Category: The Caton Team Realtors

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Thanks for reading – Sabrina

For Sale by The Caton Team – 1 Bedroom Condo in Santa Clara – Open Sat & Sun 1-4pm

Check out more photos at – http://instagram.com/sunshinesabby

Your home is your sanctuary, your retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. 151 Buckingham Drive Unit #226 is located on the south end of Santa Clara bordering Campbell and Cupertino – just down the street for Santana Row and Valley Fair Mall. The property is within the Cupertino School District.

But you wouldn’t know you were living in the heart of Silicon Valley when you look out your 2^nd story, wrap-around balcony. This corner end unit is nestled in prime real estate country. Close to the front of the complex so your friends and family can easily find you – though tucked away to enjoy lovely views of the treetops and lagoons of the Vista Del Lago condominium complex.

Upon entering this home from the exterior hallway, you are welcomed into a great-room style living area. Ready for your taste and palate with warm toned carpet and neutral paint. This allows a buyer to move-in and take their time to decorate their new home.

The updated kitchen with granite wrap-around breakfast bar opens to the great-room so the chef is never left out of the party. A full size dishwasher, oven-range with microwave hood and refrigerator complete this kitchen. Imagine hors d’ oeuvres sprinkled over the counter while guest lounge on the sofa or enjoy the sun and trees off the balcony.

The living area is spacious and with two sliding glass doors that open out to the balcony – there is ample natural sunlight throughout the day. When the gorgeous California weather heats up, the convenient air condition unit makes this home quite comfortable as you relax to the sound of the water features and birds.

The master suite adjoins the living area and features ample storage with two large closets and a separate linen closet. The carpeted bedroom has a floor to ceiling window, ceiling fan and mirrored closet doors.

The bathroom features a large vanity with single sink, enclosed tub with overhead shower, ceiling fan and ample lighting.

This unit comes with a tandem two-vehicle carport and adjoining large storage unit.

Ownership at Vista Del Lago includes a refreshing pool, spa, gym, clubhouse and coin operated laundry in each building. Home Owner Association dues are approximately $367 a month.

A complete disclosure package is available. The disclosure package includes a complete set of Home Owner Association documents, Home & Pest Inspection, Natural Hazards Disclosure and all California mandated disclosures. Click below for disclosure access.

http://thecatonteam.com/PDisclosures?id=1713024610

This unit is a fantastic investment, currently listed at $300,000 for a 1 bedroom at 599 sqft.

For more information – please contact The Caton Team – Susan or Sabrina. MLS # 81319710

http://thecatonteam.com/PropertyDetails?fl_hook=1713024610&show_description=yes&show_address=yes&presented_by=&show_virtual_tour=yes

FOR PHOTOS CLICK:

http://thecatonteam.com/MyListings?operation=MorePictures&listing_id=1713024610

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Email Sabrina & Susan at: Info@TheCatonTeam.com

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I read this article at: http://www.trulia.com/blog/taranelson/2013/07/6_wills_won_ts_and_worries_of_2013_home_buyers?ecampaign=cnews20+and1308A&eurl=www.trulia.com%2Fblog%2Ftaranelson%2F2013%2F07%2F6_wills_won_ts_and_worries_of_2013_home_buyers

Thanks for reading – Sabrina

The Caton Team – Susan & Sabrina – A Family of Realtors

Sabrina BRE# 01413526 / Susan BRE #01238225 / Team BRE#70000218

6 Wills, Won’ts and Worries of 2013 Home Buyers…. great article – had to share…

When I read this – I just had to share….

6 Wills, Won’ts and Worries of 2013 Home Buyers

Trulia Article By Tara-Nicholle Nelson

If you’ve ever taken up running, you might know what it’s like to strap on your new shoes, head over to the track and take those first few strides, then feel a pain in your chest, heaviness in your feet and possibly, actually see stars. Maybe your last steps off the track were accompanied by the thought process: “Either I’m crazy, or runners are.”

Until you have talked to a legitimate, dyed in the wool runner and told them your story, explaining why you detest running with every iota of your being you won’t know the runner’s secret: everyone feels that way at first. It’s the normal physiological adjustment to the increased load you’re putting on your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems, this pain you felt when you took those first few steps. It goes away in just a moment, if and only if you keep on running.

