You are here: Home / Archives for General Real Estate

Does Solar Add Value To Your Home?

August 31, 2018 by

Yes, No, Maybe

My favorite answer. Frustrating at times but it is true.

Let’s dig down…

Leasing Solar- No

If you are leasing a solar system you don’t own it so it is not adding value to the home.  Even if the solar lease has been pre-paid. The savings you may see on utilities is a bonus to the resident.  But the solar panels when leased do not add value.

Purchased Solar – Yes and Maybe

If you own the solar, it does add value to the home.  You own it and it conveys with the property.  YEAH!

If you purchase Solar and pay the solar off up front, most definitely the solar adds value to your home.  If you paid $30,000 for your solar, don’t expect to get $30,000 back in value.  Remember you also got about 10% back in tax credits, reducing what your out of pocket really was to around $20,000.  Depending on the age of the system, and the KW production of the system the value added will be something around or more likely below the $20,000.

If you purchased Solar with a loan, and you are still paying on that loan, the value added is different.  Like above, you still received your tax credits and may have used them to reduce the loan balance, also reducing your payment.  That is delightful on your wallet, especially over time.  Until you have paid down the loan, and have more equity in the system, the value it gives your home is significantly less.  And as the system ages your equity increases… you are not likely to reach the same value given to the homeowner who pays for the system up front until the loan has been paid off.

See, Yes, No, Maybe

If you are considering Solar, give me a call I am happy to share my knowledge with you.

Irene 480-788-0171

Filed Under: General Real Estate, Solar Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Not all Full Coverage auto insurance is truly FULL

February 21, 2018 by

No all full coverage will truly have you fully covered.

Join Barb Biaett, of Farmers Insurance and I as we discuss some coverages that may not fully hit the mark.

Filed Under: General Real Estate, Insurance

How easy is it to change my Homeowners Insurance?

February 13, 2018 by

If you have a mortgage there is a good chance that your homeowners insurance is held in escrow and paid thru that escrow account. How easy is it to make a change? Easier than you may think. With the help of a good insurance agent it is a breeze.

Filed Under: General Real Estate, Insurance Tagged With: ,

Did you know you could save on your Homeowners Insurance just by living in a 55+ Community

February 1, 2018 by

That’s right

Farmers Insurance offers discounts for most of the Active Adult Communities.

Are you getting all the discounts you should be receiving?

Contact Barb Biaett to be sure,  602.404.4040

 

Filed Under: General Real Estate, Insurance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Have you heard of a HECM?

September 20, 2017 by

Have you heard of a HECM?

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage?

Are you or your spouse 62?

You could live in your home without any mortgage payments.  Did you know that?

Its true.

 

Jacqui Hamilton
Concord Mortgage
jacqui.hamilton@concordmg.com
623-900-1935

Filed Under: General Real Estate, Loans, Lending & Credit Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

What do Harvey and Irma mean for you and having your new home built?

September 6, 2017 by

As Irma heads to Florida, Houston is in the early stages of picking up the wet pieces and trying to look forward to sunshine filled and dry days.  

One area that is affected nationwide after a disaster like major Hurricanes is building supplies.

Building time frames will get longer in Arizona, and other states not affected by Harvey and Irma.   

Suppliers prioritize their materials to those locations hit hardest. (and it is mandated by the government that they do)  Builders in other areas and states have delays in their construction due to lack of materials.  This also means that the builders don’t require as many employees to just hang around and wait to swing their hammer.  The combination of lack of materials and fewer on hand workers result in delayed construction build times.  

If you are already contracted with a builder for your new home, plan on your closing date being pushed out.  If you are about to have a builder start your home, and they previously informed you of a 5-7 month build time.  That just got extended to 7-9 months.  

The builder purchase contract has a clause to allow them up to 2 years to get your home built.  Now they don’t want to take that long, but they have the right to.  That clause exists for times like these.

Many of the construction workers will leave states where they have resided and move temporarily to the areas that have been ravaged by nature.  Creating another challenge of not enough construction workers available when the supplies are once again readily available.  

Our prayers and donations are directed to helping so many recover from unimaginable loss.  

 

Filed Under: General Real Estate Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Predictions for the Greater Phoenix Real Estate Market

December 14, 2012 by

This is a portion of an article written by our broker, Jim Sexton in the Arizona Journal of Real Estate and Business for December.   The first half of the article deals with variables to be resolved post election by the president.   Jim’s predictions follow:

 “2012 will have around 90,000 sales reported by ARMLS, which will be a 10-12% drop from 2011 numbers, but the overall dollar volume of those sales will be up almost 6% from 2011.  The average price per square foot will be up over 13% for 2012.  Using these trends, I believe that the number of sales in 2013 will remain around 90,000, although if I could give a range it would be 85,000-95,000 sales for the year.  I think prices will continue to bounce back.  I don’t expect another 13% increase, but I see a price improvement in the 5-8% range.  I expect active inventory to rise from the current less than 3 month supply to the more balanced 3-4 month supply.  Both short sales and REOs

will continue to decrease.  Distressed properties made up 70% of the market 2 years ago, 65% 1 year ago and currently are at 41%.  Look for that downward trend to continue to under 30%, with REOs below 10% and short sales dropping to around 20%.  Also expect to seeArizona’s population continue to grow and the building industry inPhoenix‘rise from the ashes’.  Both will continue the positive steps we’ve seen to our economic recovery for the region.”

