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Posts Tagged ‘first time home buyers’

Old Friends and Real Estate

Posted in General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , on May 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

I met for dinner last night with a bunch of my old buds from my Duke Power (Energy) days.  I spent the better part of my adult life there working with a bunch of great folks, and we still get together occasionally.  This dinner (euphemism for beer and nachos) was on the occasion of the retirement of Don who I’ve known since around 1974.  We always have a nice time when we get together for some funny talk and some semi-serious talk.  The subject of my post-Duke career in real estate came up, and a comment was made about how they could never consider being in sales.  This is a bunch of engineers, so you can understand.  I told them that while I was working at Duke, I thought about that from time to time since I can’t stand for a “salesman” of any sort to try to get me to buy something.  That just turns me off totally.  My Duke buds just couldn’t believe that I was able to do that successfully.

The answer of course is that this is not what I do when working with real estate buyers and sellers.  I wouldn’t even be in this business if I hadn’t done a stint after Duke with a technical company as a manager who also got involved in helping the company’s clients buy products that worked best for them.  I found that I actually enjoyed listening to and understanding what people want, and helping them reach their goals.  That eventually led to my investigating real estate and finding that, properly done, the job of a Realtor is not to push someone to buy something, but to listen to wants and preferences, help people clarify their priorities, then help them find the right properties to consider and negotiate a transaction that is in their best interest.  The flip side of this is as a listing agent I won’t try to push a person to buy my listing.  The correct and honest thing to do is to present the property in such a positive and complete way that if it is a good match for a buyer, it will be obvious to the buyer.  That includes helping the seller price the property competitively.

I explained all of that to my friends.  I also explained that any Realtor who is interested in referral business, the very best kind of business there is, will do everything he or she can to be sure that the client has no regrets in hindsight.  A happy client will send me future business and be happy that they can recommend me confidently.  So, yes, you could say I’m working this way out of self-interest because I need future business to stay afloat.  But the nice thing is that the style of business that brings referrals for future business is the style of business that makes clients happy, now and in the future. 

That’s a win-win situation.

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Real Estate Sales After the End of the Tax Incentives

Posted in Finance, General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Today is the end of the First Time Home Buyer and Repeat Home Buyer tax incentives.  To take advantage of one of these incentives, you have to be under contract by the end of the day today (I’m available- call me ;-) ).  As we move into the months ahead, we’ll obviously be very interested in whether or not the somewhat improved housing market will continue.  When the incentives were created, the theory was that they would serve as a means to jump-start the economy since so much is dependent on the housing market.  Once that happened, the improved market should be able to survive and flourish without the need for a housing tax incentive. 

Since that time, home sales have improved, including new home sales.  We’re also seen a lot of chatter in the media about better numbers measuring both market metrics and consumer sentiment.  The stock market, long viewed as a leading indicator of the overall economy, continue to rise in anticipation of a healthier economy.  No doubt the unemployment numbers, the continued fall of housing prices and the expectation of continued home foreclosures are keeping the economy from taking off at a rapid pace, but the mood of the country does seem to have improved since last year.

We won’t have a realistic measure of whether housing will be able to sustain its improved performance until we get sales reports from the middle of the year.  I wouldn’t trust April figures to predict a trend because of the effect of the ending on April 30 of the tax incentives, and May will likely not be trustworthy as a bellweather, either.  However, by June or July, I think we’ll be able to take the measure of the improving economy’s effect on the housing market and vice-versa.  People tend to isolate phenomena like the tax incentives and predict the effect on the market from just that one thing.  The problem is that there are always many things going on in the world that have effects on the economy and markets so that to have any hope at all of predicting the future, you have to take into account the combined effects of all those variables working together and assume those that are changing are going to continue to change at a stable rate.  Unless your crystal ball works better than mine, that’s a pretty tall order.

So just settle back, watch what happens ,and don’t pay much attention to the real estate sales numbers for a couple of months.  I’m optimistic that more of us will begin to see better days, and that will be a welcome relief.

