If you're on the fence about buying a home and wondering if you can afford it, take a look at the tax benefits you'll gain when you buy a home. Some items like the interest on your mortgage, loan origination points (up front cost of your mortgage paid when you buy the home), and other costs may even out the difference between your current rent and your possible mortgage payments.
DON'T ASK YOUR REALTOR OR MORTGAGE REP ABOUT TAXES. Legally, we cannot give legal or tax advice, even if we think we know the answer. Your best bet is to seek the advice of a tax expert. Also, I would advise that the only web site to go to for information on taxes is www.irs.gov, the IRS web site. Information on blogs, forums, and other web sites may or may not be accurate and may or may not apply to your specific situation. Here's the link to a great page on the IRS web site regarding some of these tax benfits: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p936/ar02.html#en_US_publink1000229936
That said, owning a home can have some great tax benefits, not to mention the benefit of just owning your own little piece of the pie. If you've never owned your own home, including condos and townhomes, then you're in for a great feeling. There really is nothing like that feeling you get when you can finally call your home YOUR home.
If you're a first time home buyer, finding an agent who will guide you through the process and take the necessary time to explain things to you is very important. If you're looking for a home in Phoenix, Peoria, Glendale or the surrounding area and would like some more information, please feel free to call me anytime and I'd be happy to help.
Have a great day!
Many kids probably wonder what Santa does during the "off season." Well, now we know, he lives in Sun City, Arizona. Yes, Santa is a snow bird? How do I know this? I met him of course! Sun City is a wonderful retirement community with 7 recreational centers. While swimming with my mother and son at the Marinette Rec Center in Sun City, we saw a man who looked very very familiar. Yes, it was Santa. He posed for a few pictures with my son and then even gave him an autographed picture.
If you are over age 55 and looking for a great place to live, consider Sun City. Many of the homes, which were mostly built in the 60s and 70s have been remodeled. There are single family homes, townhomes (single level), condos, twin homes (duplexes), and apartments. The people who live here are friendly and helpful; they really take care of one another. I know this because my mother lives there. She loves it. There are 7 rec centers with ammenities like heated pools (some shallow and some deep), bowling, billiards, art classes (painting, pottery, jewelry making, wood working, etc.), fitness centers, and various group activities, leagues, and day trips. Sun City is truly a wonderful community in which to live and socialize with other active adults. Oh, and for you golf fans, there are plenty of great golf courses! You can even drive your golf cars on the streets around town.
Sun City is close to shopping, restaurants, and various other activities. Within 6 miles are the NFL Cardinals, NHL Coyotes, MLB spring training (Mariners - Padres—Rangers—Royals), Arrowhead Mall, Challenger Space Center, Wildlife World Zoo, Arizona State University-West, Rio Salado College, Lake Pleasant, Broadway Dinner Theater, and many other features.
If you'd like more information about living in Sun City, please call me anytime and I will gladly give you a "phone tour" of this wonderful community. Who knows, maybe if you visit, you'll also get to meet Santa!
Sincerely, Lisa (future Sun City resident)
To email Santa for guest appearances: santainarizona@yahoo.com or call (623) 293-0378.
It is a common belief that color can affect our mood, both mentally and physically. I'll go over each color and it's affects on our moods over the next few days. When choosing colors for your rooms, think about the mood you want to set and how you'd like to "feel" when you're in that room.
Today is BLUE: Great for bedrooms or reading areas.
Did you know that the color blue isn't just calming mentally? It actually lowers your heart rate and body temperature, making it the perfect color to paint a bedroom.
For those who are trying to close on a home purchase, good news! Congress has passed an extension of the Homebuyer Tax Credit closing deadline. The extension applies only to transactions that have signed contracts in place as of April 30, 2010 that have not yet closed.
If you were already in escrow and just waiting to close but missed the original June 30 deadline, you now have some more time.
This will be especially great news for anyone who was waiting on short sale approval. If you have a signed contract and you receive the short sale approval before August 30 from the seller's lien holder, you should still be able to close by September 30.
