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Plenty of Reasons to Buy a Home Even
After the Tax Credit
Even
though the home buyer tax credit expired
on April 30 and won't be renewed, there
may never be a better time to buy a home
than today, according to the National
Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
Many outstanding opportunities still
exist for home buyers, but they may not
be around forever.
"The home buyer tax credit was
just one of many factors motivating
Americans to buy homes," said NAHB
Chairman Bob Jones, a builder and
developer in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
"But buyers can still take advantage of
today's
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low interest rates and
competitive prices to get a home
they may not have been able to
purchase just a few years ago."
Besides mortgage interest
rates that
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It's a Good Time For a
Home Inspection
In
today's housing market, a home inspection can
wake up buyers to what "as is" really is and
give them a negotiating edge that could lead to
cash or repair concessions.
For sellers, a home inspection serves as
an anti-haggling tool and keeps the dickering
down to a roar.
An inspection is also for new homes, given
new home defects aren't just incidental.
It's also a good tool to use to assess a
home's integrity after a natural disaster,
including flooding, an earthquake, a wind or
rain storm.
Finally, a home inspection by home owners
who aren't listing their home for sale can let
them know every few years what maintenance or
upgrades they need to perform.
It's always a good time for a home
inspection.
For $350 to $500, a professional
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Appealing Your
Property Tax Bill
If
your property tax is aligned with or assessed
based on the value of your home, a swing in
property values could warrant close scrutiny of
your property tax bill.
Some more progressive tax jurisdictions
will make the adjustment for you -- up or down
-- but most only move your rate up or they'll
wait for the property to change hands before
adjusting the tax. Even where adjustments
are automatic, you still may not be satisfied
and will need to appeal the deal.
Over valued or over assessed property is
perhaps the most common and successful grounds
for challenging your tax bill.
When the economy is faltering and spawning
foreclosures, short sales and homeowners
otherwise bailing out of homeownership, consider
it a red flag -- it's time to scrutinize your
property tax bill.
Many homeowners bailout, accept the
foreclosure or take the short sale way out
because their mortgage is more than the value of
the home, which may have fallen for a variety of
reasons.
The incidence of incorrectly calculated
property tax bills may also
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Green Building
Becomes Mainstream
Green
building and remodeling broke into mainstream culture in
the past decade, leading to a changing home landscape
across the nation.
As this landscape changes, trends are changing as
well. So, just what are the trends to be on the lookout
for in green housing?
Earth Advantage Institute, a free standing
nonprofit organization acting as the Northwest's premier
green building program, has identified 10 trends that
you'll see in 2010.
The first of these is the smart grid and
connecting home. This terminology means, simply, that
energy usage now has some accountability. "The
development of custom and web-based
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