Congratulations, you missed the $8,000 tax credit

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 3:48 pm, September 12th, 2010  

No, I’m not being facetious or implying you’re a dummy because you haven’t bought a house yet.

joker knoxville, tn and portsmouth nh real estate for sale houses homes condos land

In fact, just the opposite; waiting until now has saved you thousands of dollars more that than measly 8 grand credit a lot of your friends got when they bought earlier this year. Here’s how.

Let’s take a look at the facts and mortgage market now compared to what they were then.

The $8,000 federal tax credit that got everyone excited earlier this year expired at the end of April, 2010. Buyers that had a contract dated prior to that were able to claim the credit and also got a loan with an interest rate around 5.5% or so.

If they bought the median priced house in the Knoxville, TN area, which would have been around $180,000, and got an FHA insured loan with the minimum 3.5% down payment they would have a monthly mortgage payment of $986.25 for their principal and interest. Taxes and insurance are added to that amount.

However, because you waited until now for whatever reason, interest rates have continued to drop. In the current mortgage market you can get an interest rate as low as 4.25% which would lower your monthly principal and interest payment to $854.50 or $131.75 LOWER than your friends who bought earlier this year and got the tax credit.

One huge benefit to you with the lower interest rate is that it’s actual cash you’re saving each month you can use for savings, bill paying, or whatever you choose.

And if you only own you house 5 years and 1 month and then decide to sell and move up, move down, or whatever, you have then saved $8.036.75 in actual cash payments which puts you Waay ahead of your friends and their $8,000 credit 5 years previously

Finally if you end up keeping your house and paying off your 30 year loan over the whole term you save a whopping $47,430 in actual monthly payments over your friends who bought earlier.

So if anyone tells you that you’ve missed the boat on that now expired tax credit,just whip out your calculator or this article and explain to them how you decided to wait until conditions were ‘more perfect’, as they are now, before pulling the trigger on your new home purchase. Then show them how much more they’re paying compared to the sweet interest rates you’re now able to take advantage of.

In the greater Knoxville, TN are visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com to see all the area homes for sale.

A little further north, Portsmouth, NH and Seacoast area buyers can visit www.NewHampshireMaineRealEstate.com. The state of New Hampshire also has a stunning 3.5% rate through their New Hampshire Housing program. These are the lowest rates in their 30 year history.

The only dumb question is the one you don’t ask; call or email us.

The nice folks at Lender411.com  wrote a very flattering  review of my blog. You can get some great mortgage information (not to mention a great mortgage) by visiting their website.

Content published by Jim Lee

VA Loans and Other Available Veteran Benefits

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 1:56 pm, September 3rd, 2010  

This is a guest post by Brandon Fischer on VA benefits; I hope some veterans find it useful.

Jim

VA benefits

VA benefits


by Brandon Fischer:

For the men and women that have so willingly served our country, the government offers a variety of programs and incentives designed to enhance their quality of life after service. Benefits for our country’s veterans range from educational assistance to job training with benefits more specifically being:

VA Home Loans

Since its creation in 1944, the VA loan program has provided millions of veterans and active duty service members – even those with imperfect credit – with the opportunity to achieve home ownership. The VA home loan program’s flexible eligibility requirements offer borrowers the ability to receive loans up to $417,000 in most areas of the country and loans up to $1,094,625 for borrowers looking to purchase a home in more expensive real estate areas.  Veterans can use a VA loan calculator to find the loan limit in their area.

What are VA Loan Benefits?

Because the VA insures part of each loan, VA-approved lenders have greater confidence in eligible borrowers. This greater confidence in borrowers inclines VA-approved lenders to offer qualified borrowers a variety of benefits they would not be able to find with conventional loans including:      zero down payment required

  • Competitive interest rates
  • Down payments in the form of gifts
  • Flexible debt-to-income ratio
  • No mortgage insurance required

How Do I Qualify for a VA Loan?

The VA Home Loan program offers some of the most flexible eligibility requirements which has allowed over 18 million service men and women achieve homeownership. More than 80% of all veterans and active duty service members who have obtained a VA loan would not have been eligible for a conventional loan. To initially qualify for a VA, a service member must:

  • Have served 181 days on active duty
  • Or served 3 months during war time
  • Or have served 6 years in the National Guard or Reserves
  • Be the spouse of a service member who was killed during active duty

Service men and women who meet the preliminary guidelines must also obtain a Certificate of Eligibility to apply for a VA loan. Although there are no required income minimums and flexible eligibility requirements for VA loans, most VA-approved lenders wll require a mid-range credit score of at least 620 to secure financing.

