2010 January « The Philly Pretzel

Archive for January, 2010

Is Your Philadelphia Home Really for Sale?

January 15, 2010 at 10:39 pm · Filed under For Home Sellers, Rants and Raves

SUBTITLE: WHAT EVERY PHILADELPHIA HOME SELLER SHOULD ASK THEIR AGENT BUT DON’T.

Or is your home just listed for sale. Has your agent made it impossible for other agents to show?

One of the questions we are asked at every listing appointment is: How are you going to market our home? What is your marketing plan? Of course we have a comprehensive marketing plan. BUT what every seller should be asking: How will other agents be able to make appointments?, how will you track the appointments?, how will you get feedback?, how will I know what’s going on? No one ever asks this. I think that sellers feel it’s just part of the process and they don’t have to worry about it. Well read on.

I have out-of-town buyers coming into town this weekend to look at homes. They are only going to be here Saturday and Sunday, they have identified 20 homes they would like to see. They need to buy quickly, every sellers dream.

I divide the homes by neighborhood and day and start to make appointments. The 1st two appointments go smoothly, the agents use eshowings, which is a professional showing service for Realtors. Eshowings tracks appointments, calls sellers if necessary for confirmation, sends out requests for feedback, and also sends the sellers weekly activity reports. Why wouldn’t every Realtor use eshowings you ask? Ahhhh because they have to pay for it!

The next three are okay. They all use the office receptionist and it goes pretty smoothly, only one is rude. What you should be asking yourself at this point is: If they use the office receptionist how does one make an appointment after hours? Eshowings is available 7 days a week, 360 days a year and also one can make an appointment online.

NOW on to my favorite type of agent. Under appointment phone number nothing is entered. I call the office and the snotty receptionist tells me to call the appointment phone number. I tell her that there isn’t one and she transfers me (without telling me) to the agents voicemail. Does he answer? Hell no I get my most favorite message:” I’m not available but your call is very important to me so please leave a detailed message and I will get back to you as soon as it’s convenient. “Convenient to whom? But wait there’s more. He then proceeds to say: “If it’s an emergency you may call my cell phone”. I just leave a message and hang up knowing there will be no call back. What constitutes an emergency to a Realtor? Yes it’s an emergency I might want to sell one of your listings, oh wait it’s probably your only listing. Hang in there it gets better. The only reason I’m showing this house is that it’s 2 doors down from a home my clients have requested to see, it’s priced similar so I think we should see it. Not that I know that from the pictures because he hasn’t bothered to have any (that post ranting about no pictures is coming soon). AND I notice that he is related to the sellers…whoops. I can’t say this enough, do not hire your brother, sister, aunt, cousin to sell your home unless they are good at what they do and can prove it.

I have to email an agent to make the next 2 appointments and a few back and forth emails later I’m all set. I think online appointment centers like eshowings are more efficient and easier but I understand the personal touch and hey she gets back to me in 10 minutes.

The next one I think is my personal favorite of the day. In the Multiple Listing Service under Realtor remarks: “vacant, easy to show”. I go to make an appointment on-line…so far so good…and this is what I’m confronted with:

Well obviously there are no weekend showings and the possibility of getting in anytime looks slim so I just filed that one.

The next time I am asked about our Marketing Plan I’d like to say: forgetaboutit we actually make it possible for agents to show your home and that is our #1 marketing strategy. Yes it takes more than that but think about how important this is.

SELLING YOUR HOUSE? MAKE SURE YOU HIRE PROFESSIONALS

Technorati: philly home sellers, homes for sale, how to sell your home, hire the right agent

janice_bovee-author posted by janice SEARCH the Philadelphia MLS. No Registration Required!

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First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit: Obscure Facts

January 9, 2010 at 7:49 pm · Filed under First Time Home Buyers, For Home Buyers

The IRS gets the final say when it comes to who gets to claim the homebuyer tax credit, who does not, and under what circumstances.

There are some little-known interpretations that most loan officers, real estate agents and even tax advisors don’t know about.

The IRS have made a feeble attempt to update some of the First Time Home Buyer FAQs posted on their website but if it’s anything like the last extension, it will take them a while to do a full update.

In the meantime here are some important facts:

When a First Time Home Buyer buys a 2-4-family home, and occupies one of the units as their personal residence, they are only allowed to claim 10% (or $8000 max) of the unit they OCCUPY–not the entire sales price. Example: If the FTHB bought a duplex for $120,000 and the units are identical, the “cost basis” is $60,000 and the tax credit they can claim would be $6,000.

Income limits are based on ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME.

Income CAN Exceed $125,000 (single) and $225,000 (married) by up to $20,000 and FHTB & Long-term Residences can still get a partial tax credit based upon a “MAGI (modified adjusted gross income) formula” created by the IRS

New Construction – the “date of purchase” is considered the “date” the FTHB OCCUPIES the property–not the closing date or the start-or-construction date.

FIND YOUR PHILLY HOME AND GET YOUR TAX CREDIT

Technorati: philly home buyer, ist time home buyer, tax credit, irs tax credit

posted by carolyn REALTOR, Ecosociate™by Ecobroker International
SEARCH the Philadelphia MLS . No Registration Required!

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Philly Mortgage Rate Update: January 5th 2010

January 6, 2010 at 10:12 am · Filed under For Home Buyers, Mortgage

NEW YEAR, NEW RATES!

Todays Mortgage Rates:

30 Yr Fixed – 5% (.5 point) / 5.125% (0 points)

15 Yr Fixed – 4.25% (1 point) / 4.5% (0 points)

5 yr ARM – 3.875% (1 point) / 4.25% (0 points)

7 yr ARM – 4.375% (1 point) / 5% (0 points)

FHA 30 Yr Fixed – 4.875% (1 point) / 5% (0 points)

FHA 5Yr ARM – 4.25% (1 point) / 4.75% (0 points)

Investment – 5.375% (1 point) / 5.5% (0 points) – at least 25% down payment required

*Rates are based on 80% loan to value unless noted and 720+ credit score (with the exception of FHA) *Income and Asset verification required and must meet DTI guidelines *This is not a commitment to lend and other conditions may apply

Mortgage Bonds are jumping higher this morning as they break free and continue to attempt a “get-away” from the sharp downward trending channel they’ve been trading within since late November. Stocks rallied sharply higher yesterday, with the Dow and S&P 500 both reaching their highest closing levels in more than fifteen months- but so far this morning, Stocks are taking a bit of a breather, which is benefitting Bonds.

And here is an interesting talking point- history shows that since 1973, a big gain on the first trading day of January has been a positive sign that Stocks will show positive gains for the rest of the year. Unfortunately, the market is still fragile, which means any negative surprises could take the wind out of the sails quickly and make it touch for stocks to eke out significant gains for the year overall.

Technorati: philly mortgage, mortgage market, carina marchese, center city mortgage company

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