Sandy Ogburn Sandlin - Fine Baton Rouge area homes

FREE 1st Time Home Buyers Seminar Offered

The Sandy Ogburn-Sandlin team at Re/Max Excellent Properties will be hosting a first time home buyer seminar June 23rd @ 6 p.m. The seminar will cover topics such as 100% financing, super low interest rates, and the $8,000 tax credit. Local mortgage company representatives will also be there to discuss credit issues and financing options. Seating is limited. To register or for more information please email info@sandyco.com or call 225-292-7609.

Looking for a home in East Baton Rouge, Ascension, or Livingston Parish? Sandy's Team will help you find the perfect home. Check out our Sandyco website.

With all the emphasis on first time buyers this year, the great opportunities for sellers in this current market are often neglected. People sell homes because they want to move on - to a bigger (or smaller) home, to a better area, to a new city, to a new job. Current home prices, though lower than you'd like as a seller, are so inviting when you're the buyer that you might want to join the fun. When you want to buy a new place, of course you want to sell your old home at the best price you can get in the shortest time.

These days, you have to go the extra mile to make sure your home moves quickly at a good price. This means preparing the home for sale, which requires careful planning. Ideally, you should plan ahead a year or two. Sometimes, though, circumstances change that require you to move up the timetable. Or maybe you happen to find your dream house at a good price and you want to sell it now.

So, how do you make your home ready to sell quickly? As soon as you know you want to move, work with a competent Realtor®, who will point out what you need to do to make the home ready to sell and guide you as to improvements that will net increased value to buyers. You might even get a presale inspection to point out any problem areas that need attention. If you find that there is a problem area like a cracked foundation, a bad roof, or faulty wiring, you will want to focus on attending to these repairs rather than overdoing interior upgrades. Make sure to keep records of any repairs you have made, as this can be a negotiating tool for your agent in maintaining your price in discussions with an interested buyer.

When it is time for your agent to actually list the home, he or she will want to take lots of pictures to put on their website and on the MLS. Before the pictures, you should consider professional staging to make sure your home looks its best. Staging tends to depersonalize the place to help new buyers concentrate on the house, not your things, and visualize themselves there. Even if your home looks like it could be in House Beautiful, a professional stager might subtract some furniture and some personal effects to better showcase the property.

When the agent lists the home, the price should be competitive - perhaps even on the low side. If you are selling so you can buy, you want the price to be attractive enough to entice buyers. You don't want to lose a sale - and perhaps the chance at you own dream home - for a few thousand dollars.

Sandy's Team has a reputation of selling home other agents can't. If you have a home you'd like to sell now in East Baton Rouge, Ascension, or Livingston Parish, check us out. We can offer you a personalized comparative market value on your Louisiana home as well as tips to help it sell quickly to a qualified buyer.

Maybe you have heard lately about using the $8,000 first time homebuyer's credit as a downpayment. This sounds great at first hearing, but when the details were announced by HUD on May 29, it's clear there are a few string attached

Critics of the program, including the national Association of Realtors® (NAR) have always wished that the credit could be more, wished it could be available to all homeowners, and wished it was applicable on downpayments. Earlier in May, the NAR thought it was getting one wish granted when Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the credit could be applied at closing. It sounded like banks would issue bridge loans to cover the $8,000 until it was received from the IRS. On a $230,000 home, $8,000 would represent the entire FHA-required 3.5%

When the final mortgage letter was issued in late May, HUD cleared up a few misunderstandings:

• FHA buyers still have to have their minimum deposit in hand, though HUD is not opposed to creative financing to get it. A buyer can mortgage their car or pawn their grandmother's heirloom jewelry to get the money -in addition to the old favorite tactics of borrowing from parents or employers.

• Any part of the down payment after the minimum can be "monetized" so that non-profits and Housing Finance Agencies will issue temporary low cost loans to cover the down payment and closing costs.

• The actual credit will come the normal way, after the homeowner has filed a return with the IRS.

The new plan doesn't do much for a buyer who is struggling to make the minimum downpayment. For those who want to pay more to lower their monthly payments, $8,000 more to put down will double their equity.

The original program is a great plan to offer new homebuyers a credit of 10% of the value of their home, up to $8,000 off their taxes as an incentive to buy a home. Since it is a tax credit rather than a deduction, people see their tax bills reduced and more money in their hands. Once someone buys a home, they can see more money in their check each time if they reduce their withholding but the only way to see the whole $8,000 at once is to file the paperwork for the credit with a tax return.

Having the credit available upfront to apply toward any part of the downpayment would have been an greater help to many. As it is, the tax credit will help many new homeowners get off to a stable start. Most people want to make a few improvements when they move into a new place. Eight thousand dollars can buy a new deck or some carpeting or new appliances. The money can also help a former apartment dweller transition into the higher expenses of a home.

Unless the credit is extended, it expires December 1. There is still plenty of time to take advantage of it. Sandy Ogburn Sandlin and her team can a help you find your new Ascension Parish home and show how the credit works. This could help you own a place in one our new Ascension or Baton Rouge area developments or a beautiful pre-owned Louisiana homes

In most parts of the country, Spring is officially home buying season. This year, potential first time Baton Rouge home buyers have plenty of encouragement to buy. The media emphasizes that it is a "buyer's market." Also, the government is offering an $8,000 tax credit which is a great incentive to take the plunge, even at though the moment, this credit cannot currently be used as part of the downpayment. (On May 14, HUD Secretary Shaun Donavan recently indicated this might be changing,) If you want to buy a home, how should you proceed?

