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Category Archives: Sellers' Tips

Cap and Trade requirements for selling your home

December 2, 2009

Not long ago I received an email that obviously set out to scare the bejeezus out of every homeowner. This email stated that the Cap and Trade legislation passed by Congress would require EVERY existing home to meet new energy standards before it can be sold.

Ah come on. Homeowners are one of the biggest interest groups out there. The proof for how much power this group wields is the fact that no one dares to interfere with the mortgage interest deduction. We homeowners are a muscular bunch, and no one is going to mess with our ability to sell our homes.

But don’t take my word for the falsity of the claim. Here is what Snopes.com has to say about it–
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/captrade.asp

For sane and sensible help with selling your home or buying a new one, please visit JustCallPowers.com.

Also posted in Beware – Comments Off

Free annual credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com

November 3, 2009

I’ve been recommending that clients visit www.annualcreditreport.com for their credit reports for quite some time. This is a government-mandated site where you can get your credit report from each of the three companies FOR FREE.

Contrast that with the much advertised website, freecreditreport.com. This site is owned by Experian, one of the three credit reporting agencies, and it is easy to get sucked into paying a $14.95 subscription fee for credit monitoring. If you want to pay for expensive, overpriced credit monitoring, that’s one thing. But don’t get snookered into paying for something you are entitled to for free.

According to an article in the News & Observer, the Federal Trade Commission thinks Experian is pulling people away from the free site on purpose and that they use the offer of a free credit report on their site as a lure to get people to sign up. Duh. Experian is making about $650 - 700 million per year on their credit monitoring services. It’s so lucrative that banks and credit card companies are getting in on it.

Once every year, obtain your FREE credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com. Hang on to it. If you have problems obtaining a new loan because an open account appears for a debt that has been transferred from one lender to another, the credit report will help show what happened.

If you would like to monitor your credit yourself FOR FREE, put yourself on a schedule to visit www.annualcreditreport.com and obtain a credit report from one of the three companies every four months. In January, for example, get the report from Experian. In May get the report from TransUnion. In September get the report from Equifax. Repeat. For most people, according to the experts, this will be more than adequate.

When you are ready to buy or sell your home in the Triangle, please visit www.JustCallPowers.com.

If you would like to pay off your mortgage and all your debt in about one-half the time, please visit www.MyHomeFreeAndClear.com.

Also posted in Financial Tips – Comments Off

Tax rates for Wake County towns

June 16, 2009

Below are the recommended rates for each town, based on their recommended budgets (News & Observer, 6/15/09):

The amount is the tax rate per $100 of property value.

  • Apex — 34 cents
  • Cary — 33 cents
  • Fuquay Varina — 52 cents
  • Garner — 49 cents
  • Holly Springs — 41.5 cents
  • Knightdale — 40 cents
  • Morrisville — 36.65 cents
  • Rolesville — 42 cents
  • Wake Forest — 51 cents
  • Wendell — 49 cents
  • Zebulon — 50 cents

If you need help buying or selling a home in this area, please visit — JustCallPowers.com

Also posted in Financial News – Comments Off

How to wash windows

May 19, 2008

It must be spring. It drives me nuts, but every year about this time, I have this compulsion to clean the house. Not all the way, mind you, but enough. It must have something to do with spring fever. Someone ought to do a study. At any rate, this week’s big task was to wash windows.

Many years ago I was stuck waiting in the car for something, and I got the chance to watch a crew of professional window washers do their thing. First off, they used buckets of soapy water, brushes, rags and squeegees. Hmmmm. Every time I’d used the bottled supermarket stuff, I always spent more time getting rid of streaks than I did actually cleaning the windows. Not to mention the expense. So here’s what I learned about how to get squeaky clean windows with the least effort and in the most inexpensive manner.

