Welcome back!

Are you thinking about becoming a first-time home buyer? Maybe you’re tired of paying rent and enticed by the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. The tax credit ends November 30th, so even if you’ve procrastinated a bit, it’s still not too late.

Timing is important for most first-time buyers today. For those who purchase a home this year, the tax credit is for 10% of the purchase price, up to $8,000. Those who have owned a home in the past three years aren’t eligible. Buyers also have to meet eligibility requirements regarding income; the current credit begins to phase out for singles who make more than $75,000 and couples who make more than $150,000.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in buyers wanting to purchase prior to the November 30th deadline and receive the $8,000. It’s definitely motivation,” said local Smyrna Vinings Realtor, Aaron Hofmann.

Ensuring that you are able to close on your new home by November 30th, it’s imperative that you work with a local market expert who understands where the best deals can be found and which homes best meet your needs. The other critical aspect is to make sure you’re working with a lender and closing attorney that can properly handle your needs and prepare all the financing and closing documents in time.

Keller Williams Realty Cityside, Smyrna Vinings #1 real estate office, understands how critical this is. They expect a large surge in first-time home buyers leading up to the deadline and have ensured that additional resources are available to meet the consumer demand.

Thanksgiving may also throw a crimper into the schedule as well. So the earlier that you can close in November, the better off you will be. So be sure to plan accordingly. One of the best things you can do to prepare, is to meet one-on-one with a local Smyrna Vinings Realtor for a first-time homebuyer seminar and work with a local lender to get fully pre-approved. Both of these steps will save hours and hours from the process and ensure a successful transaction.

Most first-time homebuyers tend to purchase in the $300s or below. To simplify things a bit, we’ve provided Smyrna Vinings homes for sale right now so you can see what is available.

• Smyrna Vinings homes for sale from $300,000
• Smyrna Vinings homes for sale from $200,000
  
• Smyrna Vinings homes for sale from $100,000
• Smyrna Vinings condos and townhomes for sale from $300,000
• Smyrna Vinings condos and townhomes for sale from $200,000
• Smyrna Vinings condos and townhomes for sale from $100,000

Of course, buying a home has to be the right decision. The purpose of the Keller Williams first-time home buyer seminar is to help you understand the process, the costs, which will allow you to make an informed decision. It’s important to understand how much down payment you will need, closing costs and other ancillary expenses.

But without a doubt, it’s a great time to be a first-time home buyer. Home prices are down, interest rates are phenomenal and throw in the $8,000 tax credit. In fact, the biggest concern lurking for home buyers is positive economic news. What’s good for the economy is not good for mortgage interest rates, which are expecting to increase over the next 12 months. A 1% increase rates will have a big impact on affordability.

The National Association of Realtors estimates that about 1.8 million to 2 million first-time buyers will take advantage of the tax credit this year.

If you’re thinking about buying a home, take the first step and contact us for a complimentary first-time home buyer seminar.

[where: 30080]

[where: 30082]

[where: 30126]

Fabulous Short Sale Opportunity in Vinings Estates. Wonderful home on 1.5 acre wooded estate.

Loaded with upgrades including hardwood floors, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, wine bar, heavy mouldings throughout, iron balusters, and much, much more.

You’ll love the huge Master Suite with separate his/her closets, large Master Bath with dual vanities, jacuzzi tub and separate shower and a private sitting room.

Fabulous open floor plan features a large Dining Room, separate Living Room and a two-story Great Room with built-in cabinetry and a wall of windows and a great view of the wooded backyard.

But don’t miss out on the finished terrace level with the custom built bar, billiards and TV room, media room, full bath and plenty of storage.

Outside, you’ll appreciate the professional landscaping, the three-car side-entry garage, the terraced backyard, the covered deck on the side of the home along with the large deck on the back of the home. And don’t miss out on the waterfall and Koi pond as well as the lower patio area with outdoor fireplace.

5101 Parkwood Oaks Lane, Mableton, GA, 30126

Marketed by Aaron Hofmann of Keller Williams Realty.

As I promised a couple weeks ago when talking about the proposed Georgia homebuyer tax credit, I did say that I would keep you updated.

After the House overwhelmingly passed HB 261, the bill moved onto the Senate. With such robust support, you’d think this is a slam-dunk. Almost. The Senate overwhelmingly passed it as well, but with a couple modifications. Can’t be a good politician without making changes.

