News Archives
Congress has extended and expanded the homebuyer tax credit. The modifications in the column labeled "December 1 -- April 30, 2010" become effective when President Obama signs the bill. All changes made to the current credit become effective on that date, as well.
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FEATURE
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Jan 1- November 30, 2009
Rules as enacted
February 2009
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December 1- April 30,
2010 Rules as enacted
November 2009
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First-time Buyer -
Amount of Credit
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$8000
($4000 married
filing separate)
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$8000
($4000 married
filing separate)
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First-time Buyer -
Definition for Eligibility
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May not have had an interest
in a principal residence for 3
years prior to purchase
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Same
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Current Homeowner -
Amount of Credit
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No Provision
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$6500
($3250 married
filing separate)
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Effective Date -
Current Owner
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No Provision
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Date of Enactment
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Current Homeowner -
Definition for Eligibility
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No Provision
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Must have used the home
sold or being sold as a
principal residence
consecutively for 5 of the
previous 8 years
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Termination of Credit
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Purchases after
November 30, 2009.
(Becomes April 30, 2010 on
Date of Enactment.)
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Purchases after
April 30, 2010
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Binding Contract Rule
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None
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So long as a written binding
contract to purchase is in
effect on April 30, 2010, the
purchaser will have until
July 1, 2010 to close.
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Income Limits
(Note; Increased income
limits are effective as of
date of enactment of bill)
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$75,000 - single
$150,000 - married
Additional $20,000 phase out
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$125,000 - single
$225,000 - married
Additional $20,000 phase
out
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Limitation on Cost of
Purchased Home
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None
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$800,000
Effective Date of Enactment
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Purchase by a Dependent
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No Provision
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Ineligible
Effective Date of Enactment
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Anti-fraud Rule
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None
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Purchaser must attach
documentation of purchase
to tax return
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Wouldn’t you love to go to sleep at night knowing the home of your dreams would be waiting for you in the morning? Thanks to Ohio Family Realty’s “Create Your Own Search”, now you can!
“Create Your Own Search” is an exclusive feature to Ohio Family Realty’s website. Without having to submit any personal information, such as name, address, or phone number, a person enters their search criteria for their desired home just one time. After this information is entered, sit back and relax while your home finds you. You can change your search criteria at any time. Based on the criteria selected, the computer will search for matching homes for four months.
Traditional real estate websites simply do not offer the same unique search criteria that the “Create Your Own Search” does. With this custom search, a broad range of criteria can be chosen; from finished basement or garage size, to first floor master bedroom, brick exterior, or school district. If a house comes up that you do not like, simply delete it. When you find a home that you like, call Ohio Family Realty to make arrangements to see it.
When you do find your dream home, Ohio Family Realty’s “Lifetime Realtor Program” is another ground-breaking feature that you cannot pass up! “Through the ‘Lifetime Realtor Program’, after we represent a buyer on a purchase, we will sell that house without charging a commission – whether they decide to sell in ten months or ten years. More importantly, if you are struggling to sell your old house, we will not charge you a commission on that house either,” explains Ohio Family Realty Broker, Mike DeAnna.
There has never been a better time to find the house you have always wanted. Your dream home is waiting! Let OhioFamilyRealty.com help you begin the search today!
Written By: Alyssa DeAnna
By embracing cutting edge technology and going above and beyond traditional methods of business, Ohio Family Realty continues to offer their customers the best possible service. Utilizing such online resources as the MLS, Realtor.com, and their redesigned OhioFamilyRealty.com website has increased sales to the highest level in company history. Create Your Own Search, a feature exclusive to OhioFamilyRealty.com, sends customers the home of their dreams via email each night. Ohio Family Realty’s Lifetime Realtor Program also continues to benefit their clients while building lasting relationships with them. Customers also get the opportunity to view properties and work with the Ohio Family Realty team at special events such as the Real Estate Revival, held this past April at
While Ohio Family Realty is persistent in making the most of innovative techniques, they continue to implement traditional business courtesies such as returning phone calls and emails promptly, hosting open houses, placing advertisements in the Plain Dealer and The Villager/Crocker Park Press.
Read what some of our customers have to say:
“
“Create Your Own Search gave me the privacy and freedom no other real estate website could offer. Thank you.”
