Real Estate Deal-Breakers That Shouldn't Be

Real Estate Deal-Breakers That Shouldn't Be


Purchasing a new home can be a very stressful experience. Most people are making the largest single purchase of a lifetime when selecting a primary residence. In addition to the monetary implications of such a large purchase, the actual process of buying a home contributes significantly to this stressful event of purchasing a home. Especially in today's markets, buyers must be well informed and have a good understanding of a property's underlying value before making the purchase decision. Prospective buyers saw real estate values plummet across the country during the mortgage meltdown

Even in a difficult market, once buyers are able to select a residence that meets their personal criteria, it is important for them to remain diligent until the property closes. Buyers should not let the home of their dreams escape them over minor differences during the buying and negotiating processes. Let's examine some of these minor roadblocks and maybe you will be able to overcome, or at least recognize, them when you decide to purchase your dream home.

Aesthetics

Prospective buyers should not let minor aesthetic differences hinder their big picture view of their dream house. If appliances or the decorative theme are not up to your expectations, keep in mind that most of these things can be easily modified over time.

Perhaps more important when viewing the interior of the home is to check for overall structural soundness and try to focus on potential rather than current appearance. So, how do you do this? A good strategy is to secure a licensed home inspector prior to closing on your deal. The inspector will provide a detailed analysis and cost breakdown on actual required repairs. Depending upon which state you reside in, the home inspection can be part of the actual contract. The home inspector will assess every aspect of the home's interior and exterior. The inspection findings may be legally used as leverage in the home buying process:

If the cost of repairs exceeds a preset dollar amount, the contract can be revoked if that is explicitly stated in your contract. For example, if the home inspection requires $8,000 worth of repairs for "structural soundness," but your contract states that you will not purchase the home unless repairs are below $1,000 then you have legal recourse for getting out of the deal. Typically, you are responsible for the non-refundable cost of the inspection, but most people are willing to incur that cost in order to save thousands of dollars down the road. The idea here is to focus more on the integrity of the home itself as a first step rather than your distaste for the current interior design or décor.



Sweat Equity

Buyers should not get discouraged when their potential dream homes require some old-fashioned manual labor to get it up to their standards. Real estate professionals refer to this as sweat equity. ." Sweat equity” is a time investment by the potential buyer to clean, redo and repair the potential property once the purchase is complete. Rarely are homes purchased that require no effort on your part. New construction is perhaps an exception, but a poor real-estate market can be littered with short sales and foreclosures - many of which are neglected, vacant properties. Also, many purchases are older properties with excellent construction characteristics but needing some "elbow grease."
by Stephan Abraham
 
Forbes


Buying or Selling a home in Stone Harbor or Avalon, or if you need a Summer Rental, it would be my pleasure to help you with your Real Estate needs.


e~mail me at Nancy@NancyMAlexander.com or Call me! I love to talk Real Estate! Call my cell 609.425.7521

Please visit The Address For Luxury Real Estate at http://http://http://www.nancymalexander.com/// . I'd love to be your Realtor


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Nancy M. Alexander
Stone Harbor and Avalon NJ Real Estate

Stone Harbor Real Estate Sales December 5th to December 21, 2009

Stone Harbor Real Estate Activity Update for December 5th to December 21, 2009




There are currently 103 single family homes for sale in Stone Harbor, ranging in price from $399,000 for a two bedroom home on Weber Court to $6,500,000 for a new beach front home at #1 105th street.



Average list price is $2,140,444 and average time on market is 363 days.



There are five single family homes currently Under Contract in Stone Harbor.


1- 10408 Third Avenue, a 4 bedroom, 3 bath home on a 50x100 lot and listed at $ $1,595,000, goes to settlement on 1/8/2010


2-122 104th street, a 4 bedroom,4 bath home on a 50x110 lot listed for $1,599,000,goes to settlement 2/19/2010

3-127 84th street, a 5 bedroom,3 bath home on a 50x110 lot and listed for $2,000,000, goes to settlement 12/22/2009

4-144 108th street ,a 4 bedroom, 3 bath home on a 50x100 lot and listed at $2,290,000,goes to settlement 1/22/2010

5- 4 102nd street, a 5 bdroom,2 bath beach block home on a 50x110 lot and listed for $2,649,000,goes to settlement 1/8/2010

Two Stone Harbor Single Family Homes SOLD since December 5,2009


1--180 114th street, a 4 bedroom, 3 bath beach block home on a 60x110 lot, listed for $1,700,000,went to settlement 12/111/2009 and SOLD for $1,400,000
2- 210 118th street, a 5 bedroom, 5 bath home on a 60x110 lot and listed at $2,495,000 and went to settlement 12/11/2009 and SOLD for $2,200,000




Stone Harbor Condo/Townhouses Now For Sale



There are now 54 condos for sale in Stone Harbor ranging in price from $229,000 for 1 bedroom at 8305 Third Avenue to $1,299,000 for 13 93rd street
The average list price is $682,431 and average days on market is 312 days

There are now five condos Under Contract in Stone Harbor



1-162 96th street, a 1 bedroom, unit listed for $175,000 and goes to settlement 12/30/2009
2-10120 Third Avenue, listed at $194,500, goes to settlement 11/18/2009


3-235 99th street, a 1 bedroom,1 bath unit, listed for $319,000 goes to settlement 12/29/2009

4-351 96th street, a 2 bedroom,1 bath unit listed for $385,000 ,goes to settlement on 12/2009


5--259 104th street, a 3 bedroom,1.5 bath unit listed for $579,000,goes to settlement 12/30/2009



The data for this market report is based on statistics provided from the Cape May County MLS (private sales are not included)


Buying or Selling a home in Stone Harbor or Avalon, or if you need a Summer Rental, it would be my pleasure to help you with your Real Estate needs.
e~mail me at Nancy@NancyMAlexander.com or Call me! I love to talk Real Estate! Call my cell 609.425.7521

Please visit The Address For Luxury Real Estate at http://www.nancymalexander.com/ . I'd love to be your Realtor

View Stone Harbor Market Video http://realtytimes.com/REUv/NancyAlexander


Nancy's Newsletter http://realtytimes.com/130/NancyAlexander


Nancy M. Alexander
Stone Harbor and Avalon NJ Real Estate

Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended, Expanded

Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended, Expanded


The extension of the first-time home buyer tax credit will help continue to clear out inventory, but expanding the credit to include more buyers may not be as helpful in high-cost housing areas.



