Just say NO to New Taxes When Selling Your Home

Have you read Ohio Governor John Kasich's new budjet proposal? It includes a 20% reduction in the state income tax; a reduction in small business tax for LLC, S corporations, partnerships or sole proprietors; as well as a 0.5% decrease in the state sales tax. To offset the cuts, under the budget proposal, the sales tax would be expanded to services – including real estate services – in Ohio, with the exception of a few areas (education, medical, funeral services, home construction, residential rents, and some insurance). The proposed sales tax would be on every aspect of a housing purchase like home inspections, appraisals, mortgages, home warranties, title searches, commissions and more. Like the Ohio Association or Realtors, I oppose this expansion of the sales tax base! Selling a home is already so expensive for homeowners. I think additional tax burdens could be devastating to seller, and it could derail the recovery we're finally seeing. CABOR Chairwoman Joanne Zettl said, “CABOR joins OAR in its opposition to expansion of the sales tax base. At a time when the real estate recovery in Northeast Ohio is still in its infant stages, additional costs to real estate transactions would add financial burdens that could be devastating.” Just say NO to this new real estate tax to your state senator or representative. I know I will!

Great Article on Planning a Kitchen Remodel

Homeowner's Workbook: How to Remodel Your Kitchen

Houzz- Kitchen Remodel, Bathroom Remodel and More »

Browse Furniture on Houzz- For Example:

Bar Tables · Benches · Buffets And Sideboards · Day Beds And Chaises · Dining Chair Cushions · Dining Tables · Sectional Sofas · Sofas ·

2013 Home Trend Predictions

Today's builders, architect, designers and housing analysts have made their home trend predictions for 2013 and beyond.  Here's a look at their predictions:

Outdoor Kitchens
We've seen this trend for a couple years now. Homeowners are adding large glass doors in their kitchen that open to outdoor kitchens.  The first really great one I saw in this area was a few years ago when the Canyon Woods development was launched with a Home-A-Rama.  

Secondary Suites
Some homebuyers are opting for attached secondary suites. At some point, the private suite may be used by older relatives or adult children. Also great for au pairs or just visitors.  Sometimes the present homeonwers may eventually move into the suite and encourage younger relatives to take the larger portion of the home. Wasn't this popular years and years ago??

For those that are building now, it may be too costly to add a secondary suite now. But think about having wiring and plumbing added so that an in-law suite is easier and less expensive to build later.

Technology
The latest technology can help you mange lighting, heating and security and can help you bring your utility costs down.  The new location-based security systems are worth checking out too.

Source:  Excerpted from The Plain Dealer, 2/9/13

If a Meteor Hits Your Home, Who Pays?

If your house is hit by a space object -- such as the remnants of the meteor that stunned people in the Urals region of western Siberia -- it won't be a major hit to your bank account.

 

"Your insurance covers falling objects," said Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute.

Meteorites -- which are rocks formed after a meteor burns in the earth's atmosphere -- have crashed through roofs rarely over the years. But when they do, insurers paid for the damage if people had homeowners' policies, according to Hartwig.
                        
A more common problem is "blue ice," the frozen sewage that occasionally falls from planes. That is also covered if it falls on your house, said Hartwig.

The event in Russia was the most serious one in many years, a once-in-a-century event, according to Laurie Leshin, a former NASA scientist and Director of the Center for Meteorites Studies at Arizona State University. It injured more than 700 people and damaged nearly 300 buildings, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.                                    

Space objects rain down on earth all the time, but rarely do they injure people or damage property, according to Leshin, who is now Dean of Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
"The earth is pelted with 40 tons of space debris a year," she said. "Most of that is in teeny dust particles."

To do real damage, a meteor usually has to be bigger than a Volkswagen when it enters the atmosphere, she said.

"There was a case where a meteor(ite) crashed through a roof, bounced off a sofa and hit somebody in the leg," said Leshin. "But I know of no cases in which anyone was killed."
Russia seems to attract meteors. A 1908 explosion over Siberia was the largest impact event in recorded history, with estimates of the energy released from the blast equivalent to as much as 1,000 times that of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima.

                                     

It devastated an area nearly the size of Rhode Island. If that happened in even a sparsely populatedpart of the United States, it would be cataclysmic, said Hartwig.                                       

"That would be an extraordinarily expensive event for the insurance industry," he said.

Source: CNN Money

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First Published: February 15, 2013: 11:38 AM ET

Curb Appeal...Buyer's First Impression

A recent article in Realtor Magazine pointed out that buyers will decide if your home is well cared for just by seeing the outside. In real estate, we call it the "drive by" showing.  Just by looking at the external aspects of your house--walkway, landscaping, house numbers, mailbox--they'll have an instant impression that is hard to change.

In addition to landscaping, Lisa Grant Valil, author of Creating Curb Appeal, advises sellers to take a look at these items:

Front door - Make sure this focal point is in top condition - both its paint or exterior finish and hardware.

Windows - Wash them inside and out

Garage - Do doors need paint or repair?

Driveway  - Check for cracks and oil stains

Twilight - Look at evening lighting and consider portable outdoor lamps, solar lights, and putting outdoor lights on a timer for nighttime showings. 

A special note for this time of the year: Having the driveway, sidewalk and front walkway neatly shoveled is not just a safety issue! These paths help draw the eye to the front door. A neat and thorough shoveling job actually makes buyers want to come in and see your house.