Bill,
“
Diane & Joel,
“Your Lifetime Realtor Program was made for me. I would still be stuck in my old house if you didn’t sell it for free.”
Cathy,
“Working with
Greg,
“
Tom, Chesterland
For aspiring home owners who find their goal stubbornly elusive, newly enacted legislation providing a tax credit of as much as $8,000 for first-time home buyers might just be the opportunity of a lifetime. But like so many of the good things in life, time is of the essence for buyers who want to take advantage of this outstanding opportunity.
First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit as amended by the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
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The Tax Credit is for home buyers (either spouse if filing jointly) who have NOT owned a principle residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. Ownership of vacation property or rental property does not disqualify home buyers from this program.
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The maximum credit is $8,000 or 10% of the home purchase, whichever is less.
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The credit is available for homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 31, 2009.
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To qualify for the full tax credit, married couples' modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) should be under $150,000 and single filers' MAGI should be less than $75,000. Partial tax credits may be available for married couples with MAGI incomes of over $150,000 but under $170,000 and single filers with incomes over $75,000 but under $95,000. If married couples who qualify for the first-time tax credit file separately, they would both claim 5% of the home purchase or $4,000 each (whichever is less) on their tax returns.
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Home buyers who qualify for this program, but who do not intend to purchase a home till the end of 2009, may elect to alter their tax withholdings (up to the amount of the of the tax credit) in order to save up money for a down payment. However, if the purchase of the home does not occur, the taxes must be repaid to the IRS.
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There is no recapture or repayment clause IF the home is owned for at least 36 months.
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The effective date of purchase for new construction (even if buyer owns title to the lot) is the date the owner first occupies the house. So even if construction began in 2008, as long as the home and buyers qualify for the tax credit, they will be eligible if they take possession any time during 2009. However, new construction bought from the builder is only eligible if the settlement date (closing) takes place between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009.
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The law allows taxpayers to elect to treat qualified 2009 purchases as a 2008 purchase so that they can receive the tax credit on their 2008 tax returns.
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The full amount of the eligible tax credit is refunded to the buyer, regardless of whether the buyer has paid an equivalent amount in taxes.
It is a scene that repeats itself throughout the suburbs: identical houses in separate communities selling for very different prices, one fetching almost twice as much as the other. Yet both were put up by the same builder in the same year, both stand on similar-sized landscaped lots and both have been well cared for.
What are not the same are the school districts in which the houses are situated. This fact, more than any other, may determine the value of a home….Even home buyers without children care about school quality because it may affect the resale value of their house.
Time and again, families choose one community over another simply because of the reputation of the schools. They will pay vastly more for a house that is no more desirable than another because they want their children in one school system rather than another.
By Gene I. Maeroff
ESTIMATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOUSE PRICES AND SCHOOL QUALITY
Research complete in 2006 Ian Davidoff and Andrew Leigh showed that a “5 percent increase in test scores (approximately one standard deviation) is associated with a 3.5 percent increase in house prices.” These results were in line with the United States, Britain and Australia.
The Greater Cleveland Real Estate Revival will be held at Crocker Park in Westlake.
The answer is in the numbers. Check out this Time Magazine item written by Dan Kalec:
“Consider a typical home that sells for $218,900. You put down 20% and get a 30-fixed rate mortgage of 5.5%. Monthly principal and interest come to $994.31. Let’s say that 12 months from now the same house goes for 10% less, or $197,010…. If mortgage costs rise just half a point, to 6%, your monthly payment would be $994.94 and you’d have saved nothing….And you have spent a year living someplace you’d rather not be.”
Jane Steed and Lana Walter provide quality service and accountability to our clients. They perform title and escrow work for Ohio Family Realty. You can contact them directly at 440-333-4036 if you have questions or to schedule your signing of closing documents.
Triad Communications has become Ohio Family Realty’s newest resource for on-line communication between Ohio Family Realty and its buyers and sellers. Triad owner, Rick Krochka and Ohio Family Realty’s Mike DeAnna previously worked together on other projects over the last 10 years. However, the creation of the new Ohio Family Realty web site marks a new milestone in the relationship between the two people and their companies. Through their combined effort our new web site will allow you to create your own searches which will be automatically e-mailed to you each night. You will be one of the first to see the home of your dreams.
Other features include on line viewing of testimonials and the Lifetime Realtor Program, as well as our customer’s ability to link directly into the MLS without giving any personal information.