Sometimes, knowing that others react to a tough situation by feeling the same emotions, thinking the same thoughts, or doing the same things you do flat out helps you feel less crazy, panicked and out of control of your situation. It’s the concept behind support groups but, last I checked, there really isn’t such a thing as group therapy for home buyers. (Well, some would say that’s what Trulia Voices is for, but I digress.)

Today’s rapidly rising prices and generally volatile market does make things tough for buyers, so we thought we’d systematically explore – and then share – what’s going on inside the minds of the buyers on today’s market. Hopefully, sellers will find some insights for marketing their properties, too.

Fresh off the presses, here are some of the insights and takeaways from our latest American Dream Survey, pinpointing the things today’s buyers worry about, will and won’t do in their quest to get their own corner of the American Dream: a home.

Worry: Mortgage rates and prices will rise before I buy. Trulia’s Economist Jed Kolko reports that “the top worry among all survey respondents who might buy a home someday is that mortgage rates will rise further before they buy (41%), followed by rising prices (37%).” The worry is valid, given the fact that the market was depressed for so long and has a long recovery road ahead of it. It’s compounded by the fact that buying a home has gone from something that used to take a month or two and now routinely takes 6 months, 9 months, a year or even longer!

Here’s the deal: you can’t stop prices from rising. And fixating on this particular fear poses the potential pitfall of rushing to buy or making compromises that will turn out badly in the end. Don’t dilly dally, if you’re ready and in the market, and don’t mess around making lowball offers with no chance of success. But otherwise, don’t let this fear drive your buying and timing decisions.

Will: Be aggressive. B. E. Aggressive. Economist Kolko explained, “among survey respondents who plan to buy a home someday, 2 in 3 (66%) would use aggressive tactics such as bidding above asking, writing personal letters to the seller, or removing contingencies, to name a few.” What buyers do and don’t do in the name of aggressively pursuing their dream homes (and, consequently, what sellers expect) is slightly different in every town.

Knowing that other buyers are facing down the same challenges you are and coming up with similar, aggressive solutions can help you feel a little less crazy about your thought processes and emotions and the desperate measures that come to mind when you hear how many others think “your” home is their dream home. And that puts you back in control of what can sometimes feel like an out-of-control situation. Reality check: you are 100% in the driver’s seat when it comes to how aggressive you want to be in your pursuit of any given home, and which specific tactics you leverage in the course of that pursuit.

Worry: I won’t find a home I like. Forty-three percent of people who plan to buy a home in the next 12 months expressed the concern that they might not be able to even find a property they like. Perhaps these people were just seriously persnickety, but I suspect there’s a bigger issue at play here. All of us can find a home we like, but whether there’s anything we like enough to buy in our price range is a completely separate issue.

This worry, then, seems to be closely related to the fear of rising prices – buyers are rightfully fearful that home value increases will put their personal dream homes out of their price range. This is why it’s super important to:

be aggressive about seeing suitable properties as soon as they come onto the market
work with an agent whose offer pricing advice you trust
adjust your house hunt downward in price range if the market dynamics include lots of over-asking sales prices, and
not to let months and months go by while you make lowball offers or otherwise be slow to come to the reality of what homes are actually selling for in your area.

The sooner you put yourself seriously in the game and make reality-based offers, the more likely you’ll be able to score a home you like in your price range.

Worry: I will have to compete with other buyers for the home I like. Twenty-seven percent of those who plan to buy at some point in the future and 32% of those who plan to buy in the next year said they feared the prospect of facing a bidding war. This worry is well-grounded. In California, the average property receives four offers – but stories of dozens of offers abound. And it’s not just a West Coast phenomenon: buyers from coast to coast trade tales of getting outbid and having to throw in their firstborn child, lastborn puppy and most precious earthly possessions just to get into contract.

Truth is, market dynamics vary from town to town, and even neighborhood to neighborhood, but if you’re buying on today’s market or planning to buy anytime soon, bidding wars, multiple offers and over-asking sales prices are a reality you will probably have to factor into your house hunt.

Won’t: Bid way more than asking. Only 9 percent of wanna-be buyers said they would bid between 6 and 10 percent over the asking price for a property. This finding surfaces the uber-importance of checking in with an experienced local agent to get a briefing on precisely how much over asking homes are selling for in your area. This empowers you to tweak your online house hunting price range low enough that you can make an over-asking offer and be successful without breaking the bank. And once you’ve gotten a reality-based estimate of the over-asking norm, it will loom less ominously in your mind’s eye as a potential American Dream-killer.

