Register Real Estate Advisors

I want to remind sellers about the home sale exclusion tax break in the IRS Code.  If you have owned a home and used it as a primary
residence for 24 months out of the last 60 months, and then you sell it, all the gain is tax free.  So, if you made a $35,000 profit, you would
NOT have to pay the $9,450 capital gain tax like you would have to on any other income.  What if you are a seller with a primary residence and need to sell but have lived there for less than two years?  Can you still get this tax credit?   If you had to move out of a house before the 2 years were up because of an unforeseen circumstance, then you can still get a partial tax break through a loop hole in the home exclusion tax break in the IRA Code.   What qualifies as an unforeseen circumstance?  An unforeseen circumstance would be a natural disaster, a change in employment, becoming self-employed, divorce or legal separation, and even multiple births from the same pregnancy.   So even if you are promoted or demoted at work, you can sell your house and take a partial tax break even if you have not lived in your primary residence for two years.  The same holds true if you start or discontinue self-employment.  So if your home has increased in value and you have lived there for less than two years, you could start up a tiny home based business just to qualify for this home sale exclusion tax break.  It’s that easy!  Now you don’t have to pay all that capital gains tax.  With any financial decision, you should consult your accountant.  This information is meant as a guide to help you in your real estate decisions.  We have many highly trained Realtors at RREA that are ready to help you with all of your real estate needs.  Call today to get started – 281.288.3500.

I have heard horror stories about agents that list houses for sell and put it in the MLS and then do nothing further to market the property and the seller cannot get in touch with the agent for weeks at a time.  These are questions that I confidently answer for my clients and any strong listing agent should be able to anPeople have asked me, “How do I know what agent to use?”  My best advice is to interview several agents and use one that is a good negotiator, uses online and traditional marketing skills, and will follow up with leads and keep the seller informed. 

These are questions that an agent should be able to answer for you:

1.  How are you going to showcase my home to stand out from the competition?

2.  In this online world that we live in, what are you going to do to make my home “findable” online?

3.  How will you make my home “findable” to people moving in from out of town?

4.  Will you include video tours online?

5.  Will you use tagged keywords for google to pick up and distribute over the internet to make the listing easily searchable?

6.   Do you have your own website where you market the property?  How many viewers do you get per month on average?

7.  Is your custom website search engine friendly and optimized for a buyer looking in this are to find it?

8.  Fo you offer a home warranty?

9.  Do you offer home staging?

10. What traditional marketing do you do?

11. How do you advertise open houses?

12. Do you do Realtor open houses?

13. Do you send out efliers to other Realtors in the area advertising the listing?

14. What online advertising are you doing?

15. What is the absorption rate for the area?

I tell my clients why they should list with me over any other agent in Houston.  Here’s the short list that sets me apart from other Realtors:

1.  I have my own iPhone App that allows buyers and sellers to search my website for all of the homes for sale in Houston and easily call or email me anytime from their cell phone.

2.  I offer my selling clients a Seller Services Guarantee so they know how hard I will be working for them.

3.  I have been awarded “The Best Real Estate Blog in Texas” by Texas A&M University

4.  I have Realtor Designations & Certificates that you can find on my website

5.  I use all the social media available

6.  I provide all showing feedback to my sellers

7.  I provide unparalleled accessability to the agent

8.  Offer quality home warranty

9.  I offer yard signs with instant communication with potential buyers

10.  Custom marketing plan for every seller

And much more!

When selling a home, the biggest competition is New Home Builders.  In the past, they have offered thousands of dollars worth of incentives to buyers that inventory homes on the market could not compete with.  Now the tables are turning.  As of Jan. 16th RESPA (Federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) laws will be changing.  There will soon be new RESPA Limitations on Homebuilder Incentives and this will require builders to change their contracts and current procedures.  This is good news if you are planning to sell your home in the new year.  In the past it has been common for builders to offer incentives to buyers so that they would use their preferred title and mortgage companies.  This allowed builders to line their wallets with thousands of consumer dollars per contract on homes sold.  Thanks to new RESPA Guidelines they can be criminally prosecuted for such acts.

You can read more about it at http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/res/finalrule.pdf.