  1. Squeeze a couple of tablespoons of dish detergent into a bucket. (China and glass are the same thing after all.) Fill the bucket about half full of water.
  2. Depending on how dirty your windows are, use a brush, scrubby or rag to give the window a good wipe down.
  3. If you’re right handed, start at the top left corner and draw your squeegee horizontally across the window. When you get to the corner, turn the squeegee and pull it down to the bottom of the window.
  4. Wipe the squeegee with a cloth.
  5. Start a little ways down the left side of the window, overlapping the previous stroke slightly, and repeat. Make the turn before you get to the right edge. Wipe the squeegee again.
  6. Repeat until the final swipe is about the width of the squeegee, and you make the turn almost immediately.
  7. Wipe the entire area with a dry cloth to get any stray spots.

If you miss a spot, that’s fine. You’ll get it with the final wipe down. Always start the squeegee where there’s some wetness. If you’re doing large panes of glass like sliding doors, do it in sections starting at the top.

Lastly, vinegar-water and old newspapers work great for mirrors and small window jobs. If you are thinking of selling your home, clean windows make a great impression on buyers.

P.S.

If you are considering the purchase or sale of property in and around Raleigh, North Carolina, please visit JustCallPowers.com.

Also posted in Miscellaneous – Comments Off

Avoiding mortgage fraud

December 26, 2007

Freddie Mac is one of the nation’s largest investors in real estate mortgages. As a public service they have produced a video to help homeowners avoid the vultures who would steal your home or your equity.

If you are having trouble making your payments, please watch this video –
http://www.youtube.com/avoidfraud

Then give me a call. I am a licensed real estate broker and a member of the Association of Realtors. If it turns out to be the best thing for you, I will represent you while we both work to sell your home to a legitimate buyer. At every step, things will be done the right way, and I will do my darnedest to help you come out of this with as much money and as painlessly as possible.

At the very least, you can simply talk to me. It’s free. Please visit JustCallPowers.com.

Also posted in Beware, Financial Tips – Comments Off

How to avoid foreclosure

December 26, 2007

I’m starting to hear rumbles of recession. If the country slips into one, it will be even worse news for people having trouble with their mortgages. If you find yourself having to make the choice of making your payment or putting food on the table, please call your lender immediately and explain what’s going on. Don’t be embarrassed; they’ve seen it all. Moreover, it’s expensive for them to foreclose, and they’d just as soon help you over the hump.

Be very wary of the following:

  1. Posters on telephone poles, median strips and bus stops offering help.
  2. Any company or individual that wants you to transfer your property to them.
  3. Any company or individual who says they will make your payments for you and rent your property back to you.
  4. Any company or individual who promises to make your payments and pay you what’s left over after the propery is sold.
  5. Any company or individual who calls themselves a mortgage consultant or foreclosure service.
  6. Any company or individual who collects an upfront fee for helping you.

There are a slew of vultures out there eager to make off with your equity. Some schemes are quite sophisticated, and the people pitching them are very slick.

If you can’t work out a plan with your bank, you can still avoid foreclosure. You need to talk to someone who subscribes to a code of ethics and is governed by strict laws. Someone like me who is Realtor and a licensed real estate broker with decades of experience. Someone who is truly on your side. I only get paid if I help you sell your property, and I will NEVER charge you anything in advance. Please visit JustCallPowers.com and send me an email.

Also posted in Beware, Financial Tips – Comments Off

Selling your home in a declining market

December 26, 2007

Trying to sell your home in a declining market means that you need to weigh your options. Newspapers are continually printing bad news about the real estate market. For example, sales of existing homes in the Triangle dropped 14.1% in November. My knee-jerk reaction is that it is soooo depressing.

But wait. Consider this. As with stocks, the only time a loss becomes real is when you leave the market. Until you do that, any losses are just on paper and don’t mean much of anything.

On the other hand, this market can present you with a heck of an opportunity. Suppose you’ve outgrown your current house and would like to purchase a bigger home. Yes, you’ll take a hit on the sale of your current home, but you’ll be able to take advantage of the situation when you buy the new home. For instance, suppose your current home has dropped 10% in the past year. If it was worth $250,000 then, it is now worth $225,000.