Worry: I won’t qualify for a mortgage. Thirty percent of all people who identified themselves as planning to buy a home in the future said they were worried they might not be able to qualify for a home loan. (Interestingly, only 25 percent of buyers in hot markets like Oakland and Las Vegas expressed this concern – rapidly rising prices and knowing lots of other buyers are closing transactions in your town seems to ease this fear.)

Of all the worries on the list, this is the one over which a smart buyer has the most power. So exercise it! Work with a mortgage broker who was referred by friends, family members or an agent you trust. And ideally, work with them months – even a year or more – before you plan to buy. They can help you put an action plan in place around boosting your savings and credit score, and minimize your debt and credit dings, that you can work to minimize mortgage qualifying dramas when the time is right. They can also help give you a stronger sense of what you can afford vis-a-vis your income, to help you anticipate any challenges related to what sort of home your dollar will buy in your market.

ALL: What worries do you have about today’s market? Which steps are you willing to take in your quest to achieve the American Dream?

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.

Email Sabrina & Susan at: Info@TheCatonTeam.com

Call The Caton Team at 650-568-5522

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Thanks for reading – Sabrina

What Will Waiting to Buy a Home Cost You?

What Will Waiting to Buy a Home Cost You? Great article from Realtor.com

At the end of June, mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 4.5 percent, up from 3.9 percent on June 1 — and a notable jump from the historically low 3.35 percent monthly average rate toward the end of 2012. However, while higher rates do mean an increase in monthly mortgage payments, experts are urging potential home buyers not to resign themselves to renting for the next few years just yet — it’s still a good time to buy a home.

These moderate increases in payments may still be manageable, particularly if buyers look at less expensive properties, or negotiate a lower price.

For example, the difference in monthly payments for a $200,000 home at 3.9 percent and one at 4.5 percent is just $70.03. If budgeted correctly, this could be a manageable expense.

Rick Allen, chief operating officer of Mortgage Marvel, is one expert who says now is still the time to buy a house. His platform records online mortgage loan applications, about a million transactions a year, which serves as a barometer for how well the housing market is doing. He says that refinances are down, as to be expected with a rate increase, but that “shouldn’t scare people off.”

“Relatively speaking, rates are still at or near historic lows,” says Allen. “A 4.5 percent mortgage is still an incredibly attractive rate at which to finance a home. From a real estate perspective, we’re not far off from recent lows, and we’re heading to improve real estate values. The combination of those two factors make this still a good time to buy.”

As the unemployment rate continues to decline, Allen says we’ll see more potential homeowners enter the market as well. Though Allen says “theoretically, rates could go through the roof or back down to the floor” but he personally believes we’ll see rates around 5 percent through the end of the year.

This is the early stage of the recovery of the housing market, and the rising interest rates encourage potential home buyers to be more decisive, and act quickly. As more homes are bought, supply decreases, so prices may rise even further. So if you’ve been thinking about buying a home, don’t lose your confidence, but it may be prudent to act quickly as rates continue to rise.

My 2 Cents

I couldn’t agree more – and I am NOT trying to fear monger. The truth of the matter is – no one has control of the Real Estate market. We as a collective influence the market by our actions or lack of – but it the end – the market will move at its own pace. In our experience, those trying to figure it out or ‘play the game’ generally miss the boat of opportunity.

Instead The Caton Team has our clients consider what their overall plan is, and generally having a home to live in is pretty high on their list. So we tackle the market in the moment and do our best to achieve their goal of homeownership.

I read this article at: http://www.realtor.com/news/what-will-waiting-to-buy-a-home-cost-you/?cid=EML301130

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.

Email Sabrina & Susan at: Info@TheCatonTeam.com

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Thanks for reading – Sabrina

Renters May Grow by 6 Million in Next Decade – Interesting Article –

I read this on DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS and thought it was good to share.

Renters May Grow by 6 Million in Next Decade

Since the housing crash in 2008, the number of renting households has soared. Within the next decade, 5 to 6 million new renter households are expected to be formed, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

Much of that increase may occur in the next two years. Within that time, the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that renter households will grow from 38 million to 41 million.

“In general, across the country there are more renters now than there were two or three years ago,” says Wally Charnoff, CEO of RentRange.

