Par of purchasing a home is understanding its energy use. As a practice I research the utility bills of all the homes I list and sell. However the utility bills tells you about the energy and water being used, but to understand how efficient a home is you need an energy audit. Duke Energy provides a free energy audit, or you can contact a company that performs independent audits.
There is also a mortgage product on the market that allows home buyers to roll the cost of purchasing energy saving items into their mortgage. Examples include new furnaces, hot water heaters, and insulation. All of these costs can be financed into the mortgage amount so there is no out of pocket expense and the difference in the mortgage may be offset by the energy savings.
If you want more information on the Energy Improvement Mortgage follow the link to the article.
In the recent edition of Cincinnati Magazine the main focus is a review of various school systems. One of the sidebar commentaries suggests that parents consider the community’s support of the school system; and that funding levies are a good indicator of support.
Cincinnati Are School Levys
In the elections last week a number of communities voted to enact, or maintain their school levy. WLWT reported that “The school district said that if the emergency levy doesn’t pass, it will have to cut high school sports including the football team. Extra-curricular activities like choir and likely the prom would also have to be cut.”
Although the quality of a school system is subjective, a school that lacks the funding for any extra curricular activities is at a competitive disadvantage. Potential home buyers may not be drawn to those areas if they have school age children. While the passing or failing school a levy may seem to only impact taxes, it can also have an impact on property values. If demand for a certain area goes down because of an underfunded school system, prices will most likely follow. Click here for more information about Cincinnati School information
The deadline for the First Time Home Buyer tax Credit is quickly approaching. The language of the legislation reads that the homes must be closed by November 30th, and many home buyers are not aware of the time it takes to complete a real estate transaction. On average I have seen transactions take 30-35 days.
HOWEVER those transactions did not have to contend with a lending system that is currently running slow, and an impending of new contracts and lending requests that are certain to enter the system in the upcoming weeks. Considering the current systemic challenges I am telling my buyers that mid October is their deadline for securing a contract on a home and qualify for the credit.
The bottom line is if you are waiting until the beginning of November to make an offer and qualify for the credit you may be risking $8,000. If you have have your eye on a home CALL ME TODAY at 518-1140, or send me an e-mail to schedule a showing.
I have had the pleasure of working with a number of first time home buyers over the years and after reading the National Association of Realtors report on first time home buyers, I have to agree that the first time home buyers I am seeing these days are a bit different than in years past.
The NAR report states that the median age of these buyers is up to 31, from 30 in 2007 and they are putting twice as much money down (4% vs 2%) compared to 2007. Even more promising is that the first time buyers are making up more the buying population in 2008 (41%) compared to (39%) in 2007.
For the Cincinnati Real Estate market recovery that is a very good thing. Every first time home buyer helps absorb homes from the current inventory, without adding their house into the mix. This increase in first time buyers and the apparent slowing of the foreclosure crisis could be leading indicators that our local market may stabilizing in the year to come.
If you are planning to sell your home in the near future, here is some information that might be of interest. The National Association of Realtors has found that the top ten preferences that buyers are most interested in when searching for a home are:
- Central Air Conditioning
- Garage (2 or more spaces)
- Walk-in closet in master bedroom
- Backyard/play area
- Cable/Satellite TV-ready
- High-speed Internet Access
- Separate shower enclosure in master/main bath
- Patio
- Fencing
- Home less than 10 years old
