I hear a lot of people lately, looking for their part of the great BAILOUT mess. 
It's not coming...well, at least not on a personal level and not like you might think.
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which was passed last October, provides for a window of opportunity for home buyers. The way it was worded is that a first time home buyer can get a $7500 tax credit. Here are some interesting facts about this tax credit:
1. The "first time" home buyer is defined as anyone who has not owned a home in the last three years!
2. The credit is actually 10% of the sales price up to a total of $7500.
3. The tax credit is income sensitive. If you are single, the credit begins to phase out at $75,000 and for a married couple, it phases out at $150,000.
4. The credit is paid back over the next 15 years on your tax return. That is $500/year paid back UNLESS you sell the home within that 15 years and it becomes due on sale. (one exception to that is if there is no proceeds that come out of the sale of the home, the credit can actually be forgiven).
5. If you are in a position where you take the credit but have no tax liability, you get the remainder back in a tax refund. In other words, if you have a $7500 tax credit for the purchase of the house and only owe $4000 in taxes for the year, you would get the remaining $3500 credit back as a tax refund! That truly is an interest free loan!
6. The home you are purchasing must be closed by June 30th 2009. If you are wanting to take the credit on your 2008 taxes, the home must have closed after April 9th, 2008!
One interesting misconception that I hear people talk about a lot on this tax credit is that the credit is a $7500 reduction in your TAXABLE income. This is not the case...this is a reduction in the TAX LIABILITY that they home buyer has.
One of the big buzzwords right now is "down market". You hear it a lot along with "slow market" and "downturn in the market" and "market correction" when it comes to discussing real estate.
One thing to always remember about the real estate market is that the idea of a national real estate market is a myth. Real estate is VERY local so the term down market really doesn't apply to us in the Houston area! It may be a little slower than it has been, but that doesn't mean DOWN.
One of the things that happens in a slower real estate market is that homes MAY sit for a longer time on the market before they sell...it's pretty simple math that if there are fewer buyers buying, then that leads to more time on the market. HOWEVER, that's now what this is about...
This is a SCAM alert. Yes, I know it's shocking but the idea of a "down market" has brought out the worst in our society...those looking to take advantage of people already in a bad position!
The last two listing I have taken have been for SHORT SALE listings. This means that the sellers owes the bank more than they can realistically sell the home for. It happens for many reasons but what it does is throw up a red flag of vulnerability to some in our society. 
On the first call I got, and this was actually from a real estate broker (an independent broker and not with a national firm) and he wanted my seller to sign over the deed to his "buyers" and let the buyer then pay the note to the seller. When I asked about the fact that the bank would then accelerate (meaning to call the note due because signing over the deed is in essence giving the property to someone else when it's actually owned by the loan holder), I was told that he suggested we not tell the bank!
WHAT? Did I hear that right? A licensed real estate broker in the area is telling people to commit LOAN FRAUD!? Why would he do that? Because he was looking to take over the house from someone in an obviously weakened position!
On top of that, he suggested that the seller leave about $15,000 worth of appliances and personal property (like the pool table and such) and the buyer would pay the seller for that as well at a later date! WOW! So let these people move in, with no money down, committing loan fraud and leave a fortune behind in personal goods? Anything sound funny there?
The next listing had a guy call me and tell me that he was willing to "take over payments" for the owner 
and that the banks do this all the time. Well, let me tell you once again that I must protest my sellers being drawn into loan fraud and that I do not believe even for a minute that banks let you do this all the time. If you can not qualify for a loan, why in the heck would the bank allow you to basically assume a loan from the seller!?
Anyway, I just wanted to bring out the point that there are a lot of scams being run out there and to be careful...I wish I could say to just contact your local REALTOR to ask about anything being presented to you that sounds too good to be true, but obviously, as with the first case, that wouldn't work. You need to call a REALTOR that you can trust!
And BE CAREFUL!
Call Ron-- 281-935-7152 Direct or our Toll Free information line
SHORT SALE INFORMATION: Code 7002
Easy Exit Listing Guarantee Code: 7003
I read a blog yesterday that encouraged people to go low when they go in for a short sale.
I took exception to that notion. The idea was that the sellers just want out and the banks will counter anything you submit anyway.
It doesn't really work like that. The banks are OVER BOOKED with foreclosure and short sale properties and the fewer times they have to deal with a property, the better. Even if they counter, it could take weeks to happen and then it could take weeks to get an answer back on their counter.
The bank is not going to TELL the listing agent what to list the home for or what they will accept but trust me, a good short sale agent has a pretty good idea on what to price based on URGENCY of the situation AND Market Situation. If a home is listed $20k under market already, going down and offering $15K below that is only going to clog up the system.
I recieved an offer this morning. It's on a property priced at $65,000 in a short sale and the agent and buyers offered $52K. When I asked what the thought process was, they simply said they wanted to go lower than list. I immediately rejected the offer so as not to keep the agent's buyer's waiting and I told him that I did not expect the property to sell below list.
I understand wanting to get a deal...but do these people not realize that just because something sells at list doesn't mean it's NOT a good deal. This property has multiple offers on it and the bank has not responded to any of the offers...all having gone BELOW list price looking for the deal. I KNOW that the bank is looking for at least list on this one. They are willing to FORECLOSE and sell it as a foreclosure because they will list it at about $75K and they will get it.