Hi Everyone:
Many new home buyers ask me "How much house can I buy?" Well, it's a good question, but the REAL question should be "How much house SHOULD I buy?" The recession has been awful for many people, including myself, but I think it was a good wake-up call for our "consumer based" society.
I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY COMMISSION. OK, that might sound crazy, but in a way it's true. I do care about earning a commission so I can pay bills, I just don't care how much it will be. I would much rather see my clients buy a home within their budget, keeping their payments low enough to pay off other debts, have some money to save, and have extra for "living life" and doing fun stuff. I will never ever pressure you to spend more than you want to. I don't care what your budget is, if I am your real estate agent, I will give you all the attention I can, and we will find you a great house. There are many good homes in Peoria, Phoenix, Surprise, Anthem, Glendale, etc., in ALL price ranges. Just be sure that your expectations are realistic for your budget. Any home can be great, it's all about YOU and your memories you create in your home.
I'd like to pass along a great "reader story" about a couple who bought less house than they could afford, and then paid it off. Please check it out at
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/, which is one of my favorite blog sites.
If you're thinking of buying a home (house, condo, townhome etc.), call a great mortgage person to see if you qualify for a loan, and then call me, YOUR FRIEND IN REAL ESTATE!
Have a great day everyone.
lisa
FOR A GREAT MORTGAGE REP, CALL DAN!
Dan Beach Mortgage BankerV.I.P. Mortgage Inc.(602) 561-8305
If you have hard surface floors and kids or pets, then you have dirt. I'm not saying your house is dirty, but having kids and pets is synonomous with having dirt on the floors. Dirt tracked in from outside, pet hair, food crumbs, spilled snacks, etc. Getting out the broom is a hassle, at least I think so. I HATE sweeping. Lugging out a large, corded vacuum is also a hassel. I found a great solution. I only recommend products in which I believe they offer a high value for the money and/or work great at solving a problem.
I have a 6-year old, 4 dogs, and 2 cats. I also have wood and tile floors. The dog fur alone is enough to drive me nuts. However, I can easily vacuum it all up with my handy, convenient, and light Hoover Lynx. It's a fairly new product from hoover. It has a rechargeable battery that sits in a charging bay when not in use. The battery only lasts about 15 minutes, but that is more than enough to do all my hard floors. It even picks up kitty litter and dog food.
The best part is that the dog fur does NOT get clogged around the brush. The dirt cup could be a little bigger, but it's not a big drawback at all.
I give the Hoover Lynx cordless stick vac 5 out of 5 stars. It was $200 and worth every penny. You can find it at some department stores, such as Wal-Mart, Target, Bed and Bath and also on Amazon.com
Lisa
If you're looking to purchase a home using an FHA backed loan OR you want to purchase a home to renovate and sell (also known as a fix and flip), this is GREAT news!
You might want to know what the rule was to start with. Well, if a person purchased a home, they could not sell that home to a buyer who was using FHA lending for at least 90 days. This was to prevent people from buying, increasing price for financing, then selling to "a friend" etc. to pull cash out of the home. This was leading to over-inflated home prices in the past. Now, however, we need investors to buy damaged homes and fix them up for resale. The waiver was severely hampering these investors, thus, stalling the home market recovery and shutting FHA buyers out of the newly renovated homes.
In an effort to stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities where foreclosure activity is high, such as Arizona, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced a temporary waiver of the 90-day FHA waiting period. Many times, it doesn't take someone 90 days to repair a home for resale.
"This change in policy is temporary and will have very strict conditions and guidelines to assure that predatory practices are not allowed," Donovan said.
The policy change will permit buyers to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales. This will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.
The waiver will take effect on February 1, 2010 and is effective for one year. This waiver is limited to those sales meeting the following general conditions:
Specific conditions and other details of this new temporary policy are in the text of the waiver, available on HUD's website.
