Ignore conventional thinking - the spring selling season starts NOW in real estate

When is the BEST time to sell my home?
There is no time like the present – especially when that time falls between January and May. That’s because in the real estate world buyers have dusted off their hands from the holidays, many have deliberated with family members, made important decisions about purchasing, transferring property, large gifts have changed hands – and the New Year represents a time for a fresh start.

Oftentimes sellers tend to believe listing their home at the height of summer is the ideal time – mainly when their landscaping is at its peak state. On the contrary, most buyers prefer to be done with their home purchasing by the time schools are out, well in time for summer activities. Another important consideration is that home-builders will offer buyers a 2% to 3% discount on their new construction homes in the fall, potentially presenting a competing challenge to sellers should they list at that time of year. 

What will happen to our home value if interest rates go up?
A common misconception regarding home values is that if interest rates rise, home values will conversely come crashing down. The theory behind that being that buyers would not be able to afford as much of a home, effectively driving prices down. However, in actuality rates don’t cause home value fluctuation as much as supply and demand does.

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So if you’re in the market to sell your home – don’t wait! Call us now and seize the opportunity that presents itself today. There are buyers waiting to write offers now, why should you wait to list your home?

13 Ways to Winterize Your home

Welcome back to my video blog! Winter is upon us and along with the holiday cheer comes some freezing weather. It's important to protect your home from the potential damages of cold weather, snow and ice. Here are 13 ways to keep your property safe!

1. Get your HVAC (furnace) inspected, cleaned and tuned up. If it's running inefficiently it can cost you hundreds of dollars.
    
2. Change the battery in your thermostat. When the thermostat dies the heat can either shut off or continue to go full blast.
    
3. Change the direction of your fans. Hot air rises; turn your fans to a downward direction to maximize your heat!
    
4. Prevent ice jams. Melted snow can freeze and cause jams in your gutters. Hire a professional to clean this up; doing this yourself can be dangerous.
    
5. Turn off exterior faucets. Turn off and drain the remaining water in the line so that you don't have any cracks or bursts during the winter.
    
6. Winterize your pool and hot tub if you aren't using them.
    
7. Drain the gas from your mower. If the gas sits in cold temperatures it can often get thick and ruin the machine.
    
8. Check your sump pump.
    
9. Get your chimney inspected. If you plan on enjoying some fires this summer make sure everything is cleaned and inspected to prevent possible accidents.
    
10. Get your snowblower tuned up.
     
11. Set markers around the perimeter of your property to indicate to snow plows where your yard is to prevent damage.
     
12. Weather strip your doors and set up timers on your lights. In the winter most of us go to work when it's dark and get home when it's dark. Setting your lights on a timer can add a little cheer to coming home.
     
13. If you go away on vacation, turn off the water and the main. Again, this will prevent any cracks or bursts.

Thank you for watching. I hope you find these tips helpful. If you have any questions, please give me a call!

Renting vs Selling

Welcome back to my video blog! Lately, I’ve been asked a lot about whether it is better to take a financial hit of foreclosure or short sale or to rent out the property.

A lot of people are surprised when they find out the better option may be to take the loss. Why is that? I have two key aspects to look at when considering your situation.

The first question to ask yourself is would you buy the property as a rental? Will the property generate a positive cash flow? If not, it may be better to sell.

The second question is whether you live in town or not. Most tenants will eat a landlord up if they are out of town.

If you Google this topic you will find thousands of articles giving the pros and cons of renting vs. taking a financial hit.

If you have any questions please give me a call.

Two Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Sell

Welcome back!

Now that fall is in full swing and the holiday season is approaching us, many people have asked me whether now is a good time to sell, or if they should wait until spring.

There are two reasons why selling now is a great choice:

1.    We don’t know where interest rates will go over the next couple months. If they increase, activity will drop.

2.    Buyers, who are looking now, are serious. While you may have fewer showings, you have more qualified and motivated buyers in the market.

Give me a call today so we can get your home ready for the market. Thanks for watching!

