Buying or Selling a Home Blog and Information

A sure sign the market is improvong - read more below:

http://rismedia.com/2010-05-04/pending-home-sales-on-an-upswing/ 

New rules may help sellers avoid foreclosure - learn more below!

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=23893063&GT1=35006

Click on the article below to find out how to file for your tax credit!

http://rismedia.com/2010-04-10/first-time-and-move-up-tax-credits-require-paper-trail-when-filing-taxes/

Here in the Omaha/Council Bluffs real estate market we are happy to report a 20.5% increase in pending sales from February 2009 to February 2010!

http://rismedia.com/2010-04-06/pending-home-sales-show-healthy-gain-hint-at-spring-surge/

How Can Buyers Eager To Get The Tax Credit Streamline Their Home Shopping?

Here are some suggestions:
1. Get to Know Your Market: Buyers can do that using Internet sites that permit you to see the homes currently on the market, and by finding a good real estate agent who is ready to expedite the shopping process. A capable agent can guide buyers through the home search process and save them a lot of time. New listings can be emailed to buyers as they are posted, and buyers should stay on top of the market on a daily basis, seeing what properties are coming onto the market and which ones have sold.

2. Line Up Your Financing:Talk to a reputable lender right away and go through the pre-approval process FIRST. Buyers need to know how much they can borrow. At today’s extremely low interest rates, that amount may be more than buyers imagined. Either way, the process will help buyers determine how much "spending power" they actually have.

3. Start Narrowing Your Search: With a large inventory of homes to choose from in this current market, buyers won’t have time to look at everything in their price range. By establishing specific criteria of the home they want, buyers can rule out homes that won’t fit their needs. Tell your real estate agent these  two criteria: Where do you want to live, and how much can you spend? When it comes to location, buyers should factor in their daily commute. Ideally, you can narrow you search to one or two communities quickly.

4.Separate Needs from Wants: Buyers can look at fewer homes if they can tell their agent what features the home they buy must have and what features would be nice but aren’t required. When it comes to must haves, start with the basics. How many bedrooms do you need? Will a two-car garage be sufficient, or do you need something larger? And don’t forget to consider the type of home. Are you interested only in a traditional two-story single-family detached dwelling, or would a ranch plan work just as well? 

5. Consider Condition: In today’s market, many of the best values are foreclosed homes that aren’t in perfect condition. Buyers should decide up front if they are willing to tackle a home that needs work, and if so, how much.Buyers often have a hard time articulating what they will accept when it comes to condition. Be upfront with your agent.

6. Keep Things in Perspective: As nice as it may be to get the tax credit, don’t let the desire to do so completely control your home search. Some buyers are quick to decide, and others aren’t. If you like to mull over important decisions, take the time you need. The tax credit is a fabulous incentive, but buying the wrong home can end up costing you a lot more.

7. Leave Time to Handle Standard Contingencies: The typical purchase contract may have several contingency clauses, for such things as a home inspection, obtaining financing and even the sale of the buyer’s current residence. Fortunately, standard contingencies in a contract won’t prevent it from qualifying for the tax credit. However, the more contingencies you have in a contract, the greater the risk that it won’t close.

8. Be Careful of Short Sales: If the home you want to buy is offered as a short sale, qualifying for the tax credit may become more difficult. Short sales require that purchase offers be approved by both the seller and the sellers’ lender, and lenders often are slow about responding. Waiting for lender approval could leave you without a binding contract on April 30.

Ready to start shopping or have a home to sell? Call The Jansen Team, we are always here to provide you with professional, friendly service!

With today's competitive home market, home sellers are having to pay much closer attention to detail than ever before.  To start out with, in the current market a home must be priced correctly not just to sell but to even get lookers.  Pricing a home has never been harder than it is in this current market.  As prices continue to slide downwards or remain steady the homes that have sold in which we typically compare values with may be worth more than a home going on the market today.  For this reason comparable sales are not the reliable resource that they once were.  Home sellers must seek out an agent who has a good perspective on the current market.  Over pricing a home in this market will insure that your home stays on the market for too long and you will lose money as the market slips as you wait for buyers that will never arrive.  Pricing for a quick sale is very wise in this market.

 Your home not only needs to be priced correctly, but it also needs to show better than the competition!  The best priced, most attractive homes are the ones being sold.  Home staging is essential and the services of a professional home stagercan save you time on the market and put money in your pocket.  Also, making sure that your lawn and landscaping is in top condition can make a huge impact as well - this will be especially challenging due to the brutal winter conditions we wnr through. Most prospective buyers drive by first and that first impression from a drive by goes along ways towards the buyers wanting to look inside.  

 In this market, we council all of our home sellers carefully in regards to price, condition, staging and outside appearance.  The result is that the homes we represent sell for more money and in much less time than homes listed by any other area agents.  In this market this means more money in your pocket.

 Ready to sell? We offer a free, no-obligation market analysis. Give us a call, we'd love to chat about your real estate needs!

If you think home maintenance is an unavoidable series of weekend-eating chores, remember the age-old advice of Benjamin Franklin: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The fact is, proactive maintenance is essential to preserving the value of your home—without it, your home could lose 10% of its value. Regular, routine maintenance enhances curb appeal, ensures safety, and prevents neglected upkeep from turning into costly major repairs.

 “It’s the little things that tend to trip up people,” says Frank Lesh, former president of the American Society of Home Inspectors and owner of Home Sweet Home Inspection Co. in Chicago. “Some cracked caulk around the windows, or maybe a furnace filter that hasn’t been changed in awhile. It may not seem like much, but behind that caulk, water could get into your sheathing, causing mold and rot. Before you know it, you’re looking at a $5,000 repair that could have been prevented by a $4 tube of caulk and a half hour of your time.”

Maintenance affects property value

Outright damage to your house is just one of the consequences of neglected maintenance. Without regular upkeep, overall property values are affected.

“If a house is in worn condition and shows a lack of preventative maintenance, the property could easily lose 10% of its appraised value,” says Mack Strickland, a professional appraiser and real estate agent in Chester, Va. “That could translate into a $15,000 or $20,000 adjustment.”

In addition, a house with chipped, fading paint, sagging gutters, and worn carpeting faces an uphill battle when it comes time to sell. Not only is it at a disadvantage in comparison with other similar homes that might be for sale in the neighborhood, but a shaggy appearance is bound to turn off prospective buyers and depress the selling price.

“It’s simple marketing principles,” says Strickland. “First impressions mean a lot to price support.”

Prolonging economic age

To a professional appraiser, diligent maintenance doesn’t translate into higher property valuations the way that improvements, upgrades, and appreciation all increase a home’s worth. But good maintenance does affect an appraiser’s estimate of a property’s economic age—the number of years that a house is expected to survive.

Economic age is a key factor in helping appraisers determine depreciation—the rate at which a house is losing value. A well-maintained house with a long, healthy economic age depreciates at a much slower rate than a poorly maintained house, helping to preserve value.

Estimating the value of maintenance

Although professional appraisers don’t assign a positive value to home maintenance, there are indications that maintenance is not just about preventing little problems from becoming larger. A study by researchers at the University of Connecticut and Syracuse University suggests that maintenance actually increases the value of a house by about 1% each year, meaning that getting off the couch and heading outside with a caulking gun is more than simply a chore—it actually makes money.

“It’s like going to the gym,” says Dr. John P. Harding, Professor of Finance & Real Estate at UConn’s School of Business and an author of the study. “You have to put in the effort to see the results. In that respect, people and houses are somewhat similar—the older (they are), the more work is needed.”

Harding notes that the 1% gain in valuation usually is offset by the ongoing cost of maintenance. “Simply put,” he says, “maintenance costs money, so it’s probably best to say that the net effect of regular maintenance is to slow the rate of depreciation.”

How much does maintenance cost?

How much money is required for annual maintenance varies. Some years, routine tasks, such as cleaning gutters and changing furnace filters, are all that’s needed, and your total expenditures may be a few hundred dollars. Other years may include major replacements, such as a new roof, at a cost of $10,000 or more.

Over time, annual maintenance costs average more than $3,300, according to data from the U.S. Census. Various lending institutions, such as Directors Credit Union and LendingTree.com, agree, placing maintenance costs at 1% to 3% of initial house price. That means owners of a $200,000 house should plan to budget $2,000 to $6,000 per year for ongoing upkeep and replacements.

Proactive maintenance strategies

Knowing these average costs can help homeowners be prepared, says Melanie McLane, a professional appraiser and real estate agent in Williamsport, Pa. “It’s called reserve for replacements,” says McLane. “Commercial real estate investors use it to make sure they have enough cash on hand for replacing systems and materials.”

McLane suggests a similar strategy for homeowners, setting aside a cash reserve that’s used strictly for home repair and maintenance. That way, routine upkeep is a snap and any significant replacements won’t blindside the family budget. McLane’s other strategies include:

Play offense, not defense. Proactive maintenance is key to preventing small problems from becoming big issues. Take the initiative with regular inspections. Create and faithfully follow a maintenance schedule. If you’re unsure of what needs to be done, a $200 to $300 visit from a professional inspector can be invaluable in pointing out quick fixes and potential problems.

Plan a room-per-year redo. “Pick a different room every year and go through it, fixing and improving as you go,” says McLane. “That helps keep maintenance fun and interesting.”

Keep track. “Having a notebook of all your maintenance and upgrades, along with receipts, is a powerful tool when it comes to sell your home,” advises McLane. “It gets rid of any doubts for the buyer, and it says you are a meticulous, caring homeowner.” A maintenance record also proves repairs and replacements for systems, such as wiring and plumbing, which might not be readily apparent.

John Riha has written six books on home improvement and hundreds of articles on home-related topics. He’s been a residential builder, the editorial director of the Black & Decker Home Improvement Library, and the executive editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. His standard 1968 suburban house has been an ongoing source of maintenance experience.

Source: HouseLogic/National Association Of Realtors

We are all feeling it - this winter has been way too long. Click on the link below to find helpful hints to beat the winter blues!

http://www.gojansenteam.com

Buying a home is one of the biggest investments you'll make in your life. So it can be difficult to know, when shopping for a home, how quickly you should make your decision. Our answer to this would be: See enough homes to feel you "know the market", and get to know your Realtor well enough to trust his or her advice. 

Let's  say you are shopping for a very specific home - you want a property where you can have horses, on at least 5 acres, with 3 bedrooms, and a ranch style home for no more than 200,000. You may only have 10 to 20 homes to pick from. In that case, you can look at all of them in a short amount of time and know that you've explored all of your options.

However, if you are looking for homes in Northwest Omaha with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and at least a 1 car garage, on a budget of around $ 150,000, you will have many, many options. Should you see the possibly hundreds of homes that would match your wishes? Probably not. At this point, it is a wise idea to narrow your search further - by choosing your favorite areas or subdivisions, whether or not you'd like a fenced back yard, a whirlpool tub, updated appliances, etc. This will help define your needs and make your search a little less hectic.

Also, don't be afraid to fall in love with the right house! Sometimes you may see a property that fits all of your needs, has been maintained properly and is priced right. Don't ignore the gut feeling that you have found "the one". Ask your Realtor for advice and his or her opinion. They know the marketplace and correct pricing.

If you miss out on the "perfect house" due to multiple offers or simply not offering soon enough, don't be discouraged, you are becoming educated on how much house you can afford  and the market in general. When you see the home that is the right fit for you, don't hesitate - ask your Realtor to write the offer as soon as possible. Most likely if you love the home, so do many other buyers out there.

The number of homes you see before buying is going to vary with each individual. It's an exciting time- you're buying a house!! Enjoy the experience. We always tell our buyers that looking at homes is the easy part. If you are ready to make a move we would love to help - give us a call and let's get started!

It looks like Nebraska and Iowa are suffering from a heat wave! It sure is funny how we now appreciate 30 degree weather. Let's hope the snow stays away for a while. We have discovered some exciting news on the Home Buyer's Tax Credit we thought you'd like to know. Read below for the details:

Q:  I'm already a homeowner. If I buy another home after Nov. 6, 2009, to use as my principal residence, do I have to sell my home to qualify for the homebuyer tax credit?

A: No. If you meet all of the requirements for the credit, the law does not require you to sell or otherwise dispose of your current principal residence to qualify for a credit of up to $6,500 when you buy a  home to use as your principal residence. The requirements are that you must buy, or enter into a binding contract to buy, the replacement principal residence after Nov. 6, 2009, and on or before April 30, 2010, and close on the home by June 30, 2010. Additionally, you must have lived in the same principal residence for any five-consecutive-year period during the eight-year period that ended on the date the replacement home is purchased. For example, if you bought a home on Nov. 30, 2009, the eight-year period would run from Dec. 1, 2001, through Nov. 30, 2009. (11/17/09)

This is a great opportunity for those homeowners that otherwise qualify for this credit but want to keep their current personal residence.

To get started on the right path to owning or selling a home (or both!), call The Jansen Team today! Or check out our video blog at www.GoJansenTeam.com.