Forbes Magazine examined current home sales patterns in the country’s 40 largest real estate markets to identify the most attractive markets. Based on models that estimated 2008 housing inventory, sales rates, and turnover, the magazine compiled a list of markets that look attractive because there is likely to be an increase in sales in the near future.
Here are Forbes’ 10 most attractive markets, along with the median homes sales price from 2006.
1. Fort Worth, Texas: $156,500
2. Kansas City, Mo: $157,700
3. Houston: $154,900
4. Cleveland: $128,700
5. Denver: $255,200
6. Long Island, N.Y.:$482,300
7. Washington, D.C.: $445,300
8. Orlando, Fla.: $265,100
9. Las Vegas: $307,900
If you follow the trend in new housing starts it will tell you the “age of the community” and should help you predict growth and appreciation. Below is a chart showing the top housing starts in our local suburbs.
COUNTY
CITY # of HOUSING PERMITS AVERAGE VALUE
Lorain North Ridgeville 229 $212,355
Lorain Avon 187 $320,615
Lorain Avon Lake 161 $311,701
Cuyahoga Broadview Heights 107 $272,647
Cuyahoga Olmsted Township 87 $218,865
Cuyahoga Solon 57 $587,887
Medina Brunswick Hills 121 $225,801
Medina Montville 97 $321,991
Medina Wadsworth 80 $214,921
Generally speaking every community has an estimated lifecycle. Other than lake/ocean front property in Florida, the approximate lifecycle of a community is approximately 90-100 years. If we estimate the fastest growth years in the beginning and then decline occurring sometime in the last half of those years, you can predict steady increases or decreases in property values.
Use Euclid Avenue as an example. At the turn of the century Euclid Avenue was known as “Millionaires Row”. Fast forward 75 years and it was in its declining period. Here we are in 2005 and it is going through it’s re-birth these last few years with playhouse square, new stadiums, new housing with tax abatements, and talk of a Euclid Avenue “corridor”. This example plays out every day in every American city, from Lakewood to Amherst.
Take advantage of this information and look at where the land is available for new homes. More land means more new construction which will define the “age” of the community. Pick a young community to live in (if all other factors are equal such as proximity to work, etc). This will provide you with the best odds of gaining an edge in home value appreciation.
Former Avenbury Lakes Sales Manager and current real estate broker, Mike DeAnna, is pleased to offer a real estate Q & A session followed by a free poolside cookout at the Avenbury Lakes Lodge. The event is sponsored by Ohio Family Realty, Inc. and open to all
Session 1: Poolside cookout between
Session 2: Poolside cookout between
Topics may include an update of sales at Avenbury Lakes, how your neighbor’s sales price affects you, how changes in appraisal laws impact Avenbury residents, how the foreclosure crisis may have an effect on you, and how we can sell someone’s old house for free if they want to buy at Avenbury Lakes, among other issues.
Come and meet the sales team from Ohio Family Realty and bring your questions with you!
Due to limited space please put your name on the sign up sheet at the Avenbury Lodge as soon as possible.
Generally, there are 4 ways to make money on a rental property.
The first way is a positive cash flow which is only a small part of the whole picture. This is the extra rental income you keep after your mortgage, taxes, and insurance are paid. I always figure this to be zero because any extra money goes into paint and repairs after the tenant moves out.
Second, the loan “pay down”. If your rental home is worth $100,000 then the tenant should pay down your loan at a rate of about $168 per month based on your loan being 25 years at a 6% interest rate.
Third, the increase in the home’s value. If you consider 4% as the average appreciation for Cleveland, then a home worth $100,000 should be worth $104,000 next year. This equates to a monthly increase in home value of $333 per month.
Finally, the tax advantages of owning a rental property are usually great for most people. If you earn a typical income you may be able to deduct interest, depreciation, etc. For the sake of our example let’s use $140 as your tax savings each month. (Please consult your accountant before relying on this example.)
Let’s look at the total package. Assuming your cash flow for each rental property is zero, you should still increase your net worth at a rate of $641 per month ($168 + $333 + $140). My guess is that very few people can put more than $500 into a savings account each month. It is a forced savings that you can’t get your hands on and spend very easily. This is one the most popular ways for Americans to build wealth. Good luck building your nest egg for the future.