Property management companies are booming, too. Officials with Real Property Management say the company has doubled in size over the past two years. The company has 230 offices in 47 states and adds an average of eight new franchises per month.

“Profound changes in the housing market have created significant demand for property management companies like ours,” Kirk McGary, CEO of Real Property Management, told HousingWire. “And it doesn’t look like that’s changing anytime soon.”

Charnoff adds that location may be a big driver for renters. With a shortage of for-sale homes nowadays, some families are being driven to rent in order to be able to live in a specific neighborhood with good schools, he notes. “Institutional investors have provided a lot of readily available property,” he says.

However, he adds that rising mortgage rates may prompt more on-the-fence renters to jump into home ownership before housing affordability moves lower.

What do you think this means for our real estate market? Share your thoughts!

I read this article at: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/06/13/renters-may-grow-6-million-in-next-decade?om_rid=AACmlZ&om_mid=_BRufS1B8zTgy7W&om_ntype=RMODaily

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.

Email Sabrina & Susan at: Info@TheCatonTeam.com

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Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:

Thanks for reading – Sabrina

Top 10 Scams of 2012 – had to share this….

Had to share this!

Top 10 Scams of 2012 The Better Business Bureau releases its annual list of the worst schemes that aimed to steal people’s money or identity.

Each year the Better Business Bureau investigates thousands of scams, from new schemes that take advantage of current events to old ploys used time and again to bilk people. The BBB uses its data, along with reports from federal agencies and other sources, to compile an annual list of the top scams — not necessarily the biggest as far as the number of people affected or amount of money stolen but rather the most egregious, says Carrie Hurt, president and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

Below you’ll find the BBB’s list of the top scams from the past year in nine categories, plus the “Scam of the Year.”

Top Fake Check Scam: Car Ads – The Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, received many complaints in 2012 about online ads promising to pay people $400 or more a week for driving around with company logos on their car. People would be sent a check and asked to deposit in their account and wire part of the payment to a graphic designer who would customize the ad for their vehicle. There was no graphic designer or ad, though, and the check would bounce – usually after people had wired money to the scammers.

Top Emergency Scam: Grandparent Scam – This scam that’s been around a long time involves a grandchild or other relative who is traveling abroad and asks for money to be wired to him right away because he was mugged or hurt (and says, “Please don’t tell Mom and Dad.”). According to the BBB, the FBI reports that it’s easier for scammers to tell a more plausible story because they can use information the “supposed” victim posts on Facebook or Twitter. The BBB says that you never should wire money without trying to contact the supposed victim at his or her regular phone number or checking with family members to see if that person really is traveling.

Top Employment Scam: Mystery Shopping – Legitimate companies do use mystery shoppers to provide feedback on customer service, merchandise quality and other quality-control metrics. However, there are plenty of illegitimate offers for this sort of work. Scammers often tell prospective mystery shoppers that evaluating a wire-service company is part of the job and that they need to deposit a check and send back part of the money (and, of course, the victim finds out that the check has bounced after the money’s been wired). According to the BBB, the Mystery Shopping Providers Association says its members don’t prepay shoppers. To find a legitimate gig, visit www.mysteryshop.org.

Top Advance Fee/Prepayment Scam: Nonexistent Loans – Loan scams tend to be advertised online and promise things such as no credit check or easy repayment. However, you have to make the first payment upfront, buy an “insurance policy” or pay some other fee to secure the loan. This past year, there was a new twist on this loan scam: Consumers were threatened with lawsuits and law enforcement action if they didn’t pay back loans they said they had never even taken out in the first place. According to the BBB, some victims were called at their workplace, or their relatives were called. The embarrassment of being thought of as a delinquent caused some victims to pay even when they knew they didn’t owe the money, the BBB says.

Top Phishing Scam: President Obama Will Pay Your Utility Bills – I actually wrote about this scam last year. Thousands of people became victims of scammers who called, sent text messages, showed up at homes or used social media to tout a federal assistance program that would pay up to $1,000 on utility or credit-card bills – but there was no such program. Consumers were asked to give their Social Security numbers and other personal information to access what actually was a phony bank account and routing number to use when paying their bills online. To avoid such scams, never give personal information out over the phone unless you initiated the contact.

