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NP Dodge Real Estate Agents Succeed W/ Technology

11-20-09
NP Dodge Iowa
Technology plays an ever-increasing role in real estate today. From the way consumers search for properties to the ways agents communicate information and stay connected with their customers, the business landscape is constantly changing. We know because we've helped change it. NP Dodge provides the best tools in the business to help our sales associates reach prospective buyers and sellers, stay connected with clients and get more business done in less time. From innovative research tools to web-based marketing & customer-relationship programs to online listing & contract support, NP Dodge puts technology to work where it counts-helping our agents focus on business and respond to their customers' needs. Our company-wide support network, NPDodge Office, exemplifies that technology at work. This interactive web-based database gives NP Dodge agents 24/7 access to a vast range of documents and information-From current interest rates and e-forms to marketing materials and industry reports, it's virtually everything an agent could ask for.

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Where are you going to market your listings?

03-20-09
NP Dodge Iowa

Where should you concentrate your marketing efforts in 2009?

What strategies work with today's consumers and which ones should be re-evaluated?

The NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers for 2008 provides us with some great clues.

  • Did you know...Eleven times more buyers begin their search process on the internet (33%) than they do print (3%).
  • Did you know...According to consumers, brokerage web sites ranks amongst the highest when looking for properties at 46% and individual agent web sites rank at 43%.
  • Did you know...According to the NAR survey only 1% of consumers found there agent through newspaper, yellow pages, direct mail, or specialty advertising. Furthermore, the number of consumers finding their homes through a newspaper, a home book or magazine, or directly through the sellers declined by 50% in 2008.

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The new First-time home buyer tax credit...

02-17-09
NP Dodge Iowa

The new First-time home buyer tax credit as we understand it here at NP Dodge...

FIRST-TIME HOME BUYER CREDIT If you are a first-time home buyer, you are eligible for a refundable tax credit equal to 10 percent of the purchase price of your home, up to $8,000. Here are some of the details contained in the 787 billion dollar "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" which President Obama signed on Tuesday in Denver:

  • The fact that the credit is "refundable" means that the tax credit refundable, or claimable regardless of your tax liability
  • You must make your home purchase after Jan. 1, 2009, but before Dec. 1, 2009.
  • You may purchase a new or an existing home.
  • Unlike a similar $7,500, zero interest, fifteen year loan called a "tax credit" that Congress provided last year, you don't have to pay this one back. It is a true tax credit.
  • The new credit, however, does phase out for individuals with incomes over $75,000 or married couples with incomes over $150,000 who file their taxes jointly.
  • Also, you forfeit the credit if you sell the house within three years.
  • "First-time homebuyer" is defined as someone who has not owned a home for the past three years.
  • You may participate in a mortgage revenue bond program such as NIFA and still be eligible for the tax credit.

Although this is not tax advice and first-time home buyers are urged to consult their tax advisors, here is an example of how the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit could work for you:

Assume you are a couple making less than $150,000 annually, you purchase a house for more than $80,000 before December 1st of this year and you otherwise qualify for the full $8,000 tax credit. If your 2009 federal taxes were $12,000 without the tax credit, the $8,000 tax credit would lower your federal tax liability to only $4,000. If you had 2009 federal withholdings of exactly $12,000, you would have received no refund without the tax credit because your federal income taxes equal your federal withholdings exactly. But with the first-time home buyer tax credit, you will get a tax refund of $8,000.

"We at NP Dodge Real Estate feel the first-time homebuyer tax credit is a very great stepping stone toward restoring the national housing market and that it will spur greater activity among buyers here locally. When a first time home buyer purchases a home, the seller of that home can then purchase another home. Then seller of that home in turn can buy another, and that creates a cycle that moves us in the right direction. Home prices should stabilize and then begin to increase. This in turn will help increase consumer confidence. All of this will bring still more buyers into the real estate market. This is most definitely the time for first-time buyers to get their piece of the Great American Dream of home ownership." ~ NP Dodge Research and Stats Division Members

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What happened last month in the Council Bluffs Real Estate Market?

02-11-09
NP Dodge Iowa

What does all this mean??

65 Residential properties sold in the Council Bluffs Area last month.

111 Homes went pending which means they have an accepted contract and are due to close in the near future.

It would take just under 12 months to absorb the current residential inventory on the market today.

The buyers still have the upper hand for now.

Want more reports? Click Here

NP Dodge now has available Real Estate Market Trend Reports containing data compiled from the MLSs located in Omaha and Council Bluffs. These reports will give you an opportunity to view trends in the market over the past 15 months. They are specific to active, pending and sold properties in Omaha, Council Bluffs and the surrounding areas. The reports are updated monthly with more in-depth reports being available from one of our real estate professionals.

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Relief could be on the way...US Senate Stimulus Update

02-05-09
NP Dodge Iowa

Relief could be on the way. This will be a huge incentive. I have heard that they are working to make this available at closing... Mike Riedmann, Prsident of NP Dodge Real Estate

Last evening the United States Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan amendment, offered by REALTOR® Champions, Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) to the Economic Stimulus Bill creating a $15,000 tax credit to individuals who purchase a home in the next year.

Specifically, the Isakson-Lieberman amendment to the pending economic stimulus bill would provide a direct tax credit to any homebuyer who purchases any home. The amount of the tax credit would be $15,000 or 10 percent of the purchase price, whichever is less. Purchases must be made within one year of the legislation's enactment, and the tax credit would not have to be repaid.

The amendment would allow taxpayers to claim the credit on their 2008 income tax return. It also seeks to prevent misuse by only allowing purchases of a principle residence and by recapturing the credit if the home is sold within two years of purchase. The amendment would sunset the current $7,500 housing tax credit on the date of enactment.

While the final details of the Stimulus Bill are still being debated, this amendment represents a tremendous step forward in NAR's efforts to stabilize housing markets around the nation. Because of the efforts of REALTORS®, we expect the final Economic Stimulus Bill will contain several major housing provisions. We will continue to update you as the bill progresses through the legislative process.

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