Topic Summary: Did you know that the average U.S. home spends $2,175 on utility costs per year? That’s over $180 per month! A recent survey indicated that 86% of consumers wanted to know average energy costs they would have to pay before they move into a new home. What follows are some resources that will […]
S.1944 A bill to create jobs
Washington Watch- Going Down To The Wire Update: Last week it looked like the extension of the payroll tax cut from 2011 was sure to pass Congress. It’s worth about $1000-$1500 to the average taxpayer. Now there are competing bills and the usual beltway bickering back and forth as to who is on the side […]
Making an Offer on a Short Sale? What You Need to Know
If a home is being sold for below what the current seller owes on the property—and the seller does not have other funds to make up the difference at closing—the sale is considered a short sale.
The Way You Live vs. The Way You Sell
Home staging has arrived to nearly every price range of home. See the difference for your self in this short video about the benefits of staging.
EPA’s New Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule
Protect your family and make sure you only hire a contractor who is in a Lead-Safe Certified Firm. Find a Lead-Safe Certified Firm near you.
HOPE: Missouri incentive offers up to $1,750
Missouri offers additional tax incentives to fist time buyers. HOPE (Home Ownership Purchase Enhancement) approved by the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) offers to reimburse first time homebuyers up to $1,750 for a home purchased in 2010.
Tax Credit Officially Extended and Expanded
After much fanfare the home buyer and home owner tax credit is in place. This new law extends the first time home buyer tax credit for property under contract by April 30, 2010 and closing by June 30, 2010. Under the same bill unemployment benefits are extended by 14 weeks and there are provisions to […]
First-Time Buyers Tax Credit Advance Loan Program
MHDC Rolls Out Innovative New Program For First-Time Homebuyers Starting January 2009, Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) will have a new product to enable first-time homebuyers to take advantage of the $7,500 federal first-time homebuyer tax credit. This program is the first of its kind in the nation. The federal first-time homebuyer tax credit was […]
Home Prices up in Half of Markets
Roughly half of metropolitan areas continued to show rising home prices in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the latest quarterly survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. In the fourth quarter, 73 out of 150 metropolitan statistical areas show increases in median existing single-family home prices from a year earlier, including 11 areas […]
The truth about whether a home is a good investment.
From Blanche Evans Realty Times 2008. It’s high time we told buyers (and sellers, for that matter) the truth about whether a home is a good investment. Despite what Wall Street wants you to believe, owning a home isn’t the same kind of investment as stocks or bonds. What you get is a USE asset […]