Top Sweepstakes Scam: Jamaican Phone Lottery – In this old scam that resurfaced last year, the calls come from Jamaica (area code 876) but the person claims to represent BBB, FBI or other trusted group and tells the victim that he’s won a large cash prize or government grant. The catch: You have to pay a fee to collect your winnings. If you get a call like this, hang up and report it to the BBB.

Top Identity Theft Scam: Fake Facebook Videos – Scammers used Twitter to send people direct messages claiming that there was an embarrassing video of them on Facebook, with a link. When people clicked on the link, they got an error message that said they needed to download a new version of Flash or other video player. The file was actually a virus or malware that could steal personal information from the computers or smart phones of people who downloaded it. Twitter recommends reporting such violations, changing your password and revoking connections to third-party applications that you don’t recognize.

Top Home Improvement Scam: Sandy Storm Repair – Scam artists took advantage of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy by promising homeowners to make repairs. They asked to be paid in advance and never did the work. The BBB recommends always asking contractors for references, checking credentials and using BBB.org to find trusted contractors.

Top Sales Scam: Fake Olympics Goods – Scammers took advantage of the London Olympics to set up Web sites offering merchandise that didn’t exist. People who tried to purchase items simply lost their money. And counterfeit sports memorabilia also was common year-round. The BBB recommends buying directly from team stores and sites, or from legitimate retailers – not from people hawking wares on the street or outside stadiums. You’ll pay a little more, but it will be the real deal.

Scam of the Year: Newtown Charity Scams – Social media pages dedicated to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting appeared with hours of the tragedy in Newtown, Conn. Some were created by scammers asking for money. According to the BBB, the FBI has already arrested one woman for posing as the aunt of one of the children killed, and state and federal agencies are investigating other possible fraudulent and misleading solicitations. “Although the number of people defrauded and the total dollars stolen is most likely low, the cynicism and sheer audacity of these scams merits our selecting it as the Top Scam of 2012,” the BBB says.

By Cameron Huddleston, Kiplinger.com

I read this article at: The Kiplinger Washington Editors. Kiplinger.com.

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.

Email Sabrina & Susan at: Info@TheCatonTeam.com

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Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at:

Thanks for reading – Sabrina

Home Buyers Face Dilemma with Housing Shortage – SF GATE sheds some light…

After a great open house yesterday with candid discussions with the buyers out there. It was great to find this article this morning in the Sunday paper regarding what Realtors in the Bay Area were already thinking. If you want to call our glorious SF Peninsula home – now is the time. We hit bottom, whether it was 2009 or 2012. With limited inventory and low rates driving renters from out under their rock – homes are selling with multiple offers and for over their listed price. And with demand this strong – we don’t feel prices are going to fall anytime soon. Take a read and let me know your thoughts. Comment or email us at info@thecatonteam.com! Enjoy!

Home Buyers Face Dilemma with Housing Shortage

The sharp drop in homes for sale poses a tough choice for buyers: Jump in now and compete with hordes of others or wait until inventory improves. If you buy now, you might have to pay above asking. But if you wait, you could end up paying an even higher price and a higher interest rate if you need a loan. That’s because inventory won’t improve until prices rise enough to get more homeowners to sell and more builders to break ground.

The inventory shortage is especially acute in California. Of the 30 largest housing markets, the four with the biggest drops in homes listed for sale on Zillow in February compared with February of last year were Sacramento (48 percent), Los Angeles, San Francisco (41 percent) and San Diego. Although listings are increasing on a month-to-month basis as the busy spring season gets under way, Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko predicts they won’t start rising on a year-over-year basis for a year or more.

An example of that: “In all of Millbrae, there was one listing two months ago. There are about a dozen now,” says Roger Dewes, a Coldwell Banker agent on the Peninsula. In a normal market, there might be 20. “We are not there yet, but going from one to 12 is quite a leap,” he says.

Experts cite five factors contributing to the inventory shortage:

Fewer foreclosures are hitting the market. “California did a good job of disposing of its backlog” of distressed properties, says Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries.

In California, where most foreclosures are handled out of court, the process is taking about 11 months on average, according to RealtyTrac. In New York and New Jersey, where foreclosures go through a court proceeding, the process is taking 36 and 32 months, respectively.

Many people still owe more than their homes are worth. If they sold now, they would have to come up with extra cash to pay off their loan. Although prices have rebounded from their lows, 23.3 percent of homes with a mortgage in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties were still underwater in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to Zillow.

