About Carrollton's Villages Of Greenway Park

In my neverending education on Short Sale transactions, I have learned that if there is an IRS lien on a property that is pending as a Short Sale, not only must the seller jump through hoops for the lender(s), but IRS demands an obstacle course to be run.

I currently have a short sale transaction that is approved and ready for closing and with an IRS lien showing on the title, the lender has offered only 10% to payoff this lien. As we all know, IRS liens take priority over a 1st lien mortgage, therefore it must be satisfied by the sale.

Not so fast! There is a way around this. But to get from Point A to Point B, one must run an obstacle course designed only for those NOT FAINT OF HEART. The good news is it might work, the bad news, after submission of another package to IRS, they could ask for more information and the first process takes up to 30 days.

With a pending foreclosure date looming, I have asked for an extension from the lender so that we can meet the demands of IRS, so even if we are able to get IRS to forgive and forget, we might lose the sale anyway. Hopefully, in this case, Wells Fargo will work with us.

IRS Publication 783 explains it all and if you are a CPA or a Tax Attorney you can probably interpret this language, however, if you chose not to pursue one of these time honored professions, you are probably going to hire one just to tell you what IRS will accept to meet their regulations.

One of the requirements is "to furnish an estimate of the fair market value of the property" which means "two written appraisals by two disinterested persons qualified to appraise the property, and a brief statement of each appraiser's qualification." So on top of everything the seller is battling, we might have to order and pay for two appraisals that will support our sales price.

At this point, all of us are heavily vested in this transaction and I am determined to get it closed. The seller deserves it and the buyer has patiently waited in the wings.

IRS--here I come with lots of new paperwork for you to review and pray that time is on our side.

I am currently working with a couple who is selling their home as a short sale and there is a sizable IRS lien on the property.

We have approval on the deal and have about 30 days to get it closed, subject to the IRS lien accepting about 10% of what is owed. The homeowner is frustrated because all he ever gets at IRS is a recording and has not been able to talk to anyone.

I decided to little research of my own and learned that this situation is not new to the IRS and they actually have created a form and a process to accelerate the sale or refinance of a property in this situation.

For more information on this subject, visit IRS. The link to this subject is:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=201343,00.html

I was talking to my daughter who lives in a neighboring city yesterday and she and her husband have outgrown their first home and after adding three children and one rather large dog, it's time to upgrade. They have done a bit of painting and reflooring since moving in, but let's face it, it is an older home--probably built in the 1960's, and it could definitely use a redo.

The reason for her call was a request that her father and I keep the children next week while on spring break so she and hubby could do some work on the house to get it ready for sale. She said they couldn't decide whether to clean the satillo tile floor--which covers a good deal of the house, or to remove the original wallpaper and repaint the master bedroom and bathroom. As a agent, I said the more important item would be to paint. The floors should probably be done by professionals. Grout is a tricky item to clean and usually requires chemicals and the know how to use them. (I have learned not to give advice to this daughter of mine, as she has a mind of her own and is very sharp. I have tried before to suggest things to do to the house for resale and have always been rebuffed. Every house I have owned I have always done redecorating and remodeling, keeping in mind resale.)

As the conversation continued, I told her that with all the houses I have remodeled (and it seems it was every one I've owned to date) it always seemed to be at the end of the occupation, not the beginning, and I did not have sufficient time to enjoy my vision. So my advice to her was get the work done after you move in, not when you are about to sell it. If you think about it, if you did the work early in the process, you probably wouldn't have to work so hard at the end. As they say, hindsight is always best.

So two good things come out of the conversation--we get the kids for three days next week (ages 9, 6 and 2) and she and hubby get several days alone and time to do a much needed project.

Insulation in the attic-appears a cheap alternative to many new "green" innovations.

Good old simple insulation in the attic really works!

Two years ago, we purchased a 10 year old home built by a tract builder.

We bought the home because it appeared it was move in ready, and was everything that we needed, wanted and desired was there. Cosmetically, the house was in good shape and the back yard had a pool and looked like a resort-an expense we did not want to undertake.

Living in North Texas is brutal in the summer-with temperatures typically in the 90's and many days in the 100's. To say the least it is HOT! And boy did I underestimated the difference in the electric bill between a two story and a one story home-which is what we had lived in the last 7 years.

That first electric bill was an eye-opener. My typical bill (in the one story) was about $300 for the whole month in the summer. My first bill in the two story for the month June for ½ a month was over $300! I should have foreseen the future right then and there. The summer of 2008, the bill averaged about $650 a month. In 2009, the bill average was around $700 per month from July through September-and that was with only one unit running and set at 80°F. On top of that the previous owner did not cover several upper decorative windows which, of course, faced West and East-so we caught both the morning and the evening sun. I was able to cover the East facing windows with simple reed blinds on the outside which definitely helped to reduce the inside heat. I still have not covered the west facing windows which I must focus on this year.

After much discussion about what we should do, we explored several options.

The first option was a sprayed on coating on the under mount side of the roof-radiant barrier. It sounded good and after three estimates ranging from $2500 to about $5500, we discovered it did not qualify for the tax credit for energy efficiency improvements.

The second option was solar screens and that estimate was also around $2500-which we have not yet ruled out entirely.

The third option was insulation. So we did our homework, and because the Department of Energy states it is the single best thing you can do to cut down on energy bills, we called for estimates.

We always go through the Better Business Bureau to find contractors, so we found a company with a very high rating. I called and the estimate was $1087 to insulate the entire home with R50 insulation. We used a product that was a blown in product and was pure as 100% cotton. The process took less than a half of hour.

After the first bill came, we knew we had done the right thing. Our kWh usage went from 3150 to 1590, and the previous month's bill-which was for December 2009-- was $448.66 and dropped to $277.06. I would say that was a significant savings.

This is one home improvement project I would highly recommend and there are still a few more in store for this old house.