 Based on Jim’s experience, knowledge and his great batting average we are expecting that 2013 will be a successful and positive year for real estate in our Valley of the Sun.

 

 

Filed Under: General Real Estate Tagged With: , ,

How the “fiscal cliff” might impact you as a home seller.

December 4, 2012 by

How the “fiscal cliff” might impact you as a home seller.

One of the “Bush tax cuts” that might be falling off the cliff could hurt you as a home seller.  Until Dec 31, 2012  the formula for paying tax on the sale of your principal residence is very favorable.

You take the ‘basis’ which is what you paid for the home initially plus major improvements you have made. (my very simplified explanation)   Then subtract that ‘basis’ from today’s sale price.  We think of that as profit on the sale.  The existing tax break lets you take $250k off that profit if you are single and $500k if you are married (again simplified).  The overage remaining is taxed as a capital gain, the rate depending  on your tax bracket.

If that tax cut falls off the cliff, you will be paying capital gains tax on the entire proceeds over your ‘basis’.  There will be no more $250k or $500k reduction.  There is to be a raise in the capital gains tax from 15% to 25% (% is variable per your tax bracket).   Plus there is a new medicare tax of 3.8% on capital gains.

PLEASE understand that my explanation is super simplified !

There are so many ins and outs and dozens of pages in the IRS books defining this formula that only your tax person will understand it fully.   I am in no way qualified to explain more than the simplified basics to you.  My purpose is to give you a heads up for your future home buying plans if they depend upon the proceeds from the sale of your existing home and to make the strong suggestion that you have a meeting with your tax person at your soonest.

Filed Under: General Real Estate

What does the typical seller accept for price on their home?

August 15, 2012 by

 

A client of mine, recently  asked me a great question; they asked me “How much a seller is willing to sell their home for, less than asking price?” To start the answer… there is no typical seller….

Every person selling their home has a different reason for selling; every person selling their home is in a different financial position.

The more important question is to ask What are the market and the market conditions telling you about where homes are selling?

· you need to consider the purchase price of the home you’re looking at

· the neighborhood the home is in

· as well as the sellers and what did they purchase the home for and was it financed

These items together will give a little better idea of where to start with your offer; and what the seller is likely to accept.

 

I still wish I had a crystal ball….

Filed Under: General Real Estate, Market Condition Tagged With:

So you want to buy on the Courthouse Steps?

June 22, 2012 by

colorful road curve

We just attended a class dealing with Trustee Sales in Arizona, given by a real estate attorney specializing in this portion of the law and a Realtor who is on the steps every day.

We took away a lot of information, but facts that directly apply to you as a buyer are what we will mention here. First the purchase money: you will need a certified check for $10,000.00. That will be verified as you sign up to bid. You will need to make the balance of payment for the property within one business day ! If you fail to make the payment by the end of the following business day after the auction, you lose your $10,000.00 earnest money.

This eliminates all bidders with loans, unless you are to be an investor non-owner occupant and want to deal with one of the unlicensed short term “hard money” lenders at up around 18% with 20-30% down.

The starting bid is stated and it is usually the amount of the first mortgage plus $1.00, but it can change up to the moment of the actual auction. Bids are usually increased by $100 each bid.

Next most important is that you are buying the property totally and completely “as is”. That is the physical as well as the legal condition. You do not get title insurance with the purchase, you may have to evict the current residents. You may have additional liens on the property. You may not have legal title to the property. You may not be able to inspect the property. It may be pristine or it may be destroyed.

There will be bidders representing investors or investment groups who are buying 5 to 100 homes at a time! Definitely the big league.

Incidentally the current (Jan-May 2012) sales numbers show that the winning bids are an average of 31% above the opening bid and 64% of the original loan amount. 80% of the sales are postponed from their original sale date and 60% additionally are postponed on the day of auction! Of those 40% remaining, 56% are purchased by 3rd party buyers.

Our conclusion is that everyone should visit the Courthouse Steps once, just to get a feel for the pace and intricacies of the auction. BUT that to participate as a buyer or as an agent of a buyer is a mistake and could be an expensive mistake. There are Realtors whose only activity is to bid on those steps every day. They have entire teams of professionals working for them, checking bank records, checking with not 1 but 2 title companies, doing Comparable Market Analyses on the property, estimating repairs and establishing a top bid. It is definitely one of those things that we are accepting as “out of our area of expertise” and we will be happy to connect you with confidence with a Realtor whose entire business is centered around Trustee Sales.

Filed Under: General Real Estate Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
Next Page »