Even with incentives, a smart buyer needs to carefully consider if time is right for them to buy. Buyer's market or not, the house is not free. The rent and the amount of the mortgage may be pretty comparable, but there are costs of homeownership that need to be factored into the monthly budget.

Before even starting to consider buying a home, need to consider your current budget. What are your obligations? What is your lifestyle? What are your hobbies? How do you like to spend money? Are you making it now or are you struggling?

Most of your obligations may be pretty cut and dried: your current rent or mortgage, utilities, your car payment, loans, credit card bills, insurance, tuition for your kids, retirement accounts, doctor bills, food, retirement account information, charitable contributions. You might have some discretion over things like entertainment, vacations, clothes beyond the basics, and gifts but some spending in these areas is likely for most people. If you value the ability to travel or like to buy designer clothes or like to always pick up the check when you go out with friends, you need to be realistic when you are budgeting. Sometimes people think they can drastically change their spending habits when they buy a home, but doing this over the long run is very difficult. It's better to factor in these preferences so you really know how much additional money you have available for a home.

These days, the bank will ask you to verify your income and perhaps even your expenditures. Based on those figures, they will pre-approve you for a home. You don't have to confess all your spending weaknesses to the bank, but if you spend the maximum you are approved for, you could make yourself house poor.

The amount you will have to pay for your mortgage usually includes some extras. If your downpayment is less than 20%, you will have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) that increases your payment by a couple hundred dollars a month. Taxes will either be included in your payment or you will have to do them separately. Since tax rates vary; choosing a home in an area with a lower tax rate can make a big difference in your payment. Often, new construction will offer tax abatement for a time. Of course, you'll need homeowner's insurance and perhaps something extra if you are in a flood or earthquake zone.

If you are debating whether to buy a single family home or a condominium, some things you might need to budget for in a single family residence are covered by Homeowner Association (HOA) fees in condominiums and some subdivisions of single family homes. Lawn care, snow removal, exterior maintenance, and sometime even some utilities like water or heat are usually included in the fees. Both types of homes have their advantages. To some people, working in the yard and having a big piece of land are among the greatest pleasures of home ownership; to others, having all maintenance taken care is well worth paying a fee - but you need to consider that in your monthly expenses.

Utility costs can add a substantial amount to your budget - especially if you are greatly increasing your square footage. More rooms mean more space to light, heat, and cool, more bathrooms mean more water consumption. When you are looking for a home, ask for utility bill figures to estimate your costs and seek out energy efficient homes. Many newly built or newly renovated homes have energy efficient windows and other features that will save you money.

Finally, plan for maintenance. Anyone who moved into a home has a laundry list of things they hope to do to it. Most people realize that they can't do it all as quickly as they would like, but realistically setting aside something for improvements will help you personalize your new home over time. Anyone who owns a home also knows that "stuff happens" that can wreck your budget unless you plan for it - the water heater breaks, the dishwasher dies, the sink backs up. Including a maintenance line item in your budget, will prevent inevitable events from being crises.

This is a great time to buy a home. A good Realtor® from Sandy's Team will look at your pre-approval letter, discuss your wants and needs, and help you find a home that is right for you in Baton Rouge or any of the other communities of East Baton Rouge, Ascension, or Livingston Parish.

Pricing your home right is always the key to a speedy sale. In this current market, even in parts of the country where housing prices have not fallen drastically, "speedy" is a relative term. Sometimes, if you home is on the market awhile, you might have time to work with your Realtor to lower it in stages. If you really need to move, a more aggressive pricing strategy in order.

If you've been transferred or need to move on immediately, your realtor can show the figures for comparable sales in your neighborhood and price your home as the lowest on the block. Taking the pricing hit might painful but less so than the alternatives. Paying two mortgages is a killer; dealing with tenants has its own set of problems.

If you are in as situation where you fear foreclosure, selling your home first, perhaps through a short sale, might be a great option. Even selling your home as a short sale can damage your credit, but experts feel that the damage is not as bad to your credit as foreclosure. A good Realtor can help you price your home low enough to appeal to buyers and high enough for the bank to consider. Unless recent efforts by the Obama administration to encourage short sales revolutionize the time table, the process might still take a few months.

If your home has lost value and you want to move to stop the bleeding, join the club. If you want to sell, you have to be prepared to lower the price even more. It's painful to sell a property at a loss when you had planned on great appreciation. The bright side to the story is that when you go to buy a home, you will be able to buy much more than you could in the past from a seller who also had to cut his price.

If you find your home isn't selling two - three months after you have priced it right, you might have to consider a further price cut. If prices in your neighborhood have declined, your home may now be too high by comparison. Your Realtor can offer you comparable values in the neighborhood.

Though there are many internet tools to help you price your home, your Realtor is still offers the best pricing advice - even if it's not what you want to hear. When the word you really want to hear is "sold!" give Sandy's Team a call or check out our website. They will put a couple decades of real estate experience and knowledge of the East Baton Rouge, Ascension, or Livingston Parish areas into play to price your home right! We have a great stock of new and pre-owned homes available. Give us a call at (225) 677-SOLD or email info@sandyco.com.