Even if they are not underwater, many owners won’t sell for less than they paid. If they bought near the peak, it may take a while before they are ready to budge.

The median price paid for a new or resale home or condo in the nine-county Bay Area was $415,000 in January. That’s less than halfway between its low of $290,000 in March 2009 and its high of $665,000 set in June/July 2007, according to DataQuick.

Many people, even if their homes are worth more than they paid, won’t sell because they are afraid they won’t be able to buy another house. “It becomes a game of musical chairs; they are afraid to get out because they can’t get back in,” Humphries says. This becomes “a self-reinforcing cycle” that keeps homes off the market.

The housing bust put new construction on hold.

The shortage comes at a time when demand is rising in the Bay Area, not just from regular buyers but from investors, second-home buyers and foreign buyers, especially from Asia.

‘Heck of a wreck’

The result is stories like this: A 1,500-square-foot home on Clipper Street on San Mateo’s east side, advertised as a “heck of a wreck,” attracted 97 offers in the first eight days, says listing agent Claire Haggarty of NBT Realty Services.

The home was listed in mid-January at $375,000, which Haggarty considered “a little under market.” It sold for $510,000 in an all-cash deal with no inspections, no contingencies and a 10-day close.

At some point, prices will rise enough to shake lose more inventory, but it won’t happen immediately. Based on what’s happening around the country, Kolko says inventory tightens fastest in the first 12 months after prices hit a bottom. “Everybody wants to buy at the bottom and nobody wants to sell at the bottom,” he says.

About 12 months after hitting bottom, inventory continues to decline, albeit at a slower pace. But it won’t increase on a year-over-year basis until at least two years after hitting bottom, he predicts. If you adjust for the mix of homes sold, Kolko says prices bottomed in February 2012 nationwide and in most parts of California and the Bay Area. (The San Jose metro area bottomed earlier, in June 2011.)

Although DataQuick shows Bay Area home prices bottoming in 2009, that’s when most homes being sold were low-priced. The middle and upper end of the market bottomed in early 2012, says DataQuick’s Andrew LePage.

If you believe Kolko’s two-year rule, inventory won’t begin increasing on a year-over-year basis until at least early 2014 in most areas. Humphries says it might improve earlier, by the end of the year, but “this spring will still be challenging from an inventory perspective.” If you wait until next year to buy, the market may be cooler but prices are likely to be higher. There’s also a risk that interest rates will be higher, he says.

Sweet spot

The sweet spot for buyers might be this summer. Even though inventory is falling year-over-year, “the seasonal pattern means there will be more homes on the market in the summer,” Kolko says. “Search traffic peaks in the spring, but inventory peaks in July.” Many buyers also go on vacation in July and August, Dewes says.

The decision to buy or wait “really comes down to a fundamental decision about how long you will be in a home,” Humphries says. “If you want to be in a home long enough to make buying better than renting, make that decision as soon as you can.”

In the city of San Francisco, the breakeven point where it makes more sense to own is 3.7 years, Humphries says. “If you will be there more than 3.7 years, I’d say buy now.”

By Kathleen Pender SF GATE

I read this article at: http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Home-buyers-face-dilemma-with-shortage-4342162.php#page-2

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10 Tax Tips for Home Sellers – great article – had to share…

10 tax tips for home sellers

Real Estate Tax Talk By Stephen Fishman

The IRS has recently issued a helpful list of 10 tax tips all homeowners should keep in mind when selling a home:

1. You are usually eligible to exclude the gain from income if you have owned and used your home as your main home for two years out of the five years prior to the date of its sale.

2. If you have a gain from the sale of your main home, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from your income ($500,000 on a joint return in most cases).

3. You are not eligible for the exclusion if you excluded the gain from the sale of another home during the two-year period prior to the sale of your home.

4. If you can exclude all of the gain, you do not need to report the sale on your tax return.

5. If you have a gain that cannot be excluded, it is taxable. You must report it on Form 1040, Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses.

6. You cannot deduct a loss from the sale of your main home.

7. Worksheets are included in Publication 523, Selling Your Home, to help you figure the adjusted basis of the home you sold, the gain (or loss) on the sale, and the gain that you can exclude.

8. If you have more than one home, you can exclude a gain only from the sale of your main home. You must pay tax on the gain from selling any other home. If you have two homes and live in both of them, your main home is ordinarily the one you live in most of the time.