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Higher Mortgage Rates, Tax Incentive Deadline Near

Posted in Finance, General Real Estate Market, Lake Norman, tagged , , , , on April 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind if you plan to buy a house soon (or know someone who does).  First, the deadline for the First Time Homebuyer Tax Incentive of $8,000 and the Repeat Homebuyer Tax Incentive of $6,500 is near.  You’ve got to have your home purchase under contract by the end of this month, and have it closed by the end of June.  The closing part is not likely to be a problem if you’re buying a resale home, but if you want a new home, it may have to be a completed or close-to-complete home.  For more details on qualifications and dates for these incentives, click HERE.

Also, as expected, mortgage interest rates are starting to go up.  According to Chris Ayer, a Lake Norman, NC area Coldwell Banker Mortgage rep, “Rates are about 0.500% higher in some cases than they were at the beginning of the year.”  The Fed has ended a program that helped to keep rates low and they’re starting to react.  The jury is still out on the question of private investment stepping in to take the Fed’s place, but I would not count on it anytime soon.  Chris suggested a good article in Yahoo Finance about this situation.  You can see it by clicking HERE. 

Nothing focuses the mind like running out of time.  I’d say it’s time to FOCUS, and let’s get those houses under contract!  Call me if you need help on this.

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Tax Benefit for First Time and Repeat Homebuyers Not Having Much Effect

Posted in General Real Estate Market, tagged , , , , , on March 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Real estate agents make a living helping people buy and sell homes.  For quite awhile, there have not been nearly enough home buyers or serious sellers to keep us agents happy.  There are always some buyers and sellers out there, and we’re thrilled when we get to help someone, particularly since the funky market has made it more difficult to get from an offer to a successful closing than ever before.  We just would like more, please!

We’ve had high hopes that the extended tax credits for first time home buyers and new tax credit for repeat buyers would heat up the market substantially.  We have seen some degree of improvement lately- about what you’d normally see in the spring around here.  Yet, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest focused on the benefits of the tax credits.  I think we did get some a real boost last fall for the first round of these credits, but projections now are showing limited response to the current, and likely last, round of tax incentives for home buyers.  This is in spite of historically low mortgage interest rates and low housing prices.  Housing won’t be this affordable again for a long time.

As most understand, the future hangs mostly on the recovery of the economy and the (un)employment numbers.  We’re always hoping for a magic bullet, but this time it looks like the bullet is traveling at a donkey’s pace.

HERE is a link to a good Bloomberg Business Week article that pulls all of the variables together.

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December Charlotte Area Real Estate Stats

Posted in General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

For those of you who love to look at numbers and draw conclusions, here are some residential real estate stats from December of ’09 for our Carolinas Multiple Listing Service area of Mecklenburg and surrounding counties.  My own opinion is that positive change in average price numbers is worth considering to a degree, but the contract and closings volumes don’t mean much since they were influenced by the anticipated end of the First Time Home Buyer tax credit, originally scheduled to end on November 30, 2009.  That tax credit has been extended for contracts signed by the end of April, 2010 and closed by the end of June, 2010.  It was also extended to include repeat buyers for the same dates, so we’ll see this winter and spring if those tax credits influence the sales and stats as much as the first round did.

Residential contracts reported        December 09 – 1,466

December 09 contracts reported increased 14.1 percent over December 08

December 09 contracts reported decreased 10.9  percent over November 09

Residential closings reported        December 09 – 1,527

December 09 closings reported increased 13.1 percent over December 08

December 09 closings reported decreased 23.6 percent from November 09

Average sales price            December 09 – $211,705

Average sales price in December 09 increased 5.7 percent from December of 08

Average sales price in December 09 increased 8.4 percent over November 09

Average Days List to Close                December 143.8

Of reported home sales that closed from December 6 through January 5, 2010, 44 percent closed in 121 days or more; 15 percent closed between 91 and 120 days; 19 percent closed between 61 and 90 days; and 22 percent closed in 60 days or fewer

List to Close  down 3.7 days in December 09 over December 08

List to Close ­ up 1.6 days in December 09 over November 09

The bottom line is that for a person who is thinking about buyer or selling and buying another home, there are some very good things going on that would suggest you go ahead with your plan.   Prices are still low (good for buyers) and people who sell now at what they consider a discount will turn around and buy their next home at a similar discount, and do it at historically low interest rates.  If you’re an investor looking for rental properties, you know you’ll get some great deals now, and there are plenty of renters out there.