It’s all going to work out, though. The larger home you need has also gone down 10%. Instead of paying $350,000, you might pay $315,000. Where you “lost” $25,000 on the sale of your home, you are now getting a discount of $35,000 on the new home. That’s $10,000 of “found” money. Pretty cool.

If you are thinking about downsizing, the situation is not quite as rosy. It would be best to ride this out and wait for the market to improve. However, if you must sell now, there are ways to maybe mitigate the situation, and I’d very much appreciate the opportunity to talk about your particulars. Please visit JustCallPowers.com.

Also posted in Financial Tips – Comments Off

Habitat for Humanity ReStore

November 5, 2007

We all know about the good stuff Habitat for Humanity does, but there’s more. They have a brand new store in North Raleigh where you can buy lumber, plumbing fixtures, lighting, flooring, windows and doors, cabinetry, hardwood furniture and more. It is called ReStore. Not only do you get a good deal, but you are helping to fund their efforts AND you are helping the environment by keeping those things out of the landfill.

If you are rehabbing a house, give them a call. It’s not free, but they will come to the property and deconstruct it. You can get a tax deduction for materials that can be re-sold.

The store is open: Tues - Fri 10 am - 6 pm and Sat 9 am - 5 pm. They are closed Sunday and Monday.

2420 Raleigh Blvd., Raleigh NC 27604
From the I-440 Beltline, take Capital Blvd. north (exit 11). Turn right at the second light onto Westinghouse Drive. Take that to Raleigh Blvd.
(919) 833-6768

P.S.

If you are comtemplating the purchase or sale of property in and around Raleigh, North Carolina, please visit JustCallPowers.com.

Also posted in Buyers' Tips, Miscellaneous – Comments Off

What happens after foreclosure

August 28, 2007

“I can’t handle my house payments anymore.”

Millions of Americans are facing this predicament, and the results can devastating. Suppose, just suppose, you have run into trouble with your mortgage. The payments are eating you alive, and you feel your world collapsing around you. Letting your home go into foreclosure seems the only solution. Once this is behind you, you think, you can get on with your life. Unfortunately, there’s more.

An article by Geraldine Fabrikant in the New York Times (After the Pain Of Foreclosure, A Big Tax Bill, 8/20/07) explains that the IRS will likely be coming after you next. “The 1099 shortfall, as it is called, stems from an Internal Revenue Service policy that treats forgiven debt of all types as income even if the taxpayer has nothing tangible to show for it, unless the debt is canceled through bankruptcy.”

Talk about rubbing salt in the wound. Tax laws are very complicated, and you should seek the help of a tax expert. Still, all is not lost. Read the article to see what the Stouts and other people did. Their actions might help you better prepare to appeal the IRS’s tax bill when it comes.

If the link to the article doesn’t function anymore, I’ve saved it, and I’ll be happy to send it to you. If you are in this unfortunate situation, please contact through my website JustCallPowers.com. I may or may not be able to help you, but I will listen and give you the wisest counsel I can.

Also posted in Financial Tips – Comments Off

“We Buy Homes”

April 19, 2007

Yeah, and I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale. An article in the Raleigh News & Observer (4/1/07) recently discussed the “We Buy Homes” subject. You know, those flyers stapled to utility poles saying “We Buy Homes — Instant Cash.”

This is how the scams work –
1) You sell your home to a crook who promises that you can rent it from them and eventually buy it back. They charge you way too much rent, crank up the repurchase price, and you’re sunk.

2) The crook “buys” your home from you by offering to take over your payments. You give them a deed for the property, and you assume you are out of the picture. Not exactly. You are still very much responsible for the mortgage. The crook rents the property, pockets the money, and never makes a mortgage payment. In the end, you’ve lost your home, lost your credit and are still liable for the mortgage.

3) A crook offers to help you save your credit and lower your monthly payment…. for a sizeable fee.

If you find yourself in a bind with your property, or if you know someone in this situation, contact me and I will give you the true facts and honest truth. For FREE. Please visit JustCallPowers.com.

Also posted in Beware, Financial Tips – Comments Off
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