Homes: A Tax Shelter You Can Live In
Tax and legal benefits may not be the first things on the minds of home buyers, but they provide some of the best reasons for owning a home. Well-informed buyers know that homes double as great tax shelters, allowing owners to deduct tens of thousands every year for a wide variety of income tax categories. The best part is that they provide a tax shelter you can actually live in.
Right Size to the Right Home
One of the new buzz words in real estate is “rightsizing”. Rightsizing is about finding the right size home for where you are in your life - people are searching for the perfect space for their needs. This concept not only applies to your search for personal space, it’s also a concept that is being applied to building and city planning. With an aging population, increasing density and a greater emphasis on lifestyle, the switch in thinking from “more space” to “the right space” makes a lot of sense.
Bidding Wars: How to Win the Home of Your Dreams
In hot markets, multiple offers and bidding wars on properties can quickly become the norm. In such markets a home may be on the market for less than a week or sometimes only a day before it sells. Often homes will sell even before they are registered in the MLS. As a buyer looking in a hot market, it’s important to have the proper ammunition as you enter into these situations. As you can imagine, stress and tension can run high in these fast, high pressure deals, but so long as you are prepared and know what you’re getting into there should be no problem winning the home of your dreams. Here are some helpful hints:
The Pioneering Spirit of First Time Buyers
Well, the good news for Canadians is that the housing market seems to be unaffected by the US mortgage crisis. Canadian realty is ‘doing its own thing’ and enjoying a healthy property market. The bad thing is that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has published a report which claims that most Canadians are being priced out of their own housing market.
Choose a Solid Home Inspector
Surprises can be good and they can be not so good. As a homeowner the last thing you want to discover is that home you recently purchased is full of surprise flaws. The prime time to discover what surprise problems might plague a house, is during a home inspection- before the final sale of a home. You want to know exactly what you are getting yourself into, and how much it will cost to bring the house up to snuff. A thorough, professional home inspection is the only way to source this information. Consider the importance of selecting a professional, reliable and experienced home inspector.
Another ‘Gold Rush’ to California?
California is the most populated state in America, and it contains eight out of ten of the most populated cities. But compared to the rest of the nation, hardly any Californian homes were bought or sold last month. Why was this, and what does it mean?
To Buy or Not To Buy - That is The Question
In 2004, statistics told us that one in ten American residents owned a second home. Home ownership had reached an all time high of 70%.
Grab Your Piece of Scottsdale While It’s Affordable!
There is a prediction out in the media that the median price of homes in these gorgeous desert golf communities will be on the increase. Of course, there are some golf communities that offer so much else, that you don’t even have to be a golf player to want to live there.
It’s the Right Time for the First Time
It might be the single most common question a realtor hears - is this a good time to buy a house? While the answer depends on your personal circumstances, there are certainly times and circumstances that make “yes!” the right answer for most people. If you’re a first time home buyer, this is one of those times. What’s bad news for home sellers has created an excellent market for anyone who is in the market for a home.
All Agents Are Not Created Equally
The term REALTOR® doesn’t just refer to anyone helping people to buy or sell homes. It is a trademark, registered with the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) , and can only be used to describe members of the NAR who have gone through accredited REALTOR® training. If you are looking for someone to represent you as a buyer or seller, you need to understand what sets a REALTOR® apart.
« go back — keep looking »