Just because it snows does not mean that the real estate world slows down. The current buyers looking for homes and are in a hurry. Today when I was making appointments to see houses I was actively asking the listing agents if they had plowed the driveway, and shoveled the walk way. Part to a buyer’s first impression is seeing that a homeowner is caring for the property by having the driveway and walkway cleaned and clean.
As a Realtor it is important that you work with your sellers to maintain the properties in the best possible condition. With the amount of snow we have had in the last few days it I have been calling all of my listings to make sure the occupied properties are being cleared, and that the vacant properties have someone going to them.
We use Zane Rubin for our plowing. If you have plowing needs feel free to call and schedule him. 519-3200
I had an opportunity to speak with a representative from Lucke Homes today at our weekly staff meeting. She provided me a list of tips for helping our buyers are educated on builders they are hiring. Here are some questions that you should ask your builder to determine how
1. Check with the Cincinnati Home Builder Association (HBA) to see if the builder is in good standing.
2. Are they paying their subcontractors on time?
3. Are they in good standing with the Better Business Bureau and do they have complaints filed against them?
4. Call the last 3 to 4 home owners for a reference regarding the on-time completion and quality of their last few home constructions?
5. Is the home warranty through the builder or an insurance company and does it follow HBA standards?
6. How many employees manage construction of your home?
7. Do they have an in-house selection center to make your choices?
8. Does the builder have a Service Department to service the home after construction is completed and you are living there?
9. Is the builder in good standing with the State of Ohio?
Remember that although there are real estate agents present at most new subdivisions, those agents represent the builder. It is important to have buyer representation when building a new home. Please remember that builders have already figured in a buyer’s agent commission so you will not be penalized for having a buyer’s agent. If you are in the market for a new construction home contact me Alison.Moss@Comey.com for a free consultation and representation.
Many people are wondering where their money will be safest during these uncertain economic times. Investing in your home still pays off.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® statistics show that home prices have fallen by an average of 7 percent nationally in the past year. But the value of home owners’ investment in remodeling projects has declined only 3.86 percent on average between 2007 and 2008, according to Remodeling’s 2008–2009 Cost vs. Value Report.
Remodeling produces the Cost vs. Value Report each year in cooperation with REALTOR® magazine. REALTORS® responding to a survey in midsummer said home owners could expect to recoup a national average of 67.3 percent of their investment in 30 different home improvement projects. At the height of the housing boom in 2005, home owners could expect to recoup a national average of 86.7 percent on projects.
For more specific information on how much you can recoup on select home improvement projects. Please click here.
As we settle into winter everyone we know is thinking about their heating bill. We gave tips about winterizing a home in Cincinnati in a previous post, and hope everyone took that advice. If you are still interested in energy savings you could get a home energy audit from a company like Energyque in Cincinnati 513-319-7382.
Energyque spends one to two hours doing a thermal scan of your home and can provide you with some in depth knowledge about how you can improve your home’s energy efficiency. Making certain can save significant amounts of money over the long term. Their pricing starts at $95 for homes up to 1,500 square feet, $145 for home up to 3,000 square feet, and $195 for home up to 4,500.
The National Association of Realtors is supporting this unprecedented government investment in financial institutions and the housing market. The truth is that consumers everywhere already are feeling the impact of the credit crisis. Many buyers can no longer find financing they need to buy a home, contracts are being pulled off the table, and sellers are taking their listings down. Without swift and substantial intervention, all REALTORS and the consumers we serve will soon face a market where:
- Getting a mortgage, small business, or short-term loan becomes extremely difficult, even for good credit consumers and businesses.
- Consumer and business bankruptcies rise significantly, as refinancing options are shut down.
Lines of credit are reduced and interest rates on personal and business credit cards rise, adding to the burden on families.
- Consumer and business spending declines, further depressing the economy.
Unemployment increases significantly.
- Budget deficits increases noticeably due to declining revenue collection at all levels of government.
REALTORS know better than anyone else how important housing is to our local and national economies. Like it or not, the housing market can’t rebound until we resolve the problems in the financial markets. Now is the time to act before they move beyond repair.
Despite what you may have heard from the news media, the laws and policies that Congress is considering will directly benefit Main Street, by making financing more available and helping to stabilize home sales and prices. Additionally, the cost of such a plan is likely to be below the figures that have been widely reported. In fact, as our own Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, has explained, there is a very good chance that taxpayers will reap a positive return on this investment over the long term.
For a more detailed explanation of the Economic bailout plan in lay terms please click here.
Experienced home inspector Wayne Jones provides the following information so that you can properly care for your foundation in the upcoming summer months.