So when you are looking at a SHORT SALE opportunity...do the math. LOOK at the comps! Just because something is a short sale, it doesn't mean it isn't priced RIGHT. Going $20K under list just because just ends up wasting everyone's time!
And TIME is one thing you do not want to waste when it comes to the bank owned properties since it takes SO long to negotiate them out as it is! It simply is insane to think that you can cajole the bank into taking THAT much less.
If you are behind on your mortgage and would like to explore the option of a SHORT SALE (that is, where the bank takes less than you owe to settle your account), please call us. With our experience in the SHORT SALE market, we can tell you whether we can help when we sit down with you and look at the numbers!
It can be so stressful if you do not KNOW your options...we aim to help eliminate that stress by looking at all your options!
Call Ron-- 281-935-7152 Direct or our Toll Free information line
SHORT SALE INFORMATION: Code 7002
Easy Exit Listing Guarantee Code: 7003
Hey Best Buy, I'm not coming back! 
EVER!
Ok, now I feel better.
So here is how I came to need to shout that out!
71 days ago, I purchased a small LCD HD TV from BEST BUY. It wasn't particularly expensive but it was my birthday present from my wife!
It was a neat little TV. The brand was INSIGNIA. I'd never heard of this brand but the salesman from BEST BUY told me that it was manufactured for BEST BUY. It was their VERY OWN BRAND!
Cool.
So I bought the TV. Took it home and here, 71 days later this high tech, LCD, HD TV has NO RED in the color scheme. It's just GONE.
TV works fine and has a great picture...just NO red in the color.
SO I took my TV with all my stuff into Best Buy Katy Texas and I spoke to an associate there who told me it would take 2 months to fix it. I haven't even OWNED it for 2 months and I'm supposed to send it away for 2 months!? So Alyssa, the customer service person was not the person I needed to talk to, right? I asked to speak to the Store Manager.
Enter Colin Marshall at Best Buy Katy and he tells me that they will send it off and I ask him, doesn't he think that 71 days is a little short on the lifespan and can't they just replace it? I mean, c'mon, it's 71 days old!
No sir...in fact, Mr. Marshall told me that it will be 4-6 weeks on the repair. So I tell him that Alyssa told me that it would be 8 weeks. She in turn says, "I'm sorry sir, I'm Alyssa and I have never spoken to you"!
Hubba-wah!?
Long story short, Mr Colin Marshal, whose attitude was "you bought and now you're stuck with it" told me in no uncertain terms that my options are to send it away for 4-6 weeks or take my tv home and be happy with it and then he walks away.
WOW....
During our team staff meeting this morning, one of the items we covered was listings in the Houston MLS that have EXPIRED. That means that for some reason, the market did not purchase the home during it's normal contract period with the listing agent.
Sometimes, it's quite easy to see WHY a home didn't sell. Sometimes it's pricing. Sometimes it's staging. Sometimes it's the fact that the property is not marketed very well (less than the maximum number of photos, poor photos, lack of a virtual tour and many other items stick out to a professional marketing team like ours).
However, in the MLS, sometimes it's what you DON'T see that kills a homes sale! These are some of the private agent comments that we found while going through recent EXPIRED listings. Keep in mind that these comments are only seen by other agents for the most part but STILL impact the sale of your home:
LISTING AGENT IS OUT OF TOWN. Please contact (someone else's name and number) for information on this property. (this is never a problem with your Katy Texas Remax Team because we have multiple agents always available to answer phones and emails!)
SELLER IS WILLING TO DROP THE PRICE, So PLEASE call me to get the bottomline price on this home. (Why in the world would you put that in remarks? Why would the agent sell out the seller and if the seller wanted this advertised like this why wouldn't you just have it in the MLS at the lower price! UGGH!)
NO SHOWINGS UNTIL October 12th. (hey, it's December already...can't you update your comments?)
BONUS TO BUYER'S AGENT For accepted contract by 11/1/08. (once again, it's DECEMBER...update your comments. The MLS was never meant to be static but rather allow you to CHANGE things to IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING!)
(on a $250,000 listing in the public remarks): beautiful well kept house one of the largest in the subdivision.good school must see to appreciate. (There were NO agent remarks at all and this was the ONLY description of the property which also only had SIX very poor quality photos).
Tennants will be out as of 9/9/08. Will have lock box on door. Code is 3272. Home is also available for lease. (this comment is just wrong on so many levels...the code to the home is supposed to be protected. The fact that this house has tenants in it should not even be an issue)
Anyway, as you can see, the PRIVATE AGENT comments that you don't even get to see can be KILLING your marketing.
Our clients are provided a copy of the full MLS listing for their home. In addition, we welcome our seller's suggestions on improving the MLS listing and photos with captions! We have only one goal in mind and that is to make your house the one that SOLD!
If you are thinking of Selling your home in the Katy and West Houston area, call the Katy Area RE/MAX specialists! Call the Katy Texas RE/MAX Team!
Call Ron-- 281-935-7152 Direct or our Toll Free information line
Call (877)472-5390 and use the code to hear about our guarantee:
Easy Exit Listing Guarantee Code: 7003
$5000 Buyer Guarantee, Code: 7004
Your Home Sold in 29 Days GUARANTEED, Code: 7005
 |
|
|
Superior Real Estate Services For Katy and Cypress Texas! Cutting edge internet and conventional marketing & listing services for home buyers and home sellers.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
