I have talked to clients who have seen photos and virtual tours of homes before we went to see the homes. Time after time I hear them say, “This is room is bigger than it looked online.”
Virtual tours give the buyer a false sense that they have seen the home which allows them to exclude it before they truly see it. Standing in a room is significantly different than seeing any virtual tour. How many dating sites have video?
Pictures are to entice people to come see a home. I constantly see useless photos of homes that do nothing to intrigue or entice someone to learn more about the home. You can’t skip pictures of the front of the house or kitchen because that is a red flag to almost anyone. But pictures of the bathroom with the toilet seat up. Come on guys! And if you think some agents don’t take horrible photos of homes check this out.
I do agree that video or virtual tours work on large properties. Below is an animated video for Bill Gates home.
The government has extended the tax credit in length and depth. It will go until May 1, 2010 and there is an added credit of $6500 for anyone but still $8,000 from new buyers.
So where do we stand now in regards to closed sales? In August 2009 we had 1841 closed sales in the Portland Metro Area.
I guess we should be around 2,200 -2,500 to be considered healthy and we still have a ways to go.
It seems that the expanded tax credit may be more helpful than the original tax credit because anyone can get it now. As one person told me, “That tax credit pays for my closing costs.” I don’t think we can have a worse winter than last year where we had about 1000 closed sales each month in December and January.
Are you going to buy a house in the next couple of months because of the tax credit?
We are only waiting on the President’s signature and there is no sign that he won’t.
Below is a summary of the new modifications in the extension and expansion of the tax credit:
1) The $8,000 tax credit will be extended and available for first-time purchases before May 1, 2010.
2) A new $6,500 tax credit will be available for repeat buyers who purchase between December 1, 2009, and May 1, 2010. To qualify for this provision, buyers must have used the home sold or being sold as a principal residence consecutively for 5 of the previous 8 years.
3) Prospective purchasers with binding contracts in place as of April 30, 2010, will be allowed an additional 60 days to complete the transaction.
4) Income limits are expanded to $125,000 on a single return and $225,000 on a joint return.
The people that are buying right before this takes place are going to be annoyed. Before everyone rejoices, take a look at this post about the costs and fraud that went with the current tax credit. And it’s only projected to cost about $1 Billion a month that it is extended.
Lifehacker is one of my favorite websites. They feature tips, shortcuts, and downloads that help you get things done smarter and more efficiently. Their site is a tech heavy but they have useful and fun tips for around the house every once in a while. Here are some of of their recent tips.
I don’t have the answer but I hope this shakes some answers out of the intertubes.
I have gone to almost all of my closings. A couple of times my schedule conflicted with a rush or a change and I have only had loan officers at my closings maybe 3 times. Bad customer service. I was at a 6:30 AM signing and my clients were shocked when I walked in the door but the loan officer didn’t leave them with that impression if any.