If you want to see even more numbers, or more localized numbers, call me. I’ll be glad to get them together for you.

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Help Me Spread the Word

Posted in Finance, General Real Estate Market, tagged , , , , , , , on January 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

You may have seen my previous posts about the extension of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit ($8,000) and the creation of the Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit ($6,500).  However, I keep running into people who are unaware of these or don’t understand them, especially the time limits on them.  Fact is, if someone plans to buy a home this year, it would behoove them to soon get started on the buying process, and if they’ve got a home to sell, the selling process.  The reason is that in order to qualify for the tax credits, a buyer must be under contract by the end of April, 2010 and closed by the end of June, 2010.  Having been through this many times with clients, I can tell you that for many buyers, that’s not much time to find the right home, get a contract negotiated, and get the financing completed in time for a closing by June 30. 

This is particularly true if the buyer has as their goal getting a home at a super low price because it is bank owned, or is a short sale (lender willing to take less than full mortgage payoff).  Agents continue to see these transactions being often much slower than those between normal buyers and sellers.  The lenders can take many weeks just to respond to an offer, and then their response may require a buyer’s counter-offer which would then reset the clock for a response.

Of course, that doesn’t matter if you don’t care about ensuring that you get the tax credit.  Just remember that these are way better than tax deductions.  They are dollar-for-dollar tax credits.  If you do your federal income taxes and owe $2,000, then the first time buyer tax credit would pay the $2,000 and the IRS would send you a check for the $6,000 difference.  Same deal for the repeat home buyer tax credit.  If you don’t owe anything, they’ll just send you whatever refund they owe you plus the amount of the tax credit.  That’ll buy a lot of paint and carpet to freshen up that home purchase.

There are lots of questions about how these tax credits work, and you can get many answers by visiting the Coldwell Banker site HERE.  So, if you know someone who is interested in buying a home for the first time or selling and buying another larger, or smaller home or one in another location, pass this post along to them and suggest they call me to discuss what we need to do to get started.  Even if you are not in the Lake Norman Area, I can refer you to a hand-picked agent who is familiar with your area who will be happy to help you.

The end of April will be here before you know it!

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Making Lemonade

Posted in Finance, General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Lemons to lemonade.  Black cloud with a silver lining.  Silk purse out of a sow’s ear.Lemonade

There are a number of expressions that we sometimes hear when someone finds something good in an othewise bad situation.  For example, I work with the Citizens for a Troutman Library.  When the new library was designed, the architect estimated the cost to be well over $1,000,000.  Then the economy went south.  When we put it out to bid, we were able to get a contract for under $800,000.  That allowed us to move ahead with construction.  In another example, the Town of Mooresville has lately been getting some needed re-paving of streets done, largely because paving prices are substantially lower than normal, and that’s the best use of our town funds now.

This same silver lining can help some people move ahead with their plans for buying a house or trading up (or down).  Right now, 30 year mortgage interest rates can be had for under 5% with good credit.  Right now, many first time buyers can get a tax credit of up to $8,000 and many repeat buyers a credit of up to $6,500.  Right now, home prices are historically low.  (Sellers, if you’re moving in the same market, you’ll enjoy the same discount on the house you buy that you may have to give to get yours sold- so that’s no reason to wait.) 