Where do new Knoxville residents come from?

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 8:46 am, August 4th, 2009  
MIAMI - JUNE 25:  A sign advertises a home for...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

As a long time Knoxville area Realtor I have helped literally hundreds of families buy and sell homes. And of course since I’m fairly intimately involved with those people during their home purchase or sale I know a lot about them including where they’re moving from or to.

However I have often wondered about the rest of people moving here from other areas. Where did they move from? What part of the United States or the world were they living before they moved here?

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has a research department that investigates such things as where people come from, what sort of house did they buy, number of people in the family, and lots of other statistics.

Historic trend of homebuyers into and out of Knox County, TN

Historic trend of homebuyers into and out of Knox County, TN

I got a copy of the latest “NAR Relocation Report” for Knox County, Tennessee to get some empirical data on just exactly where do new Knox County residents come from; the results were pretty surprising to me.

In the latest year data is available far and away the biggest number of new Knox County residents moved here from Blount County which is just next door. 817 households from Blount County are now Knox County residents.

Number of households that moved into Knox County, TN and bought a house.

Number of households that moved into Knox County, TN and bought a house.

Blount, Anderson, Sevier, and other area folks are invited to view all of Knox Counties Realtor listings for sale at www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com

Here’s a couple of Knox County homes that might appeal to newcomers.

Karns, 4 bedrooms, and priced at $299,900

Karns, 4 bedrooms, and priced at $299,900

Attractive Cape Cod style and priced at only $174,900

Attractive Cape Cod style and priced at only $174,900

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Knoxville real estate sales for the week of July 5th

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 1:40 pm, July 5th, 2009  
RAMONA, CA - OCTOBER 30:  A real estate for sa...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Fourth of July weekend is winding down;  only the occasional firecracker “bang” can still be heard and it’s rainy out today so I don’t expect too much will be going on.

Unfortunately the “don’t expect too much will be going on” still applies to Knoxville’s real estate market as well. The weekly figures from the Knox County Register of Deeds show 157 real estate transactions recorded in the past week; that’s about the same number as was recorded the week before.

And like all the weeks past, the figures show the lower end; homes priced below $250,000 with most of sales in the $100,000 to $200,000 range.

Knox County real estate transactions recorded provided by Jim Lee, Realty Executives Associates

Knox County real estate transactions recorded provided by Jim Lee, Realty Executives Associates

With the end of June comes the end of the Second Quarter of 2009. The 2nd Quarter sales figures are usually posted around the middle of the following month along with the previous month’s sales. It will be interested to compare 2nd Quarter 09 with previous years to see how we’re doing over a longer term.

I did notice the average days on market jumped up in May to 125 days. It was 109 in April, 116 in March, 120 in February, and 110 days in January so that’s not a huge jump although it is a high for the year in what’s has been historically one of the more active sales months.

Below is a chart showing how many months supply of homes are current for sale at the current sales rates. For example on the first category, homes priced over one million dollars, it will take 43.8 months to sell just those homes assuming no new listings come on the market.

Knoxville tn homes for sale absorption rates

Knoxville tn homes for sale absorption rates

While most sellers are not getting top market value if they sell now, some very good buys exist for buyers able to qualify for a new loan. Interest rates are still very low, in the bottom of the 5% range, which translates into more affordable house payments.

Take a look at KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com and see if anything for sale there strikes your fancy. I have all the homes listings in the Knoxville Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS) posted there and you can search them with no registration required.

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Knox County real estate transfers for the week of May 10th

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 12:19 pm, May 10th, 2009  
Logo of the Federal Housing Administration.
Image via Wikipedia

The past week looks a bit worse than the week before with the volume of transfers down to 78 from the previous weeks 138.

Real estate transfers for the week of May 10th

only 78 Knox County Real estate transfers recorded for the week of May 10th

This market has created the proverbial “Perfect Storm” for home buyers. Lots of home for sale (Today there are 5,124 active single family and condominium homes for sale just in Knox County) and 78 recorded transactions last week so it’s very clearly a strong buyer’s market.

Financing remains in the sub 5% range for most price ranges with some great 100% financing available for buyers able to use the Tennessee Housing Development Authority (THDA) program.

