Cleveland, OH

Can it be too many advantages of buying Real Estate now?

Why in the world people who need to buy the house in Solon, Mayfield Heights or anywhere in Greater Cleveland are still thinking and waiting for something?

Isn't it better just do it?

Simple list of opportunities for both first time home buyers and for moving up buyers is impressive.

• Still a very good inventory of solid homes and condos
• Still very attractive prices
• More chances to do your due diligence - inspect the property, get it fixed by sellers if necessary
  
• As a result, much better condition of the property
• More qualified Real estate professionals working for you. It's not a secret that many part timers or agents who could not earn enough to support their family or lifestyle, simply left Real estate for other occupations
• Up to $8,000 tax credit to first time home buyers
• Up to $6,500 tax credit to existing home owners who move to the next home
• Incredibly low interest rates!

Just compare the numbers!

Let's say, you decide to buy the $200,000 home in Cleveland OH.

You make enough money and you saved enough to put 20 % down.

You earned a high credit score, so you get perfectly qualified for conventional loan.

Using a simple mortgage calculator you can easily compare your mortgage payments and savings if you borrow at 4.75 % (available today) vs. very respectable 6.25 %, which many homeowners recently dreamt about.

Why wait?

Any of home buyers' advantages listed above may vanish soon.

If you really need to buy or move up, just do it!

Call us today 216-548-4663 and schedule your free home needs evaluation session with Local-n-Global Real Estate consultants.

For crying out loud, if the buyer is interested in my home and they don't like: _______________________________________________________________________

then I'll just offer them a credit at closing so they can put it in and pick out the color/material they like.

Let's think about it: How many times as a listing agent have you heard that?

What is your response back to your seller?

A listing agent's goal should be to not simply respond with the pros and cons to this question at that point in time. The mere fact that the question has come up AND, here's the real important part:

If this is the first time you are addressing this with your seller, then in my opinion, you have let your seller down as this type of information can almost always be known ahead of time by:

• Knowing how this business works
• Having your pulse on the market
• Working regularly with buyers and knowing what they want and prefer
• Knowing what home staging is and its strengths and weaknesses
• Knowing what is selling in your community
• Knowing what is NOT sellling in your community
• Knowing the financial impact to a seller's net financial bottom line by utilizing a seller credit to the buyer versus eliminating the issue in question before the home goes on the market

Granted, there are always exceptions when having this conversation may not be appropriate:

• Seller is strapped for cash
• Short Sale
• Divorce -- Attorneys, Court-Appointed Receivers
• Elderly
• Health Issues
• etc.

But...for the average seller who has access to capital, these issues should be identified, analyzed and cost-effective solutions offered before the home goes on the market. If the seller does not opt for this course of action, that's fine, but you have done your job in preparing them for potential negative market feedback.

Which leads back to the original question: Why can't I just offer the buyer a credit?

Many buyers will:

• Not pursue your property because of these deficiencies and the only feedback (if you receive any) won't be that illustrative.
• Only see what is right in front of them.
• Not visualize the "to be", they only see the "as is."
• Get so hung up on the negatives, that they can't see the positives, and thereby are already going through in their heads "cha chunk" with a lower offer for all the things they will need to do to your property to make it okay for them.

I'm not sure of the origin or if I have this saying right: forEwarned is forearmed.

Here is how this will normally play out (short answer):

• The seller will end up netting less by not addressing the issue
• The property will stay on the market longer
• A property that stays on the market longer will cost more to maintain, operate, monthly payments
• A property that stays on the market longer makes the seller have less negotiating power

The IRS has acknowledged that 2008 Amended Tax Returns for the first-time homebuyer tax credit has hit a brick wall in that refunds that were taking 6 weeks to process are now taking up to 20 weeks.

Why's that? Good question.

You can probably guess: FRAUD.

Yes, you got it. Some questionable claims were filed by none other than: IRS Employees. Filers as young as 4 years old were also asking for the refund.

These questionable claims are estimated to total in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Let's think about this for a second. The IRS has all of our information already on file. It surely can't be that hard to have an automated system of cross-referencing to prioritize legitimate requests from bogus claims. In fact, perhaps there needs to be a RETS like transaction standard for EDI for official tax reporting purposes to take the fraud aspect completely out of the picture.

So...for you first time home buyers who have recently amended your returns, I would be curious to know if you get your tax refund sooner than had you filed your 2009 tax return in Mid-February and the refund takes six weeks on average.

I have been reading various websites which states the House of Representatives voted today 403-12 to expand the federal housing tax credit and it "MAY" be signed by the President this Friday.

Here is link one of the many articles on it.

I hope some CPAs and Tax Attorneys jump in here in addition to real estate professionals.

Keller Williams Realty Greater Cleveland To Open Downtown Office

Keller Williams Realty Greater Cleveland plans to increase their market presence by opening up in downtown Cleveland. Plans call for Keller Williams Realty Greater Cleveland to open before the end of the year, possibly as early as December 1, 2009.

The new office, located in the historic Warehouse District in the Cloak Factory building at 635 W. Lakeside Ave, will open with over $30,000,000 in inventory and 17 agents, many of whom are some of the areas top producers. The office interior will have a look consistent to many historic offices in downtown Cleveland complete with hardwood floors and exposed beams.

While most local real estate agents don't service the downtown area, deciding to focus on the surrounding suburbs instead, the agents in this new office will be highly experienced with urban dwellings and be able to help consumers who are looking to buy and sell within the city of Cleveland in addition to outside of the area. The downtown Cleveland residential real estate market has relatively few agents and Keller Williams Realty Greater Cleveland is positioned to greatly increase their market share here.

While Keller Williams Realty International has over 80,000 agents and is the third largest real estate franchise operation in the nation, they have only been in the Cleveland area market for 7 years. However, during this time, they have grown from 9 agents in one office, to approximately 500 agents in 5 offices. In addition to the downtown office, 5 additional offices are planned in the near future.

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About The Authors:

This information is provided compliments of Amy and Dan Schuman, The Schuman Team Keller Williams Realty. The Schumans have worked with numerous professional athletes, business owners, and executives who are relocating to Cleveland. They specialize in the Cleveland Ohio luxury home market and also enjoy working with first-time buyers as well.

If you are looking to buy or sell Cleveland real estate, including the surrounding suburbs, please contact the Schuman Team at 216-346-3235.

SEE ALL CLEVELAND AREA HOMES FOR SALE BY CLICKING BELOW:

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Keller Williams Realty Greater Cleveland To Open Downtown Office is the property of The Schuman Team and may not be duplicated or used without their written consent. ©Nov 2009