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.

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If you’re looking for wow-factor, then look no further. Located at 6185 Trumbul Oaks Ct, Mableton, GA 30126 located in Providence, a master-planned community complete with parks, a dog park, playground, tennis courts, swimming pools, a fabulous clubhouse, which includes a billiards room, and gated.

The townhome is an end-unit and tucked away for ultimate privacy.

This home features an open floorplan with a large kitchen with stained cabinetry, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. There is a separate dining room, great room and sun room on the main level. It features real hardwood floors throughout the main level with enhanced trim, crown molding and built-in cabinetry.

The top floor features three bedrooms and two bathrooms, which includes the expansive master bedroom and master bathroom.The terrace level is finished and includes a bedroom and full bathroom.

This home has so much to offer and when combined with the neighborhood communities, you’ll feel like you’re living at a resort, but have the convenience of only being a couple miles outside the Perimeter.

6185 Trumbul Oaks Ct, Mableton, GA, 30126

Marketed by Aaron Hofmann of Keller Williams Realty.

We’re back again for the latest Smyrna Vinings Real Estate Best Buy List. When last we spoke, there were 1,017 homes and 598 condos and townhomes on the market and we whittled the list down to 51 total properties that we felt were great deals.

Of the 51 deals we identified, 9 have sold or gone under contract in the last 30 days. Of our January best buy list, 18 out of 48 have now sold or are under contract. which puts us at .272 batting average.

If you’ve thought about buying a Smyrna Vinings home, condo or townhome and you’re looking for a deal, then you’ll want to check out our March Best Buy List.

We’ve scrutinized Smyrna Vinings real estate to come up with the March Best Buy List for the area. We’ve scoured the market and out of 1,022 homes and 614 condos and townhomes currently on the market, we’ve whittled the list down to 37 total properties that we feel are great deals.

We’ve included single-family homes, townhomes and condos in the Smyrna Vinings area, which includes the zip codes of 30339, 30080, 30082 and 30126.

As with the February best buy list, we’ll follow up next month to see how many of these awesome home deals are still available and unearth some new ones for you to consider.

So if you’re ready to go shopping, you can see the Smyrna Vinings Best Buy List simply by clicking on the shopping cart below.

Click on the shopping cart above to access the Smyrna Vinings Best Buy List.

And if you want to learn more about these properties, why they made the best buy list or to schedule a showing, simply contact us and we’ll be glad to assist you.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Homes for Sale, Vinings Homes For Sale, Smyrna real estate

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As promised, I wanted to cover some of the good news that came out of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which was signed into law by President Bush at the end of July.

There’s a provision targeted for first-time home buyers who bought, or will buy, their home between April 9th of this year and July 1, 2009. You can receive a tax credit of up to 10 percent of the sales price, up to $7,500.

This is a tax credit, not a tax deduction. A deduction is an item that is subtracted from your annual income before income taxes are calculated. A tax credit is subtracted from the amount of taxes you owe.

Now you might be thinking that you don’t qualify since you’ve owned a home before. In reality, a “first-time home buyer” is defined in the new law, and includes those who may have owned a home in the past, but not within the last three years.

There are, as you would expect, income limitations on the tax credit – $75,000 per year if you’re single and $150,000 if filing a joint return to qualify for the full credit. The credit does phase out beyond those amounts up to $95,000 for singles and $170,000 for joint filers.

And one last caveat, the tax credit isn’t a gift – you do have to pay it back. It is effectively an interest fee loan that is payable over a 15 year period and repayment doesn’t begin until two years after purchase. If you sell the property before the tax credit has been fully repaid, any remaining amounts owed are due to the IRS upon closing.

You’re not required to file for the tax credit, that is completely up to you. The loan limitations for the program in metro Atlanta are $318,550. When combined with the new FHA requirement of a minimum 3.5% downpayment, that would cap the purchase price of your new home at about $330,000.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us and we’ll be glad to fill you in on the details and discuss your options. And certainly, if you know of anyone thinking about purchasing a home, be sure to have them give us a call and we’ll be glad to advise them.

The good news is that there is quite a few homes, townhomes and condos in Smyrna Vinings up to this price range to consider. We’ve set up some home searches for you below, so simply click on the area you’re interested in purchasing a home.

Vinings homes, condos and townhomes

Smyrna homes, condos and townhomes

Mableton homes, condos and townhomes

Technorati Tags: Vinings homes, Smyrna homes, Mableton homes, home buyer tax credit, first time home buyers

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Vinings Home Sales Update

As a general rule, I’ve been telling people to ignore the newspapers as many of their stats are usually based on metro, state or even national trends, which can be heavily impacted by factors not relevant in your local Smyrna Vinings real estate market.

Last Sunday, the Atlanta Journal Constitution proclaimed that “Vinings home sales hot in frigid market“. So I’m sure you’re probably thinking I should change my stance on newspapers. Not only was the headline positive about the local market, but it also used local stats.

But I can always poke a whole in their analysis.They do mention that they’re not really talking about Vinings, but rather the 30339 zip code. But that is the last time in the article that they mention this. The article mentions that home prices increased 57% and the number of units sold increased by 21.5%. But the majority of the article tried to hone in on the mystique of Vinings, the allure of Vinings and why it was kicking real estate butt when much of the Atlanta market was down.

In reality, they covered an area much larger than “true” Vinings according to the Vinings Homeowners Association. It was more the general concept of Vinings, that also includes the Cumberland and Wildwood areas of 30339 while also excluding the portion of Vinings that is in the 30080 zip code.

According to the Vinings Homeowners Association, “the northern-most part of Vinings is that area along and south of Stillhouse Road and Ranch Road, west of Cobb Parkway, and east of the railroad tracks. Vinings then includes all of the residential areas in Cobb County down to the Chattahoochee River, and then to the west up to the railroad tracks and then across to include all of the homeowners along Log Cabin Drive between Plant Atkinson Road and Cameron Place“, which is depicted in the shaded area of the following map:

View Larger Map
Given the fact that true Vinings is actually a pretty small area that doesn’t tend to have any new construction, thus making it difficult to have a huge surge in home sales or home prices, I ran the statistics from the First Multiple Listing Service for the actual neighborhoods in Vinings. What I found was that home and condo sales decreased by 6% from 2006 to 2007 and prices decreased 14% on average. This is a stark contrast from the AJC which stated home sales increased 21.5% and prices increased 57%.

The neighborhoods included in “Vinings” as defined by the HOA are:

So what does this mean and why as your local real estate guru am I telling you this?

I simply want you to be aware that Vinings by itself is not immune to the current real estate market as much as the AJC led people to believe. Their statistics were heavily affected not by traditional resales, but by new construction in the Vinings area defined as 30339, with much of the positive impact coming from the wildly popular One Vinings Mountain and other new neighborhoods such as Rivers Call at Wildwood, Greystone at Vinings, Riverwalk at Wildwood, Flats at Riverwalk and Vinings Overlook.

I guess what is most important to realize is if you really want to know what is going on in the local Smyrna Vinings real estate market, ask your trusted local real estate advisor. They certainly understand the local market better than anyone at the national or metro levels.

Technorati Tags: Vinings Real Estate, Wildwood Homes, Cumberland Homes, Vinings Homes for Sale

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