When you are buying, or selling a home, your most important step to take is choosing the right real estate agent or buyer's agent. The process is very detailed and difficult and you will want someone that could potentially save you from mistakes that can cost a great deal of money.

Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | ActiveRain

Friday, February 5, 2010

Are You Ready To Buy Your First Home In Texas? Or, Just Move To A Different One?

According to a new Texas sales report just released this week; the statewide median home price increased 2.4 percent between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the fourth quarter of 2009, reaching $143,400. The Texas Quarterly Housing Report from the Texas Association of Realtors also said the number of homes for sale dropped, with the months of inventory falling statewide from 6.6 months to 6.5 months - considered the benchmark for a market balanced between buyers and sellers.

"The state was more or less flat, which was good. By and large the state of Texas did very well," said James Gaines, research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. "Even when we were down, we were down much less than the rest of the country." In San Antonio, the median home price was $147,600 at the end of the year, down 1 percent.
But sales volume increased 16 percent statewide, with more than 53,000 home sales in the last three months of the year.

There's no way to know for sure, but the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers likely spurred more sales, Gaines said. The credit, available to those who haven't owned a home in the last three years, essentially gave home buyers $8,000 from the government. "We don't have any way to really count it," Gaines said. "My belief is that on the aggregate level it might have made a difference of as much as 10 percent. Most of those sales happened in October or November."

The tax credit was an offer that was supposed to expire at the end of November 2009. But Congress extended it and expanded it to include more people, which could help boost home sales in the first half of 2010. The report uses data on single-family home sales from 47 multiple listing services in cities throughout Texas. Based on this information anyone interested in taking advantage of the current tax credits need to know that you must be under contract by April 30, 2010 and close on your home no than June 30, 2010 to qualify.

And, don't forget, the $6,500 Move-Up / Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit. To be eligible to claim the tax credit, buyers must have owned and lived in their previous home for five consecutive years out of the last eight years. Don't miss out... The clock is ticking... The tax credit will go away in just 83 days...

Sources: http://www.texasrealtors.com; http://www.mysanantonio.com/life

posted by Patti Queen 0 Comments

Friday, December 4, 2009

Saving Money For Your First Home

by Andy Asbury

For many people, buying their first home is only a dream. They simply can't come up with the money for a down payment. But if they really looked at how they spend their discretionary income, there may be several areas where they could adjust or cut back and still enjoy life.

Everyone will have their own methods of changing their spending habits. It will still take time to save, but it can be done. Here are some ideas for saving money, one bit at a time towards the big picture - your new home.

Many of these tips are as old as time, but if they are followed, you will see the numbers start adding up in your savings account.

- If you have a gym membership and don't use it regularly, cancel it. You can buy inexpensive DVD's for home workouts.

- Stop buying specialty coffees every day. Choose a small or medium size of regular blend or bring a thermos of your favorite coffee from home.

- Take the bus to work. This may get you lower rates on car insurance.

- Collect and use coupons. It really works!

- Take your lunch to work.

- Ask for a reduced rate on your credit card.

- Pay off your credit cards every month.

- Pay for basic cable channels only.

- Rent movies instead of going to the theatre. Homemade popcorn is better anyway!

- Read magazines online, at the library or your doctor's office.

- Find a bank that offers no fees on checking accounts, without requiring a minimum balance.

- Pay car insurance semi-annually, or annually to avoid extra charges.

- Stop smoking! This can add up to hundreds, if not thousands of dollars every year.

- Choose a slower Internet service that is less expensive.

- Sign up for free customer rewards programs. This saves money and gives you free goods on a regular basis.

- Write a shopping list and stick to it. Do not go grocery shopping when you are hungry.

- Invite friends over instead of meeting at a restaurant.

- Make your favorite dish and freeze portions. This also helps when you don't have time to cook.

- Shop at consignment stores for clothes and household items.

- Your local dollar store has everything from greeting cards to socks, and sometimes food that you buy regularly.

- purchase cards, wrapping paper and gifts for the following year after the holiday at half price, even Mother's day and Valentines Day.

- buy generic or house brand products. It is often made by the same manufacturer as the name brand, but costs less.

- become an expert at mix and match wardrobe purchases.

