Did you know that January 13th is “Make Your Dream Come True Day?” Maybe
your dream is leasing or purchasing a home. Or maybe your dream is putting your
home on the market to sale. Well, go ahead and take the first step by giving me a call.
I would love to help you make your dream come true!
This is Part IV on the changes that are taking place January 1, 2012 to Texas Laws that affect real estate professionals, property owners, and tenants. You can read the first three parts of the series on the RREA Blog. This is the final part of the series and below addresses the appeals for appraisals.
Many homeowners appeal their property appraisals every year to lower their taxes. The changes to the Texas Laws for property owners in Collin, Denton, Fort Bend, and Montgomery Counties affect those properties that are worth more than $1 Million. Property owners of properties over $1 Million can now appeal their property appraisals throught the State Office of Administrative Hearings rather than taking that appeal to district court. Property owners in Bexar, Cameron, El Paso, Harris, Tarrant, and Travis counties were given that option two years ago.
To find out more information on appealing your taxes, contact your local Realtor. Realtors have access to the comparable properties in your area that can help you fight your taxes. Give us a call at RREA if you would like a market analysis of your property – 281.288.3500.
Sometime within the last 5 days before your home closes your lender will get an update on you. This is sometimes referred to as the “5 day docs” condition. The lender wants to check your employment to make sure it has not changed. They also re-pull your credit. This lets the lender know if you have any new credit inquiries or anything negative added to your credit. Lastly, the lender will re-pull from Lexis Nexis. This report gives them information from several resources like credit bureaus, DMV, and county records. They are making sure there are no new addresses that appear associated with your name. Your home purchase may have been approved by your lender, but if anything shows up on these updates then the lender might add a condition for your purchase to close. It’s important that you do not have any surprises pop up before closing.
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.
Spring Lakes in Spring, Texas is a wonderful gated community to call home. Many home buyers have been pleased to find that Salyers Elementary School, located in Spring Independent School District, is a warm and inviting experience for students of this neighborhood. If you are relocating from another area of Houston or across the world, moving to Spring Lakes with children is easy. The elementary school right outside of the community has about 650 students and is rated Recognized. The tenure average for their teachers is 7.5 years. The community offers pools, tennis courts, volleyball courts, lakes with fountains, miles of walking trails, and so much more. To view homes that are currently for sale in Spring Lakes, please call 281.288.3500 for a showing. Below is a list of homes currently for sale in this gated community that can be easily accessed from I45 or the Toll Road.
Showing properties
1 - 13 of 13.
See more Spring Lakes - Spring, TX 77373.
(all data current as of
2/5/2012)
Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.
I have many sellers ask me if they should get an appraisal before putting their home on the market. Most of the time my answer is “NO!” If you do an appraisal and it comes in low, that will stay on record with the appraisal district and even if a buyer is willing to pay more for the home, their lender won’t let them if the appraisal comes in low.
When I sell a home, I include a list of the property upgrades in the home for the appraiser to find. I also set up the appraisal appointment, so I will request the email of the appraiser and email them the list of home upgrades and a copy of the contract that indicates the price the buyer is willing to pay and the seller is willing to accept.
There are things you can do to increase the amount of your appraisal. Give your Realtor a prepared written list of the home’s features to give the appraiser and take some photos of the best features of the home to accompany that list.
Appraisers might inpsect three to six homes per day. They take notes, but might forget important details about the property when they return to their office to write the report. As your Realtor, I do not mind telling the appraiser what you paid for the home, sending him photos, and an upgrade list. If I fear the property will not appraise for the contract price, I even include the comparables for other sold properties to help the appraiser come up with the home’s estimated market value. Is your Realtor going to do all of that for you?
So I know you want to know…when would I recommend a client get an appraisal on their property before selling it? When I know the home is not worth as much as the homeowner wants to sell the home for. For example, if the home has been over improved and I know it’s not going to compare to the other homes, but the sellers want to get all of their money back out of the home, then I would recommend an appraisal. That way I am sure about what we can sell the property for and the homeowner is not just relying on my opinion since there are no homes in the neighborhood to compare it to. Many times this brings my homeowners back to the reality that they have over improved their property and they will not get all of their money back out of it.