9. If you received the first-time homebuyer credit and within 36 months of the date of purchase the property is no longer used as your principal residence, you are required to repay the credit. Repayment of the full credit is due with the income tax return for the year the home ceased to be your principal residence, using Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit. The full amount of the credit is reflected as additional tax on that year’s tax return.

10. When you move, be sure to update your address with the IRS and the U.S. Postal Service to ensure you receive refunds or correspondence from the IRS. Use Form 8822, Change of Address, to notify the IRS of your address change.

For more information about selling your home, see IRS Publication 523, Selling Your Home.

Stephen Fishman is a tax expert, attorney and author who has published 18 books.

I read this article at: http://lowes.inman.com/newsletter/2012/09/10/news/200760

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Top 5 Homebuyer Regrets – Had to share this article…

Please enjoy this article I found…

Top 5 Homebuyer Regrets

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson

In life, and in real estate, there are decisions that, if we had them to do over again, we might do x, y or z differently. But all in all, we are not too upset about how things turned out. “C’est la vie,” as they say.

Then there are the decisions and actions we actively regret, worrying over their long-term consequences, wishing we could have a cosmic do-over, stewing and ruminating over what we did wrong. (In truth, it’s a sign of emotional maturity to see every experience as an education, and to be free from ruminating over even the worst of our regrets. But I digress).

Contrary to popular belief, my experience shows that the vast majority of homebuyers commit what they see as the first type of mistakes, but not those deep, dark regrets. However, those that do have serious regrets can lose many hours of sleep and many thousands of dollars trying to remedy them. Their only gain? Experience and gray hairs.

Here are the top 5 true, deep regrets of homebuyers and some insights for how to prevent them from taking over your own life:

1. Premature buying. This is not at all about timing the market or making sure you get in at the “just-right” moment. There’s not much you can or should do about that. But buying before your life or your finances are ready for homeownership is a transgression that ends up causing serious, long-term regrets for those who end up doing it. Premature buying takes several forms, the most common of which includes jumping the gun and buying before you’ve saved as much as you really need, or before you’ve paid your debt down to the level you really needed to.

Another pervasive form of premature buying is to buy before you’ve truly, deeply, seriously run all your own personal financial numbers, which puts you in the position of forced reliance on what the bank, lender or someone else thinks is affordable, which is often wrong.

Similarly, buying because you feel pressure to get in while the market is keeping prices and interest rates low, rather than because you want and can afford a home, is a surefire path to real estate regret.

2. Buying too small of a house. People who buy too large of a home often realize, several years in, that they simply aren’t using all of their rooms and many either sell and downsize or find ways to put the extra space they have to better use. People who buy too small of a home, on the other hand, are acutely aware of it from the moment their children start fighting, they find themselves and their energy levels deactivated by clutter or they end up realizing that there is no room at the inn for the family members or friends they’d like to house, short or long term.

Buying too large of a home is potentially wasteful of the money spent maintaining, heating and cooling the place; buying too small a home is uncomfortable and frustrating, sometimes intensely so, on a constant basis — hence, the regret it can create.

Avoid this regret by starting your house hunt with a visioning exercise: What do you want your home life to look like in 10 years? Who will live with you? Do you entertain or have overnight guests? What activities do you want or need to be able to do there? Do you want to practice yoga, crafts, have kid-sized homework spaces, work at home, collect classic cars or move your parents in? If so, seek to buy a home that can comfortably fit all these people and their activities, even though they might not all exist — yet.

3. Buying a home you can’t truly afford. You might think that one of the top 5 regrets of homebuyers would be buying at the top of the market. But that’s not the case — I know plenty of buyers who bought at the top, paid top dollar and are still upside down on their homes, yet are still happy with their homes because they can well afford the payment and bought homes that will serve their families very well for the very long term (which will allow their home’s value to recover).

It is much more problematic to simply overextend yourself on a home — no matter what the market dynamics are at the time you buy. People who both bought at the top of the market AND overextended themselves made up the large majority of folks who lost homes, as the mortgage gyrations they went through (i.e., taking short-term, interest-only, adjustable-rate mortgages) in order to qualify for the home in the first place also caused them to be utterly unable to sustain the mortgage once the market declined and their mortgages weren’t able to be refinanced.