Another trick is to set up a Finance Journal and record your spending every day. You may be surprised to see where your money goes every month. How much of that could have been put in your savings account to buy your first home? It doesn't take long, and soon you'll be picking out new paint, or furniture for your very own home.

posted by Patti Queen 0 Comments

Saturday, November 7, 2009

UPDATE on Homebuyer Tax Credit

Congress finally extended and expanded the homebuyer tax credit and sent it to President Obama which he signed into law and effective until April 30th, 2010.

If you are a current home owner and have lived in your house for five of the past eight years, the new bill also includes a credit of up to $6,500 for you to buy another house.

Here is a table that shows all the changes in the tax credits: NAR Issue Brief Homebuyer Tax Credit

posted by Patti Queen 0 Comments

Thursday, November 5, 2009

$8,000 new home buyer credit about to be extended.

The Senate just voted on extending the $8,000 new home buyer tax credit up to the first six months of 2010. The measure was part of a new bill to extend unemployment benefits and it is now on it's way to the House of Representative which is sure to vote to pass it.

In the mean time, for more information, watch the video below and go to the IRS website.



Other related links:

>Congress giving homebuyers a $6,500 tax break (WOAI)
>Should the Home Buyers' Tax Credit Be Extended? (Time Magazine)
>Senate votes to renew tax credit for first-time home buyers (Washington Post)

posted by Patti Queen 0 Comments

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Do you need an enrgy audit on your home?

I was recently talking to a home inspector and he was saying that government mandated energy audits are coming. That means added expense when selling a home. And if you have a government mandated energy audit, I'll bet there is government mandated repairs to go along with the sale of a house.

So I'm thinking that it might be wise for all of us to get on the trend now and start looking at how much our homes are wasting energy. I know my own home has to waste a lot of energy, my electric bill in the summer tells me that!

So I did some digging around and found a great area of the CPS Energy site from San Antonio. CPS recomends that we look into four main areas in our homes for energy waste:

I found the following tid bits to be interesting:
  • - The air conditioner is the single most top energy user in your house.
  • - There are great ways to save money with your water heater without compromising your confort.
  • - Compact fluorescent light (CFL) or Light emitting diode (LED) light bulbs can save more money that you would think
  • - The fridge is the most wasteful applicae in the home. Is yours energy efficient.

If you would like to have a professional come to your house and conduct a thorough energy audit of your home, give me a call.

posted by Patti Queen 0 Comments

Sunday, July 5, 2009

What you should know about "Cap and Trade" legislation and the real estate market

With all the news flood about Michael Jackson's death and funeral plans, little has been said about a legislation that was passed in the House of Representatives. The Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Bill or also know as the National Energy Tax bill is now in the Senate which has a super majority which will drive very hard to push it through and get it to President Obama for a signature.

The premise behind this legislation is that the United Estates needs to take a leadership in the world regarding the reduction of green house gasses. It is a set of measures that is supposed to reduce our carbon emissions and help the world curb the eminent effects of "global warming." It is supposed to cut the energy consumption of homes by 62 percent by 2029. However, President Obama said "make no mistake, this is a jobs bill."

Whether you believe in global warming or not, there are some facts about this legislation that will affect you as a home buyer, home seller, or home builder.

New Home buyers: Saving up to buy a new home? Count on saving longer. The new legislation will require all builders to adhere to the new costly California building codes. These codes require builders to build "green" houses which can significantly increase the cost of building.

Home Builders: If your state does not agree with the Federal law, the Federal Government can assess huge penalties. Even if you invest in complying with all the rules, the requirements can be added unto by "consensus" of bureaucrats.

Home sellers: Do you think this is a tough market? The new legislation would require you to have an "energy audit" that could penalize you for older windows, original fixtures, and dated appliances. These are all things that are usually negotiated between the buyer and the seller but now, the seller would be mandated to make the changes. And who is conducting this "audit"? A government bureaucrat! Hope you are not selling your home during election and you have the wrong political sign on your yard!

The bill is so large, nobody has had the time to completely analyze the scope of government intrusion. On the last day of discussion of the bill before vote, a 300 page amendment was added that possibly furthers the regulatory control over a sale of a house.

More Reading:
- The Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Bill Will Control Housing Standards

- Waxman-Markey Cap And Trade Will Make Homes Cut Energy Consumption 62 Percent

- Speaker Pelosi's National Energy Tax: More Mandates, More Regulations, More Costs

posted by Patti Queen 0 Comments

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Housing Drives the Economy.

Jim Gillespie, CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate talks on CNBC about what it will take for the housing market to recover and discusses Obama's new plan to help new home buyers.












posted by Patti Queen 0 Comments