can expect to pay less than full commission if it is a one-time showing.

5. Try to get as much exposure as possible with local REALTORS. Typically, a buyer will connect with a REALTOR to see the most homes in the shortest possible time. You can send fliers to local real estate offices and might get someones attention. Other ways agents find out about FSBO's is through newspaper ads and signs in areas where they are showing homes.

6. When you get an offer, if it's not through a real estate agent, you may consider hiring a real estate attorney to write the contract so everyone is protected. If the buyer has one ready, have a real estate attorney review it for your protection.

7. The buyer will probably want to have a home inspection done prior to final acceptance. This is another negotiation period when the buyer can ask you to make repairs. If you don't consider this prior to accepting an offer with an "inspection period", you could end up with less money than you thought.

Market Comparison Report - Athens/Clarke County 2007 and 2008

This information, taken from the Athens Area Association of Realtors MLS reports, shows the number of homes sold in 2007 was 1,843. In 2008, only 1,146 homes sold for a total reduction of 37.82%. This chart give more information but these numbers seem most significant.