It’s not too early to create a support plan for your house foundation. Remember how dry it was last summer? Foundations and footers cracked and failed because of dry clay soil conditions. Watering your basement foundation (keeping the soil damp) is a good way to help reduce foundation/footer movement during dry conditions. Foundations with shallow footers, such as garages and crawl spaces can settle and crack first. Placing a soaker hose about a foot or so away from the foundation and letting the water trickle for several hours helps keep the soil damp. Remember, if you wait too long, it may take almost a day of watering for the moisture to reach down deep to the basement wall footer. Be aware that normal foundation wall cracks can seep or leak if the water is applied too fast or too close to the walls.
Spring is here and summer is just around the corner. In Cincinnati, it means we will be shutting down the furnaces and getting the AC units ready to cool. With energy prices on the rise we are all looking to be more efficient in our homes and one way is to only heat and cool only the rooms you use.
Traditional zoning heats/cools the various floors in your home so that your basement can be a different temperature than your main living level. New technology now allows you to zone individual rooms using pneumatic damper and multiple thermostats.
Each room can be set at different temperatures for different points in the day, reducing the work load of your AC and furnace. A Cincinnati heating and cooling company can give you a quote and start saving you money on your energy bills.
If you live in the city of Cincinnati and are considering renovating your home there is good news for you. The City of Cincinnati Department of Community Development has implemented both a residential and commercial tax abatement program to help attract new residents, businesses, and investors and encourage current residents, businesses, investors to improve their current properties. Any property owner may be eligible for this property tax abatement if they purchase a newly constructed home or are renovating their current home. Residential is defined as a single family home or any building with 1-3 units. With this tax abatement program, the commercial category is defined as residential multi-family property containing more than 4 units, office, retail, industrial, or mixed use.
Who Qualifies for the Residential Tax Abatement?
The way this program works is that certain types of improvements that actually add value to the home will qualify, while others will not. Part of the application process helps to determine if the improvements that you are making to the home are simply improving the condition of the home versus actually adding value. Painting your home, replacing your roof, new siding, new windows, new gutters, improved landscaping, a retaining wall, or resealing a driveway will all improve the condition and salability of your home but do not add dollar value. While adding a pool, deck, patio, or more usable square footage or living space to the home will add dollar value to your property and will qualify for the tax abatement. LEED- certified remodeled or newly constructed residential property is eligible for an additional tax exemption based on the certification level. Please click here for more information on LEED homes. The period for tax abatement begins with the date of documented completion of work.
Tax Abatement Limits
For example, if the owner of a $75,000 home makes $25,000 in improvements, the owner is only responsible for taxes based on the home’s original value for a period of ten years. So that would mean that the property owner’s taxes would remain at the assessed value of the $75,000 price but the house would actually be worth $100,000 if the owner were to have the home re-appraised. The portion of the tax by which the remodeling increased the value of the structure may be abated up to a maximum $275,000 market value.
Total Investment Eligible for Exemption (fair market value): $275,000
Assessed Value/Taxable Value is 35% of fair market value: $96,250
Assessed Value Multiplied by Tax Rate (.05694): $5,480.48
10% Rollback: $548.05
Estimated tax abated for one year: $4,932.43
For an application for the Residential CRA Tax Abatement Program, please click here.
While at the Cincinnati Home Show we had the opportunity to see a lot of interesting vendors and contractors. One of them was a company called BidMyCrib.Com The company is an online marketplace for home owners to put their home repair and improvement projects out to bid to local contractors. BidMyCrib takes the time to research the Better Business Bureau references and the insurance and bonding on all of the contractors it allows to access the system and bid on jobs. The cost is minimal – $14.95 per job, or about $40.00 per year if you have multiple jobs. The company has a minimum of one contractor for every type of job listed in their system so you should not be left wondering if someone is going to get back with you. Bids usually come in within 48 hours and you get to choose who gets the job. We always recommend asking for references and past clients, as well as checking with the BBB before hiring any contractor.
In reading a posting on Building Cincinnati.com, I learned about a home that is being built on the same site
as Homerama 2007. This home is being constructed to be LEED “silver certified” by The U.S. Green Building Council. It inspired me to think about how many people are now trying to be more environmentally friendly by driving hybrids, recycling, and using recycled products. The “green” revolution is a sign of the times that people are becoming more aware of how the conveniences of their everyday lives are affecting the environment and their health.
This demand is driving corporations to dedicate resources to producing “green products” for consumer use. While this new concept home in Montgomery is unique, many people are not looking to build a new home right now, but are curious about what measures they can take in their current home to make it more
eco-friendly or “green”.
The Green Guide has
many articles discussing home renovation and other ideas about what types of materials are being used mainstream.
Deciding whether it is financially feasible for you to incorporate some green measures into your home is something that you can research on your own or you can contact a professional to provide an evaluation of your home. This issue was raised by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and was reported by CNN as
well.