Do you think this silver lining will last forever?  Well, we know the home buyer tax credits will end by the middle of next year.  We know that mortgage interest rates have been held artificially low due to government buying our own bonds, and that will likely go away next year.  We see that in other parts of the country that are ahead of us in the downturn-upturn cycle, that prices are starting to edge back up.  I’d say now is really a remarkably good time to make a move, if that’s part of your long-term plan.

Who’s ready for some lemonade?  Oh, by the way.  I help people buy and sell houses.

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Details on Extended Housing Tax Credits

Posted in Finance, General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , on November 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

With Congress and the President signing the extension of the first time home buyer tax credit and the expansion of tax credits to include some repeat buyers, details are starting to be published on both of these programs.  The first time home buyer program continues to pay up to $8,000 for purchase of a primary residence and the repeat buyer program will pay up to $6,500 for purchase of a primary residence- both for purchase contracts dated before July 1, 2010.  Under some circumstances, HUD will allow these funds to be used for the required 3.5% minimum down payment.  In other cases, they require those funds to come from the buyer, but allow the tax credits to go toward additional closing costs and pre-paid fees normal to a closing.  These funds are accessible for these front end charges though short-term loans.

The National Association of Home Builders has put together a great site with Frequently Asked Questions on both programs.  You can see that site HERE.  Of course, details matter, and these FAQs contain info on who qualifies.  HERE is another very good sight recently published by Coldwell Banker United, Realtors.

I have been working with clients using the first time buyer tax credit, and they chose to make purchases  solely because of the tax credit.  Hopefully, this will continue to move some real estate and get our housing industry, and our economy moving again.  Lenders may be slow to lend to business, but they are lending to credit-worthy home buyers.

Let me know if the availability of these real estate tax credits can help you decide on your next move.

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Housing Tax Credit Extended and Expanded

Posted in Finance, General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , on November 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

I just read that the Home Buyer Tax Credit has now passed the House and the Senate, both by overwhelming votes and will go to the President for signature in the next few days. President Obama has already said he would sign the bill when it comes to him.  This extends the deadline for first time home buyers.  They must be under contract by April 30, 2010 and closed by the end of June.  It also ups the qualifying income level from $150,000 to $225,000 for a married couple.  In addition to first time home buyers, it provides up to $6,500 tax credit for home owners who are selling a home they’ve occupied for 5 of the last 8 years so that they can purchase another, likely move-up, home.  This last detail is the first to address the fact that the first time home buyer tax credit has been successful in driving sales, but left out those who need more space, or need to move to a new location and couldn’t get the numbers to work for them to make the move.  This should significantly improve the home resale market and new home market while the tax credits are in place. 

Hopefully, there will be enough sales to be a catalyst for overall improvement in the economy.  It would appear that our federal legislators, having studied the issue, have concluded that we’ll be helping our economy more than hurting it with this spending.  If the economy does improve over the long haul, that will greatly increase income and other tax revenues and help to pay back these huge investments our government has made in keeping us afloat and getting us out of the recession.

Here’s a good US News report on the details of the bill.

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First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension?

Posted in Finance, General Real Estate Market, Real Estate, tagged , , , , , , on October 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

News reports are telling us that the Senate has agreed in principle to extend the first time home buyer tax credit, allowing it to act as an incentive to first time home buyers who go under contract by end of April, 2010 and close by end of June, 2010.  They’re also working on the possibility of further extending an incentive to existing home buyers who have been in their homes at least 5 years.  They maximum credit for them would be $6,500.  The House had already agreed on the value of extending the tax credits.  Now, the Senate is working on details of a bill to move this along.  HERE is a USA Today article with additional details.  So, now we’ll have some more time through the Spring of next year to see if these tax credit incentives have been an important catalyst for healing the economy or just a crutch to keep it from sinking further.  It may be that the tax credit extension is the necessary bridge to a time when employers can start hiring again, since there is some evidence that the business to business spending levels are starting to increase.  HERE’S some further detail in The Charlotte Observer on the state of the economy overall and predictions for recovery.

Wondering where all that government recovery money is going?  You can go to http://www.recovery.gov to see.

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