If you can’t foresee being able to make the mortgage payment on your home 10 years in the future without refinancing it, that’s a sign you might be approaching the unaffordability danger zone.

4. Incompletely resolving co-buyer conflicts. Many co-buyers are couples, but I’ve also seen parents buy homes with their children, siblings buy homes together and even good friends team up to co-buy a home. Any time there is more than one buyer, there is a chance that the co-buyers will have one or more disconnects in their wants, needs and priorities. Often these are resolved almost effortlessly by the realities of the homes that are on the market (e.g., neither party’s dream home turns out to actually exist, or pricing realities require everyone to compromise); other times, people simply work things out like mature individuals, seeking first to understand their co-buyer’s position, then working out a compromise that works for everyone involved.

But in still other cases, the conflict is never truly, deeply resolved; even on closing day, one side feels completely misunderstood, or caves in for the sake of avoiding conflict, or someone simply throws a tantrum, insisting that they get their way. In these cases, it’s common for the party who feels undermined and trampled on to ruminate on it as they live in the property every single day, ending up with great resentment and anger over the years.

5. Taking on fixing beyond their skill, patience and resource level. It can be heartbreaking to tour one of the many homes on the market that was clearly the subject of a previous owner’s fixer-upper dream but was abandoned in the middle of a remodel. Often, these abandonments happen because the owner simply underestimated what the project would take and ran out of time, energy or, most commonly, money to get the remodeling completed. But it’s even sadder to tour the home of a frustrated fixer whose owner and family still lives in a half-done, very dysfunctional property, and who are getting more and more disgruntled with their situation every time they make a mortgage payment.

I read this article at: http://lowes.inman.com/newsletter/2012/08/29/news/199628

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Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite

The National Pest Management Association’s Vice President of Public Affairs, Missy Henriksen, shares the following tips for avoiding these pests while traveling.

Check Your Room. If you don’t want to let the bedbugs bite, thoroughly inspect your room for signs of infestation. Henriksen advises placing your luggage in the bathroom when you first arrive in your hotel room, because there’s no place for bedbugs to hide in most bathrooms. Next, says Henriksen, “Pull back the sheets and inspect the mattress seams, particularly at the corners, for pepper-like stains or spots or even the bugs themselves. Adult bedbugs resemble a flat apple seed.” Also look behind the headboard, inside chair and couch cushions, behind picture frames, and around electrical outlets. If you see anything suspicious, notify management and change rooms (or better yet, establishments) immediately.

Request A Different Room. If you do have to change rooms, don’t move to a room adjacent to or directly above or below the site of the bedbug infestation. “Bedbugs can easily hitchhike via housekeeping carts and luggage or even through wall sockets,” notes Henriksen. “If an infestation is spreading, it typically does so in the rooms closest to the origin.”

Cover Your Bags. Even if you don’t see any signs of bedbugs, you should still take precautions. Never place luggage on a hotel bed or floor. Use luggage racks if available, and place your suitcase in a protective cover. Even a plastic trash bag will suffice.

Keep Everything Off the Floor. Despite the name, bedbugs lurk in many spots, not just where you sleep. Always be vigilant when you travel. Avoid putting your personal belongings on the floor of an airplane, bus, train, or taxi. Keep your small bag or purse on your lap at all times, and seal your bigger bags inside plastic or protective covers before checking or storing them in overhead bins.

Treat Your Luggage and Clothes After Travel. “The best way to prevent bedbugs is to remain vigilant both during travel and once you return home,” says Henriksen. The National Pest Management Association offers the following checklist to make sure you leave the bedbugs behind:
• Inspect your suitcases before bringing them into the house, and vacuum all luggage before storing it.
• Consider using a handheld garment steamer to steam your luggage; this can kill any bedbugs or eggs that might have hitched a ride home.
• Immediately wash and dry all of your clothes—even those that have not been worn—in hot temperatures to ensure that any stowaway bedbugs are not transported into your drawers or closet.
• Keep clothes that must be dry-cleaned in a plastic bag and take them to the dry cleaner as soon as possible.
• If you suspect a bedbug infestation in your home, contact a licensed pest professional promptly. Bedbugs are not a DIY pest, and the longer you wait, the larger the infestation will grow. A trained professional has the tools and knowledge to effectively treat your infestation.

I read this article here: http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/five-ways-to-stop-bedbugs-before-they-bite.html

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