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Home Buyer Tax Credit Expanded & Extended

randirapp — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:05:27 +0000

Great Information for Your Homebuyers!

The $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, will be extended for contracts signed before May 1, 2010 and that close before July 1, 2010. First-time buyers, who are in the process of closing now, no longer have to worry about qualifying for the $8,000 tax credit if they do end up closing after the Nov. 30 deadline. The new legislation also increases the income limit for couples with income up to $225,000, a nearly $55,000 increase above the current level.

Buyers who already own a home are also now eligible for a tax credit and the purchase of a home. The $6,500 maximum credit will be available to existing homeowners who have lived in their current residence for five of the prior eight years. The legislation does set forth several provisions including, limiting eligibility for existing homeowners to homes worth $800,000 or less, as well as making both credits available only for primary residences, not second homes or investment properties. ( Information obtained from Keller Williams website )

Here is a chart that may help with the information:

	Current	New
Effective Date	· January 1, 2009	· November 7, 2009
Deadline	· Close on or before November 30, 2009	· Contract signed before May 1, 2010, must close before July 1, 2010· Members of the uniformed services, foreign services, and intelligence employees who served an extended service of 90 days will have until April 30, 2011 and June 30, 2011.
Amount	· First-Timers: maximum of $8,000 or 10% of sales price · Prior Owners: $0	· First-Timers: Unchanged· Prior Owners: $6,500 if lived in prior home for at least 5 consecutive years of past 8 years.
Income Limit	· Individual: $75,000· Couple: $150,000	· Individual: $125,000 · Couple: $225,000
Other Restrictions	· Home must be primary residence for at least 3 years. If home is sold or buyer moves before 3 years, must re-pay full amount of credit.	· Buyer must be at least 18 years old and not classified as a dependent for tax purposes· Home must cost less than $800,000· New Home must be primary residence for at least 3 years following purchase. If home is sold or buyer moves, before 3 years, must re-pay full amount of credit. Exception for military, foreign services, or intelligence with extended 90 days service overseas.
How to claim	· If purchased in 2009, by amending 2009 tax return or claiming on 2010 tax return	· If purchased in 2010, by amending 2010 tax return or claiming on 2011 tax return

Using Social Networks in Real Estate

randirapp — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:20:01 +0000

Its All About Your Connections

If you have kids at home, I am sure that at times you begin to wonder – what are they doing online all the time? Their answer many times is that they are spending time on Social Networks like MySpace and Facebook.

Here is a quick look overview on Social Networks.

Social Networks are not just for kids anymore. Here are some interesting articles to read to grasp the magnitude of Social Networks in business (Click on the links to read more):

It is clear that at this point online social networks are becoming mainstream business tools. So what if anything does this have to do with real estate? In real estate being “well connected” is key. Look at any top producing agent and you will see that many of them have great connections.

In the real world, we join BNI groups, PTA’s, Junior League, Chambers of Commerce, Condo Associations, Alumni Groups, etc. The real estate business is all about networking, so its obvious that there is real value in supplementing your real world activity with some online networking.

Social Networks are a way to reach out to your sphere of influence and their sphere of influence on a regular basis. How often have you experienced the real estate agent’s nightmare of running into an old acquaintance in the mall only to hear “I wish I had known you were in real estate. I just bought a house.” ? Imagine how much more business you could have done in your career had you just been able to keep in touch with everyone you knew in high school, college and your life before real estate. Now multiply that by everyone they know. The implications are huge!

Social Networks are still in the early stages with much of their business potential is still to be discovered. The one thing I know for sure is that you need to be there.

So go on and sign up one some of the Social Networks out there. Here are some of the ones that I am on.

Join Linked In !

Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves.

Join Facebook!

Have you joined other online Social Networks that have brought you business?

Why Use Google Alerts?

randirapp — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:00:07 +0000

Now that we have learned a bit about how Google works and maybe you have even checked out the results for your name, it is time to turn an eye toward your market and see your real estate market like Google does.

In a Google search you can get results in two ways. First, you can pay for results – you will notice this when you see sponsored results or the right hand side bar of any google search. Second, you can earn “organic” results which come from the information and backlinks you have on your website.

What search terms do you think are important in your real estate market? Let’s start with big area searches like Aventura Real Estate, Miami Beach Real Estate, Sunny Isles Beach Real Estate, etc. Maybe your focus is a little more narrow - think of subdivisions and condo buildings like Acqualina, Aventura Lakes or The Beach Club in Hallandale Beach. Whatever your terms are – you need to set up a Google Alert to keep an eye out on the competition. Here’s how: (the end of the video gets a little more advanced, but you will get the idea)

Your Market area and real estate.
Your name – hint: if you have a common name make sure you put it in quotes and maybe use one other word ( like the city where you live or work). This way you willonly get Alerts for yourself not someone else with your same name.
Just your market area – keep up on all the news
set up a link: yourwebsite alert for your website and maybe one for a competitors website so you can “spy” on what they are doing
Anything else of interest to you !

Negotiating a Win-Win

randirapp — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:54:32 +0000

Negotiating with different people is not always the easiest thing to do. There are a lot of factors to consider; like what it is that both parties are trying to attain, and the temperament of each party involved. In Ki Gray’s article, “Avoiding Sour Negotiations”, he breaks it down step by step.
Tip 1: “Don’t sweat the small stuff“. Many times people will overlook the big picture and focus in on the little things. Don’t do this; and if you’re a realtor, don’t allow your clients to do this. Have you ever heard something like this from a client, ” I really like this condo/home/whatever, it’s a great neighborhood but the unit doesn’t come with a washer and dryer and that’s what I really was looking for”. Before you pull your hair out, remember that your client has simply lost track of what’s important and do your best to help them to remember.
Tip 2: “Negotiate other issues“. This one is directed towards realtors. Other than the price of a property there are other issues that may be negotiated. For example the date of closing or even closing costs. Pay attention to both party’s situation to see what’s best for both.
Tip 3: “Offer packages“. When you’re negotiating bring as much to the table as possible. For example, if you’re negotiating the repairs of a property don’t have several meetings about what you would like done. Instead compile a list and have one meeting where you can have room for trade-offs.
Tip 4: “Dealing with threats“. Not always but sometimes people will use termination as a threat. In this situation you may have two natural reactions, to cave or to end the negotiation. Both are understandable, but the best thing to do is to hold firm on your end. Stress your strong points and if that doesn’t work then you have to make the best decision for you or your client.
Tip 5: “Know when bargaining zones do not overlap“. Sometimes you just have to come to the realization that the negotiation is not going to work. Maybe one party is not willing to compromise as much as the other. In this case just let it go and move on.