It then went back and forth with the House and Senate acting like politicians and not getting along. A modified version was passed on Friday in the last session and now awaits the governor’s signature. The final version that passed reduced the tax credit to a maximum amount of $1,800, but did include condos which was not in the original House bill.

But here is the current HB 261 bill in a nutshell:

1. The tax credit applies to single-family homes and condos if purchased as your primary residence.

2. The property must be for sale prior to the effective date and still for sale after the effective date, or

3. The property must be in default on or before March 1, 2009 or has already been foreclosed and is held by the mortgagor

4. On the first day of the month after the effective date of the law, the purchase of a home meeting the criteria above within the next six months would be eligible for the tax credit.

5. The tax credit is limited to 1.2% of the purchase price or $1,800, whichever is less.

6. Now the tricky part. You can only claim, at most, one third of the tax credit in any one year, beginning with your 2009 tax return.

7. One final important caveat. If you’re purchasing a home, be sure to request a copy of the necessary documents to maintain for your tax records to document how the home qualified for the tax credit, whether it be because it was listed prior to the effective date or perhaps because it was delinquent or had been foreclosed.

This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.Will Sonny sign it, I’m not 100% sure about that. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Needless to say, if you’re interested in purchasing a Smyrna Vinings home, this is yet another great incentive that can be added on to the $8,000 federal first-time homebuyer tax credit. And if you’re thinking about selling your Smyrna Vinings home, don’t delay getting your home on the market in order to qualify.

If you have any questions (because I’m sure it’s clear as mud) or want to take advantage of this Georgia home buyer tax credit, be sure to contact us.

Technorati Tags: home buyer tax credit, Smyrna real estate, Vinings real estate

[where: 30080]

[where: 30339]

I know I’ve been delinquent on getting out this housing update, so let’s get right to it.

If you remember the Atlanta housing first quarter statistics, the market experienced 70% of all listings failing.

Ultimately what we’re trying to depict is the correlation between pricing your home properly in the market versus letting it sit on the market for a year. If you’re going through the process of getting your home ready to go on the market, keeping it spot-on clean and ready for showings and running out of the house everytime there’s a showing, then wouldn’t you rather sell than have it just sit?

You don’t want to just throw your home on the market and hope.

We did see some improvement as sellers and agents are starting to better understand the market. As a general rule, we always say that buyers see a Buyer’s Market 6 months in advance and seller’s finally realize it’s a Buyer’s Market about 6 months into it.

In the second quarter of 2008 in metro Atlanta, for every 100 listings, 64 failed to sell. Thirty-six did sell, but 17 required a price reduction.

The end result, only 19 out of every 100 listings were priced properly and as a result sold at 96.8% of list price and within 41 days. The other 17 required longer to sell due to mispricing, taking 124 days to sell and sold at only 88.5% of list price. And the other 64, well, they’re still sitting on the sidelines hoping to get in the game.

Hopefully, what you can take away from this, is homes that are priced properly are selling and they’re not sitting on the market. However, too many properties are still being priced based on comparable sales from 2006 and 2007 and just as before, I hate to break it to you, but we’re in 2008 right now.

If you’re ready to get an honest assessment of what your home is worth, feel free to contact us and we’ll be glad to sit down with you and discuss how we can get your home sold, even in today’ market.

But clearly the key to getting your home sold is working with a local experienced Realtor, knowledgeable about the Smyrna Vinings community, who can help you to price and market your home appropriately.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Homes, Vinings Homes, Housing Market Update

[where: 30080]

[where: 30339]

Smyrna Vinings Home Sales Event

Keller Williams Realty Cityside, Smyrna Vinings #1 real estate office, is excited to announce their Red Hot Reductions event.

For one week only, from September 1st through the 7th, Keller Williams has reduced Smyrna Vinings home prices anywhere from $1,500 to $200,000.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to take advantage of this limited time sales event. Now is the perfect time to buy with a large selection of homes and interest rates still at very good historical levels.

Check out these great homes included in the Smyrna Vinings Red Hot Reductions event.

If you have any questions on this event or would like to schedule a showing, be sure to contact the SmyrnaVinings.com team.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Real Estate,   Vinings Real Estate,   Keller Williams

[where: 30339]

[where: 30080]

[where: 30082]

[where: 30126]