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Selling Your Home
In The Summer
As we enter the sweltering days of summer, homebuyers' thoughts will naturally turn to patios, decks, landscaping, air conditioning, and in some cases, pools. So if your home is on the market, you'll want to make sure your house is in top order and summer-friendly.
July and August are traditionally busy months because many families want to get moved during their children's summer vacations and get them acclimated before the new school year begins. That means if you're selling your home this summer, you'll likely have
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more competition as more of your neighbors put their homes on the market, too.
But the good news is that this summer in particular should be a good
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Normal Market Produces
Buyer Opportunity
Why aren't builders running scared? Because the underlying principles of a good market remain sound in the midst of buyers scurrying around, afraid of buying at the height of the market. While nationally, the industry has cooled to "more sustainable levels," according to the National Association of Home Builders, "The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports strong job gains in many of the fastest-growing states, with 37 states exceeding their pre-recession peak levels of employment in 2005."
The group recently released a mid-year housing report on its real estate trends website HousingEconomics.com. A cooling of the market this year will still result in the third highest level of housing starts in the last few years.
That's why you keep seeing building projects going up. Definitely, not as many houses are being constructed in 2006 as last year, but the NAHB report points to several positive market growth indicators in various regions across the country.
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Federal Real Estate and Mortgage Tax Incentives
What's the mortgage interest deduction worth to the typical homeowner who claims it at tax time? Nearly $10,000 on average, according to a provocative new analysis of federal incentives for homeowners nationwide.
But there are many parts of the country where the "typical" tax deduction for mortgage interest is far bigger, and plenty of others where it is considerably smaller. Take, for example, California's 14th congressional district in and around high-cost Silicon Valley. The average taxpayer there took a whopping $35,000 in mortgage interest deductions during the year covered by the research -- more than six times the average mortgage interest writeoff taken during the same period by residents of Oklahoma ($5,710).
The homeowners of the 14th district took an aggregate $3.2 billion worth of mortgage interest deductions and that total was about the same as all the mortgage interest writeoffs claimed by all the homeowners in seven states -- Alaska, Montana, North and South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming -- combined.
The new research study by the National Association of Home Builders
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"FEATURED LINK" BOX
Put a link of your choice here (i.e. listing of the week, helpful consumer site, etc.)
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Sellers Face Contingent Dilemma
Contingencies in contracts will always exist. It is a rare thing to find a written contract which satisfies both parties right up front without a contingency.
In a sellers market, even if the buyer writes it with no contingencies, the seller will tack on a few of his own -- must find home of choice, comes to mind. Even so, when sellers add contingencies, it's usually only a couple that are easily remedied and which don't cost the buyer much money. When buyers add contingencies, on the other hand, it means the seller may face delayed expenses (such has home inspection defects) or have the chance that the house may not sell at all.
For example, a Washington, D.C. area seller writes that he has "drastically lowered" his price, has a great agent and
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Daily News and Advice
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