Great News in PD This Week!

 

Northeast Ohio house sales rose 13.4 percent in 2012; condo sales jumped

By Michelle Jarboe McFee, The Plain Dealer

Home sales rose in Northeast Ohio and across the country in 2012. The region's housing market saw its highest sales since at least 2008, while the nation posted its best year since 2007. Higher sales and lower inventory of available homes pushed up real estate prices in many Northeast Ohio counties.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Northeast Ohio's home sales rose in 2012 to their highest level in at least four years, an indication that the market is recovering after years of dragging down the economy.

Higher sales and a shrinking supply of available homes pushed prices up last year in many Northeast Ohio counties. Experts expect more improvement in 2013, thanks to low interest rates and pent-up buyer demand.

Sales and prices have not returned to pre-recession levels and might never reach the delirious highs of 2005 and 2006, the top of the real estate bubble. But the last year showed that housing has hit bottom.

View full sizeThe PD

In Northeast Ohio, sales of single-family homes rose 13.4 percent last year, compared with 2011. Condominium sales, a sliver of the market, posted a 26.3 percent annual increase, according to local listing-service data for 15 counties.

Statewide, home sales were up 12.7 percent from 2011, the Ohio Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

"This is a train that's very hard to start, but it's also hard to stop" once it gets moving, said Carl DeMusz, chief executive officer of the Northern Ohio Regional Multiple Listing Service, said of the housing market.

In Ohio and across the nation, December sales dipped a bit from November but surpassed December 2011 levels.

The local reports, which track new and existing homes, portray a market plodding toward slow, steady growth. Listing-service data for five counties - Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina - show that sales have been climbing but still have not reached 2000 levels.

View full sizeThe PD

Real estate companies said their growth in 2012 bodes well for this year. At Coldwell Banker Hunter Realty, which covers a wide swath of Northeast Ohio, annual sales were up 15 percent from 2011, president Ed Dolinsky said. Between its Pepper Pike and downtown Cleveland offices, sales at Keller Williams Realty Greater Cleveland were up 63 percent, operating principal John Ludwick said.

Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, the biggest player in the region, announced Tuesday that it closed $3.6 billion worth of sales and 20,983 transactions in Ohio last year. That marked a 22 percent increase in sales volume and a 19 percent jump in the number of units sold.

View full sizeThe PD

"The momentum had a lot to do with interest rates being low," said Howard "Hoby" Hanna, president of Howard Hanna Ohio. "I'm anticipating another really strong year as the housing market continues to recover."

Across the country, sales of existing homes reached their highest level - an estimated 4.65 million homes changed hands during 2012 - in five years, according to the National Association of Realtors. Nationwide data on new-home sales will be released Friday.

The national Realtors continue to say that tough lending standards and tight inventory are hindering sales. It would take just 4.4 months to sell all of the available U.S. homes at the current buying pace.

"Both sales and prices will again be higher in 2013," Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the national Realtors, said in a written statement.

Prices are inching up, and 2012 marked the return of bidding wars and fierce competition for the best homes in Northeast Ohio. But the housing bust wiped out nearly a decade of price growth in the Cleveland area, and many homeowners remain stuck in houses or condos that are worth less than the debt they carry. Sales of bank-owned properties, though a dwindling share of the market, continue to weigh on home values.

"We're getting a little bit of appreciation, but not so much that we can see a turnaround. But there is light at the end of the tunnel," said Ludwick, of Keller Williams. "Real estate values are driven by supply and demand, and we have a shortage of good inventory. That's going to spur the market. The segment of the market that I think will open up somewhat is move-ups and move-downs, which have been pretty stagnant for the last couple of years."

The national median - or middle - price for a previously owned home was $180,800 in December, up 11.5 percent from a year before. Ohio real estate groups report average prices, instead of medians. Across the state, the average sale price was $132,698, up 7.7 percent from December 2011.

In Northeast Ohio, the average sale price for a house was $133,888 in December, an 11 percent improvement from a year before. Across 15 local counties, condos fetched an average of $122,395 in December, up 14 percent.

Local homes sold for as little as $1,000 and as much as $1.3 million last month, according to listing-service data.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/01/northeast_ohio_house_sales_ros.html

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Howard Hanna
(412) 967-9000
http://www.howardhanna.com

Scariest Things for Home Buyers

When getting ready to sell your home, you should assess its condition and fix items BEFORE you list it. My experience has been that buyers find four issues the scariest to deal with: water intrusion, radon, mold, and the roof. Even if these problems aren't apparent in your home, they may be there.

When a buyer makes an offer on your home, it's usually contingent on them doing a home inspection. A home inspector examines the current condition of a house. He/she identifies current problems and what components or systems may need major repair or replacement.

If a buyer's buyer's home inspector find one of these "scary" issues, three things can happen:  1) they can buy the home as is; (2) they can ask you to fix it or adjust the selling price; and most frightening of all, (3) they can walk away and get their earnest money back. With big issues lurking, you really run the risk of killing the deal.

Smart sellers these days are even hiring home inspectors themselves, before they list, so all problem areas can be identified and corrected, before their home hits the market.  If you're getting ready to sell, ask me if a pre-listing home inspection may be right for you!