President Barack Obama recently signed legislation that extends the deadline on the first-time home buyer tax credit and adds a smaller tax credit for move-up and other home buyers.



The extension and expansion gives home buyers a tax incentive to buy a home until at least April 30, 2010 -- April 30, 2011 for qualifying military personnel. The previous deadline was just weeks away, November 30, 2009.



"The extension of the first-time home buyer tax credit will be crucial to clearing out unsold inventory and especially the lagging bank owned inventory that has not even hit the market yet," said Kim DiBenedetto, president of the Monterey County Association of Realtors.



That's true of many housing markets.



"California Association of Realtor studies tell us that for more than 75 percent of home buyers this year, the tax credit was very important and more than 40 percent of the home buyers would not have been able to buy without the credit," added DiBenedetto.



The existing tax credit for first-time homebuyers remains at a maximum $8,000.



A new tax credit of up to $6,500 is available to qualifying existing homeowners who buy a new primary residence (or have one built) by April 30, 2010, if they owned their existing home for five consecutive years over the last eight years. Second homes don't qualify for the credit.



Home buyers have to repay the credit if they live in their primary residence less than 36 months and are not members of the military.



The new rule also raises the qualifying income limits to $125,000 for single taxpayers and $225,000 for joint taxpayers, from the current $75,000 and $150,000.



The maximum allowed home purchase price is $800,000, which won't be as useful to move-up buyers in high-cost areas.



"Part of the bill also expanded the credit to move up buyers, however, it may not be as helpful to the homeowners in our areas because there is a cap on the purchase price of $800,000, but we are grateful to anything that will help even a few," said DiBenedetto, a real estate agent in Carmel, California.



That's also true of high-cost markets nationwide.



Both first-time home buyers and others must contract to buy a home by April 30, but close escrow by June 30, 2010.



Buyers can claim the credit on their 2009 taxes, even if the purchase is made in 2010 by filing an amended return.



DiBenedetto said "This will also assist in selling the short sale inventory that those buyers were afraid to consider because of the time frame involved in closing them when they were on this deadline to close by the end of the month (November)."



Buyers who don't owe taxes can have the credit refunded to them as a rebate.



More information is available from the Internal Revenue Service (http://www.irs.gov), including a question and answer page.



It's all good news for the housing market.



The National Association of Realtors says as many as 400,000 resale transactions (1.2 million for both new and resale homes) were completed specifically because of the first-time home buyer tax credit, since it began, and that put a dent in the housing inventory.



Home sales also add property and sales tax revenues to the coffers of local governments as reduced inventory helps boost prices and home values.



The first-time home buyer tax credit's availability has coincided with mortgage rates often hanging below 5 percent, according to Jeff Howard, CEO of Erate.com.



As the November 30 tax credit deadline neared, reports from the Commerce Department, revealed new home sales slipped 3.6 percent in September and were down 7.8 percent from September 2008.



Tax credit history



As part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Congress first created a $7,500 first-time home buyer tax credit for those who purchased a home between April 8, 2008, and July 1, 2009.



Later, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Congress extended the credit and raised it to an $8,000 tax credit for those who purchased homes by the November 30, 2009 expiration date.



By October 9, 2009, more than 1.2 million tax returns had claimed about $8.5 billion in the refundable tax credit, for both new and resale homes - according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). A TIGTA audit also revealed last month that nearly 90,000 taxpayers -- including nearly 600 children -- may have fraudulently enjoyed the credit, hoodwinking the government out of more than $600 million.



The new legislation includes provisions to stifle fraud after the Internal Revenue Service identified 167 suspected criminal schemes and opened nearly 107,000 examinations of potential civil violations of the first-time homebuyer tax credit.



Cheating the IRS is a federal felony that comes with a fine of up to $250,000 and three years in a federal pen, or both. To combat fraud, a HUD-1 Settlement Statement will have to be attached to the tax return to secure the credit.





Written by Broderick Perkins

Buying or Selling a home in Stone Harbor or Avalon, or if you need a Summer Rental, it would be my pleasure to help you with your Real Estate needs.



I Love to talk Real Estate! Call my cell 609.425.7521

e~mail me at Nancy@NancyMAlexander.com or Call me! I love to talk Real Estate! Call my cell 609.425.7521
Please visit The Address For Luxury Real Estate at www.NancyMAlexander.com . I'd love to be your Realtor
View Stone Harbor Market Video http://realtytimes.com/REUv/NancyAlexander

Nancy's Newsletter http://realtytimes.com/130/NancyAlexander



Nancy M. Alexander
Stone Harbor and Avalon NJ Real Estate

Fast Fact..

To remove mildew or algae from a wooden deck, use a 50/50 mixture of bleach and water. Any store-brand bleach will work. Rinse the solution off with a garden hose. For brick, use a power washer.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau