Huntsville Real Estate Blog

Does your Huntsville home have a façade only a homeowner could love? Selling a home can be an emotional experience, and people can lack objectivity when it comes to their own abode. Presenting a home in its best light is always important, but it’s imperative in our current competitive real estate market.

Professional advice and assistance can make the difference between “Wow!” and “Whaaa?” – a recent industry study found that staged homes sold for 6.9 percent more than homes that were not staged. Another study compared listing times before and after staging. Homes that had first been offered for sale without staging were on the market an average of 4.5 months; the same homes sold within a week, on average, after being staged.

Below are 7 tips to ‘setting the stage’ and making your home more appealing to buyers:

1. Thoroughly clean from top to bottom, especially kitchens and baths.

A dirty house an immediate buyer turn-off. The two most important areas are the kitchen and the bathrooms. If you have not deep cleaned all counter and tile surfaces to a spotless condition, you stand the chance of having the buyers walk right back out the door.

2. De-clutter the entire house.

Clutter makes it extremely hard for the buyers to visualize moving into your home. The disorganization affects the buyer’s ability to focus on your home and they will most likely overlook your key selling features. In addition, clutter has the affect of making your home appear smaller than it is as the “open” feeling is gone.

3. Remove the personal memorabilia.

People are generally curious and when you want them to notice the beautiful entryway they may be focused on all the family pictures on the piano or all the “stuff” stuck to the front of your refrigerator. Your objective is to change the view of your home from “lived in” to “ready to move in.”

4. Neutralize inside and out.

best way to present a home is for the wall colors to be painted a neutral color. This goes for the outside as well – a loud or non-neutral color may just keep the buyers from even stopping to see the inside.

5. Let the sun shine in with spotless windows.

Nothing is more distracting to a buyer than to be looking at a view through a dirty window. What you don’t see is often more important that what you do see.

6. Make your pets go away.

While your pets are a loving member of your family, for the buyers their presence, food and boxes are generally a turn-off. Every trace of their presence should be removed so, once again, the buyers are not distracted from the prime objective – viewing your home in the best possible light.

7. Add curb appeal.

A healthy, neat, trimmed and well maintained yard and flower beds are the keys to getting the buyers up to the front door. A well-maintained exterior translates to a well maintained home in the mind of the buyer.

Need help setting the stage and showing off your Huntsville home in its best light? Give us a call, we are glad to help.

Get the current market value of your Huntsville home.

Huntsville Second-home Sellers Pay For Tax Credits

You have probably heard, President Bush recently signed into law the Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act. This is the most comprehensive housing bill to be enacted in over a decade. The bill is designed to help more buyers of Huntsville real estate realize their dreams, as well as, boast the struggling housing and mortgage markets.

One of the biggest benefits, and probably one of the most talked about provisions in this legislation, is the $7,500 tax credit to first time home buyers. Tax breaks are all well and good, but they have to be paid for somehow. While first time home buyers are getting a break, second home sellers will be paying for the $15.1 million dollars in tax cuts.

Up until the new legislation went into effect last week, homeowners could exclude up to $250,000 taxable profit on the sale of their home if they’re single taxpayers and $500,000 if married filing joint returns. The catch being, they had to live the in house as their primary residence for two of the five years before it is sold.

Many second home owners took advantage of this by moving into a property that was once a rental or vacation home, live there for two years prior to selling and benefiting from the tax-free profit.

With the new legislation, owners selling on or after January 1, 2009 will have to factor out the period when the property was still a rental or vacation home and pay taxes on that portion of the profit.

Here’s an example courtesy of BankRate.com:

Jim and Joan are in their 50s and next January buy a vacation home for $200,000. Ten years later, they retire, sell their old principal residence and make the vacation home their new principal residence. Fifteen years after that, Jim and Joan, now in their 80s, move to an assisted-living community and sell the vacation-turned-primary-residence for $700,000. That nets them a gain of $500,000.

Under pre-housing bill statute, Jim and Joan wouldn’t face any tax on the entire $500,000 gain. The new law, however, means that Jim and Joan can exclude only 15/25, or 60 percent, of the gain. That would give them $300,000 of nontaxable property sale profit and $200,000 upon which they would owe long-term gain taxes.

As you can see, the new legislation significantly affects second home owners and their retirement strategies. The second home market has remained strong in the last few years, but this may change dramatically in the near future….something congress may not have intended.

If you own Huntsville real estate and are in the middle of converting your second home to your main residence, you could be out of luck. If you don’t have enough time left in 2008 to meet the two year lived-in rule and sell the property, when you do sell next year, you will pay.

If you need to sell your second home before January 1, 2009, give us a call at 256-508-0211. We will help you get the highest price for your Huntsville real estate before the end of the year!

Get the current market value of your Huntsville home.

With the housing market in a decline, and foreclosures on the rise, many people have the idea that buying a foreclosure could be the deal of a lifetime.  While it’s possible to find a house in foreclosure for less than market value, making this kind of purchase is not a good idea for the real estate novice.  Huntsville, Alabama real estate agent Mike Manosky offers professional advice to consider so that supposed “unbeatable deals” don’t turn into quick and painful losses. 

Preparing A Bid 

Check with a local real estate agent before making a bid.   The mortgage company wants to cover the balance on the loan plus any expenses they might have.  If the home in question was overfinanced, however, or the market has dropped in that area, this foreclosure property might not be a bargain.

Foreclosures are usually sold “as is.”  Inspecting the property before making an offer is a vital step.  If it isn’t possible to do an inspection first, include a provision in the contract that allows for an inspection right away.

Calculate the Cost

List the needed repairs and their costs.  If the seller isn’t willing to pay for the repairs, have a contractor provide an estimate and timeframe.  If a contractor isn’t immediately available or if repairs will take an extended amount of time, a loss could occur. 

Flipping Property

For those planning to buy a home at a low price, make the necessary repairs, then quickly sell it at a profit, remember this is often easier said than done.  Before jumping into this commitment:

1. Know the Market.  Don’t put more cash into a home than is feasible to get back.  Contact an agent that’s familiar with the local real estate market for help.

2. Have a Reliable Contractor.  Every month the house isn’t occupied adds another out-of-pocket expense for the flipper.  Can a three or four month delay to complete repairs be tolerated financially?

3. Consider Commissions & Fees.  The seller typically pays for commissions so those should be built into any offer.  Also, sellers don’t normally get their original asking price.  Leave some room for negotiating.

Buying a foreclosure isn’t for everyone.  Those who don’t know what they’re doing can quickly lose money.  Before taking on this task, talk with a qualified agent familiar with the market.

For additional information or media interviews, please contact Mike Manosky at (256) 508-0211 or via email at Mike@MoveToHuntsville.com.

Skeptics thought the Internet would be the extinction of the real estate agent. Let’s face it, all the information in the world about how to buy and sell a house is at your finger tips. So why hire a real estate professional to represent you in the purchase or sale of your Huntsville home, when you can save the big fat commission they charge and do it yourself. If you have asked yourself this question, you are not alone. Here are the Top 10 Reasons To Hire A Huntsville Real Estate Professional, compliments of About.com:

1. Education & Experience

Most people buy or sell homes 2-3 times in their lives. Many Huntsville real estate professionals are involved in buying and selling real estate 2-3 times a month. Henry Ford once said that when you hire people who are smarter than you are, it proves you are smarter than they are. You don’t need to know all there is to know about buying or selling real estate, you just need to hire the people that do. Hire someone with more experience and education than you that can help you get the best possible deal and save you precious time and money.

2. Agents are Buffers

If you are a buyer, agents will insulate you from builder representatives and listing agents, who can be piranhas when going after a sale. And if you are a seller, your agent will weed through the ‘lookie loos’ and bring you only well-qualified buyers. Real estate professionals save you time…and as they say, ‘time is money.’ 

3. Neighborhood Knowledge

Your neighbor may know that the people who sold the house down the street were asking $350,000, but your Huntsville real estate agent will know that the house actually sold for $295,000 and paid $5,000 of the buyer’s closing costs after being on the market 45 days. 

4. Price Guidance

Your real estate agent is able to guide you through the decision making process to help you make the right choice for yourself and your family. Whether a buyer or seller, agents are able to provide you with the data you need to choose a correct price and then put together a negotiating strategy based on market supply, demand and conditions.

5. Market Conditions Information

Real estate professionals can also provide you with market data such as price per square foot, median and average sales prices, days on market and list/sell ratios that will have a bearing on your buying and selling decisions.

6. Professional Networking

The network of other professionals known by real estate agents, many of whom provide services that you will need to buy or sell, can be invaluable. Isn’t it better to have a service provider, who is known for quality and professionalism, recommended to you than having to pick someone out of the yellow pages?

7. Negotiation Skills & Confidentiality

Top producing real estate agents are skilled negotiators, not just messengers delivering paperwork to a buyer or seller, who are able to remove themselves from the emotion of the situation…and be assured, buying and selling a home is emotional! They are professionals who are trained to present their client’s case in the best light and agree to hold client information confidential from competing interests. 

8. Handling Volumes of Paperwork

Purchase Agreements in the 21^st Century are 10 pages or more and include state and federally mandated disclosures which can be overwhelming and confusing to the inexperienced. One omission or mistake could land you in court or cost you thousands of dollars.

9. Answer Questions After Closing

Issues have a habit of cropping up after closing…things such as taxing authorities that collect property tax assessments, doc stamps or transfer tax can fall months behind and mix up invoices. Your real estate professional is there to answer questions, provide documentation and help clear up questions. You won’t be left out in the cold to handle issues by yourself.

10. Develop Relationships for Future Business

Referrals are the basis of am agent’s success. Your real estate professional will provide you with ongoing market updates, news and information. Keeping you informed and staying in touch will help insure your repeat and referral business.

Bottom line, Huntsville real estate agents are highly skilled, knowledgeable professionals. They will help you sift through the mountains of information you find on the Internet and make sense of it in order for you to make good buying and selling decisions.

Learn more about Huntsville real estate at MoveToHuntsville.com or give us a call for more personal service, 256-508-0211

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President Bush signed into law this week The Housing and Economic Recovery Act. This is the most sweeping change to housing reform since the New Deal of 1934. It is designed to assist more Americans invest in home ownership and shore up the faltering housing and mortgage markets. Like any legislation, it comes with the good and the bad. I encourage you to write your Congressmen to see if we can get legislation to revoke some of the bad.  For example, effective October 1, 2008, FHA will increase the minimum required down payment from 3% to 3.5% for Huntsville home buyers. The legislation also calls for the elimination of seller down-payment assistance programs such as AmeriDream and Nehemiah by October 1, 2008.

As of July 14, 2008, upfront MIP premiums became risk-based on credit scores and the annual premium increased across the board. Instead of the original plan of making FHA loans more affordable for potential Huntsville home buyers; the new legislation is doing the exact opposite and makes it more expensive.

Details of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act:

Here are some key provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act that most affect Huntsville home buyers:

• GSE Reform - including a strong independent regulator, and permanent conforming loan limits up to the greater of $417,000 or 115% local area median home price, capped at $625,500. The effective date for reforms is immediate upon enactment, but the loan limits will not go into effect until the expiration of the Economic Stimulus limits (December 31, 2008).
  View 2009 FHA and GSE loan limit estimates (PDF)

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Summer has turned many people’s thoughts to second homes and Huntsville investment homes.  Unfortunately, though, encouraging statistics about the Huntsville real estate market have been muffled under some of the negative news about the current economy and housing market.

According to the National Association of Realtors’ 2007 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, second-home sales accounted for one-third of all existing and new-home sales in 2007.  A large portion of those purchases were vacation homes.  So - why do families buy these “homes away from home?”  The survey found that several factors go into the decision to buy a second home.  Eighty-four percent of buyers wanted to use the home as a family retreat; thirty percent planned to use the home as a future primary residence; twenty-six percent want to diversify investments, and 25 percent plan to rent the home out to other families. 

If you are ready to learn more about investing in Huntsville real estate, please call me at 256-508-0211 or visit MoveToHuntsville.com.  Request a complimentary market evaluation!

Mark your calendars!! The Alabama Sales Tax Holiday is this weekend, August 1, 2 & 3, giving shoppers the opportunity to purchase certain school supplies, computers, and clothing free of state sales or use tax.  Local sales and use tax may apply – see list of participating cities and counties.  

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take advantage of making purchases without having to pay sales tax.  It’s a great time for back-to-school shopping!

Only specific items qualify as tax exempt and guidelines must be followed, so click on the details for the information directly from the state. 

And for a great deal when buying Alabama real estate, visit my website, www.MoveToHuntsville.com.

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In the current Huntsville AL real estate market, there has been a lot of buzz around “short sales.”  What is a short sale, exactly?  A short sale is when a lender agrees to accept a mortgage payoff amount less than what is owed in order to facilitate a sale of a property by a financially distressed owner – in essence, the lender forgives the outstanding balance of the loan.

There are pro’s and con’s to short sales on both sides of the deal.  For the seller, credit history is seriously damaged, but not as badly as it would be by foreclosure.  Sellers also walk away with no profit, which makes it difficult to purchase another home.  For the buyer, the property comes at a reduced price, but it also generally comes with its fair share of problems, and there is a considerable amount of “red tape” to get through to complete the purchase.

The short sale buying process can be a confusing one, especially for a first-time short sale buyer.  Check out this helpful article from BankRate.com and see 10 Steps for Short Sale Buying below:

1. Identify potential short sales
2. View the property
3. Do your research
4. Find all liens and mortgages
5. Figure out the financing
6. Contact the lender
7. Complete the lender’s short sale application
8. Assemble the proposal
9. Negotiate
10. Close the deal

To learn more about investing in Huntsville AL real estate, please visit MoveToHuntsville.com.  For more personalized service, please call me today at 256-508-0211. 
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