There are so many Realtors to choose from in every area of the country. If you are buying or selling in The Woodlands, Houston, or Spring, Texas, call RREA at 281.288.3500. We train our agents so that they really can help you make the best decisions when purchasing or selling a home. We know that our job is to protect you in one of the most important transactions of your life and we take that seriously! Call today to learn more about RREA or to find an agent that can help you with your real estate needs.
Thinking about selling your home? Wondering if it’s a good time to sell your home? Join us at Register Real Estate Advisors in Spring, Texas this Thursday for a Seller’s Seminar. This seminar will discuss how our Realtors make your home stand out from the competition. They will explain home staging and home pricing for sellers. You’ll walk away with a better understanding of the home selling process and ready to list your home with one of our knowlegeable real estate advisors. Don’t even think about selling your home until you hear what we have to say about marketing houses! Join us this Thursday from 6-7pm for a Seller Seminar at 1614 Louetta Rd, Ste I, Spring, Texas 77388. Call for directions 281.288.3500 and our complete seminar schedule.
Selling your home may be the only thing stopping you from moving to a new place or getting out from under a large mortgage payment that you cannot afford. While the thought of selling your home can be attractive, it also comes with some costs. Understanding all of the expenses that come with this process can help you know if you can afford to sell.
Real Estate Commissions
One of the largest expenses that comes with selling your house is the real estate commission. This is the amount of money that you have to pay a real estate agent if you hire one to help sell your house. When you work with a traditional real estate agent and give him an exclusive listing, you can expect to pay around 6 percent for a commission.
Closing Costs
On top of paying the commission that comes with your real estate agent, you also have to pay some closing costs. The closing costs include items like a title search, title insurance and a home inspection. During this process, you may have to split the closing costs with the buyer, or the buyer could request you to pay all of the closing costs for her. This could be a substantial expense that comes directly out of the purchase price of the house.
Repairs
When you list your property for sale, you may feel inclined to perform some repairs on the property first. If you sell during a competitive real estate market, you have to make sure that your property is up to the level of other houses on the market. Depending on what shape your house is in before the repairs, you may be able to get by with only a few hundred dollars invested, or you might have to invest thousands of dollars.
Moving Expenses
If you successfully sell your house, you will then have to worry about moving out of it and into a new place to live. The amount of money that it costs to move can vary significantly depending on how much you have to move and how you choose to do it. For instance, you could rent a trailer and move everything yourself. You could also hire a moving company to handle all of your belongings for you.
In some instances, people know that they’ll be leaving only for a year or two perhaps while they pursue a graduate degree or take on a specific project at work. Sometimes the would-be seller simply can’t sell at a price deemed acceptable, so he or she chooses to hang on until the market picks up. Or, if property values are rising, an owner may want to wait to be able to ask for a higher price later.
Call the Dean Thornton Team today to help you sell or purchase your next home! Dean@RREA.com / 281.288.2500
1. Cleaning and De-cluttering, with an average cost of $290, which increased home sale price by $1,990.
2. Lightening and Brightening, with an average cost of $375, which increased home sale price by $1,550.
3. Home Staging, with an average cost of $550, which increased home sale price by $2,194.
4. Landscaping, with an average cost of $540, which increased home sale price by $1,932.
5. Repairing Electrical or Plumbing, with an average cost of $1,505, which increased home sale price by $1,505.
These are huge increases in return on investment! So if you are thinking about selling your home, you will want to think about these five things that you can do to raise the amount of money you will get when selling your home. If you are thinking about selling, our agents at RREA are well trained and experienced in helping consumers get a good return on their real estate investment! Call us today at 281.288.3500 or email info@rrea.com.
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1614 Louetta Rd. - Spring, TX 77388 - 281.288.3500 or 855.USE.RREA Office - 281.288.3503 Fax
Spring, Texas Real Estate - Shannon Register, Texas Broker
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