Those smart folks at THDA have a new program that actually lends you up to the 3..5% of your down payment (which coincidentally happens to be the minimum down for FHA financing) at 0% for up to a year and you can repay them when you file your taxes and collect that $8,000 tax credit the federal government is offering for qualified buyers that have not owned a home in the past 3 years.  Regular conventional buyers also can qualify for the 8K tax credit as well.

All you need is a minimum 620 credit score and a debt to income ratio below 45%; call me if you’re interested and I’ll explain how it works; easy for most people to qualify.

Here’s a few listings you can buy right now that fit into this program’s guidelines.

This charming Cape Cod styled home is priced at only $129,900. Ask about $0 down financing and a principal and interest payment under $600 a month!

This charming Cape Cod styled home is priced at only $129,900. Ask about $0 down financing and a principal and interest payment under $600 a month!

This excellent basement rancher is priced at only $149,900 with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a two car garage.

This excellent basement rancher is priced at only $149,900 with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a two car garage.

This charming older home was listed for $84,900 and not surprisingly just sold.

This charming older home was listed for $84,900 and not surprisingly just sold.

Visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com to see over 5,000 Knox County homes for sale as well as other nearby areas such as Maryville, Oak Ridge, Loudon County, and many others.

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Kitchen & Bath remodel on a tight budget

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 10:38 am, December 31st, 2008  
the posh bathtub
Image by O Pish Posh via Flickr

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If you’re thinking of selling your house and it has older and outdated kitchen and bathrooms you’re probably thinking thousands of dollars to remodel and upgrade.

There is a low cost alternative to replacing bathtubs, showers, counters, etc. by simply having them professionally refinished. We sold our house in 2007. It was built in the 70s I believe and each of the three bathrooms had different colored fixtures and tile. One was yellow, one was avocado, and the other was a funky brown and gold.

After some investigation I found a company called Miracle Method of Knoxville who refinishes tiles, tubs, etc., in place with very high grade paint and totally changes the look to a clean, modern finish.The entire process, depending on how much you do, takes anywhere from 1 to 3 days. If you’re worried about durability they guarantee the finish for 5 years against peeling and flaking.

They have a showroom in the Middlebrook Pike area near Wright’s Cafeteria so you can go by and see their work firsthand.

In each bathroom they repainted the bathtub and all the tile along the walls. I installed new vanities, mirrors, light fixtures, and a new, comfort height commode along with new vinyl flooring. My total cost per bathroom was under $2,000 and the difference was enormous.

Here are some example from other projects they have done.

Notice how the dirty old pink and black tile was coated to provide a clean, modern look

Notice how the dirty old pink and black tile was coated to provide a clean, modern look

Kitchen counter tops can also be refinished in place.

Countertops can also be refinished and they even have a textured finish that imitates granite or quartz.

Counter tops can also be refinished and they even have a textured finish that imitates granite or quartz.

Dated Avocado Green tile becomes sparkling white.

Huge difference in this shower stall after refinishing.

Huge difference in this shower stall after refinishing.

BTW, our house sold at full price in a week. The buyers were totally blown away by the bathrooms and kitchen in a 35 year old house.

Best wishes to everyone for a Happy and Prosperous New Year and thank you for a great 2008.

Jim Lee, Your Realtor

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Thanksgiving turkey leftover recipes

Posted by Jim Lee, REALTOR® @ 2:52 pm, November 30th, 2008  
Thanksgiving turkey, just out of the oven

Image by Kitty Sonnenschein via Flickr

If you still have Thanksgiving turkey left over here are 2 quick and easy recipes to deliciously get rid of it.

One of my favorites I fixed last night.

Grilled Turkey Rubens, serves 2

4 slices rye bread

1/2 cup sauerkraut

2 slices of Swiss cheese

1,000 island dressing

turkey

Butter or apply spread to outside of rye bread, place one slice butter side down in skillet.

layer on some turkey, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and thousand island dressing.

Butter other side of bread and place on top with butter side facing up.

Grilled until toasted on one side, turn over and toast other side.

Enjoy, grilled turkey Rubens are delicious especially with a crisp pickle and some chips.

Crunchy Turkey Salad, serves 2

coarsely chop cooked turkey, from 1/2 cup to 1 cup

Mix in a coarsely chopped tart apple like Granny Smith

Throw in a handful of nuts, pecan or walnuts work best.

Fold in some low fat mayo to taste.

You can either use this on a sandwich, by itself, or put a big spoon on top of some torn salad greens.

Both the Reuben and turkey salad recipes are very easy to prepare and both are very tasty.

www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is another great recipe to help you find a new home, no mixing, stirring, or cooking necessary.

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