New York State School Tax Relief Program

Some of you may know about the New York State School Tax Relief Program, more commonly known as the STAR Program. Much like homestead exemptions in other states, this program aims to reduce school district property taxes on the primary residences in New York. The program is meant to lower the tax burden on school district residents.

There are two forms of the STAR Program: Basic STAR and Enhanced STAR. The basic program is for the New York residents whose primary residence is in the state; it exempts $30,000 from the true value of the property.

The enhanced program is for senior citizens, 65 years of age and older and not have an annual income about $60,000; it exempts an annual amount which varies.

The state makes up the difference so that the overall revenue of the given school district is not affected.

The STAR rebate is subtracted from the ‘true value’ of the home. The value is determined by your last property assessment divided by an equalization rate, which is the ratio of assessed value to market value for each taxing jurisdiction.

With recent legislation, all those benefitting from the Basic STAR must register with the New York State Tax Department in order to receive the 2014 exemptions. Homeowners will not have to re-register ever year.

Registration started on August 19, 2013 and will continue through December 31, 2013.

Please visit http://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/property/star13/ to register.

Why Your Home Isn’t Selling

Hey, guys. Welcome back to my video blog!

For the past 20 years, I’ve specialized in expired listings. These are homes that were listed with another agent and just sat on the market. All my clients ask me why their home didn’t sell.

I have about five main reasons why a home may have sat on the market. The first is presentation. Presentation online and in person is crucial. According to statistics from last year, buyers only visited 4.7 homes before purchasing. That means they waded through hundreds online to only visit fewer than five homes.

Second is access. You need to make your home available as much as possible. If a buyer can only view your home at a few restricted times, they will most likely give up on your property.

Thirdly, do not have your pets present during a showing. When buyers come to look at your home they want to wander freely. Having the buyer or the pets present can be very distracting.

Pricing is also significantly important when trying to sell your home. If you price your home too high, there is a chance it will just sit on the market. When I determine the listing price of a home, I bring in comparable homes; we compare apples to apples and find a good price range.

The final reason your home may have expired is the rejection of the first offer. Sometimes sellers will turn down the first offer because they think it’s too low. We have a rule in our business: the first offer is the best offer. While I don’t necessarily believe the first offer is the best, I do believe the first buyer is the best. Don’t be afraid to counteroffer. If you reject that buyer, it could come back to haunt you later.

These are some of the main reasons I see that homes do not sell. If you have any questions or are ready to put your home back on the market, give me a call!

What's Happening with Interest Rates?

Welcome back to my video blog! I wanted to talk to you about the rising interest rates. A mere month ago we were at a 200 year low of the rates being in the mid to low 3% range. The rate now is about 4.5%.

Will they go back down? It’s hard to say, but put this in perspective. What does a one point raise mean? Well, if you are looking at $250,000 home from last month to this month, your mortgage payment went up about $80 a month.

To crunch some numbers, an interest rate of 3.5% is about $4.50 per thousand. So if you have a $100,000 home, it’s going to be about $450,000 on your PITI. At 4.5%, you are at $5.07 per thousand. If you look back a few years, though, we were at 8-9%.

Why does all this matter? For most of us, buying a home is the most important investment we make. If you are able to buy a $250,000 home today and we have a 3% annual appreciation, in ten years that house could be worth $336,000. That’s almost $100,000 in equity you have built in toward your retirement.

So now is the time to buy, to lock in that low interest rate. So give me a call at 585.721 and let’s get started!

Planning on Remodeling?

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If you are thinking about hiring a contractor to do some home improvements or remodeling, it’s important you are well informed. Lately, we’ve received calls from homeowners who are frustrated with their contractors; the homeowners have paid, but the contractor stops showing up before the project is completed.

If you are using a commercial lender to pay for your contracting, the lender will set payments up to the contractor in a way that protects you. People get into trouble, though, when they use their own line of credit.

If you choose this route, the most important thing is to check references. www.AngiesList.com is a great resource to verify the quality of a contractor’s work. The next most important thing is payment. Do not pay all at once; payment out of pocket should be equivalent to the work done.

If you have any other questions regarding contractors, please give me a call 585-721-3010.