If you’re considering buying a home in the Valley and don’t know where to begin. You should really consider the West Valley: Glendale, Peoria, Surprise. I really think home values are stabilizing and these areas should be among the best for resale in the future. One reason is the tourism trade. This brings with it JOBS!
The recession has hit The Valley pretty hard, everywhere. Housing prices are down, foreclosures are up, commercial property sits vacant and people are losing there jobs. OK, pretty depressing. However, there is a bright spot: tourism in the West Valley.
The region was the only metro area in the Valley to have a month of positive growth in hotel occupancy compared with the previous year, Smith Travel Research reports. Hotels west of Interstate 17 were at 75.2 percent capacity in March, a 4.6 percent boost from the same month in 2008.
A large part of this can be contributed to baseball’s spring training in Glendale, Goodyear and Surprise.
"Spring training definitely has an influence," said Bobby Bowers, senior vice president of operations at Smith Travel Research.
Glendale particularly stood out for tourism growth in 2009, even as travelers shortened trips, hunted for bargains and canceled vacations.
The city saw an 8.9 percent jump in hotel stays from January to November compared with the same period a year earlier, including the rooms booked for Super Bowl XLII in 2008.
Other sports, such as college bowl games will also lend a boost to the economy. Fiesta Bowl numbers are expected to be quite high for businesses around the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. Restaurants, sport memorabilia stores, hotels, rental cars etc. should all see a good business this week.
The Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, the two teams occupying the spring-training stadium that Glendale built on land it owns in west Phoenix, are known for having lots of fans who travel to see their teams warm up before the start of the regular season. Snowbirds from these areas often buy their homes with this in mind.
" The Glendale Visitor Center may soon turn into a full-fledged convention and visitor bureau, Pino said, if the number of visitors and business travelers to the city continue to surge.
Arizona Cardinals games at University of Phoenix Stadium and concerts at Jobing.com Arena also boosted hotel business, even though SpringHill Suites by Marriott is 9 miles north of the sports and entertainment district, at 78th Avenue and Bell Road, general manager Mina Bermudez said.
"We can have a really slow week, and then something's happening at University of Phoenix Stadium and we're booming," she said.
Although we have great events to draw in tourists, hotel rates were cut to make it even more attractive.
The average cost per night in 2009 was $106.44, down 15.4 percent from the 2008 average of $125.76, according to Smith Travel Research This is a smaller rate cut than other parts of the Valley, such as Scottsdale, but still quite considerable.
We have a lot of great things to do in Arizona. Come out and join us in the Valley of the Sun. If you’re interested in a vacation home or relocating to Arizona. Don’t hesitate to call or email me for information!
Have a wonderful day.
When choosing wood laminate flooring, you have much to consider: price, quality of the surface finish, thickness of the product and what underlayment you'll use. You WILL get what you pay for.
If you want to stay on a budget, you can choose either a thinner "wood" that will feel and sound more like laminate, or you can choose a "cheap" thicker product that might have a not-so-durable finish.
I looked at many products before I made my choice. I though I found a great deal when I found 12mm thick, hand scraped flooring at Floor and Decor for just $2.49 a square. The man at the store assured me would not scratch easily and that it would withstand both kids and large dogs.
Well, I put the flooring in, with much effort as it wasn't easy to "click together" like they said. Then, on day 1 we got our first scratch from a chair that weighs less than 20 lbs. Today, I found a huge chip in the floor. I'm not abusing this floor in any way. It looks great, but now I'm very worried that it's going to get ruined in a short amount of time.
To stay within my budget, I now wish I'd chosen a more durable, well known product that might not look so "real" but would last for years.
So, if you want a real looking wood AND you have no kids, no dogs, and are gentle in that room, go for a bargain. However, research carefully if your floor will be getting regular use.
My review for Eco Forest flooring by Floor and Decor is STAY AWAY from it.
Copyright © 2010 Lisa Bartlett, REALTORPortions Copyright © 2010 a la mode, inc.Another XSite by a la mode, inc. | Terms of Use| Site MapAll rate, payment, and area information are estimates and approximations only.
