The Kallhoff Team

Monday, February 18, 2013

10 Best Markets for Home Sellers

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

ZipRealty, a real estate brokerage company, is finding more housing markets starting to tilt in sellers’ favors.

For the average home in the U.S., the gap between the listing price and closing price is narrowing with sellers able to get more than 98 percent of their home’s listing price back. Also, the median days a home is spending on the market also is falling, dropping to 44 days nationwide in 2012 — a 23 percent decline from 2011, according to ZipRealty’s report.

“A limited inventory of homes on the market, combined with the extremely low cost of mortgage financing, has resulted in homes selling above asking price in many western markets, boosting the average listing to closing price ratio,” says Lanny Baker, ZipRealty’s CEO and president.

ZipRealty has identified the following 10 best housing markets for sellers, based on the list-to-close price ratios:

San Francisco (102.5)
San Diego (101.3)
Sacramento, Calif. (100.9)
Las Vegas (100.7)
Los Angeles (100)
Orange County, Calif. (100)
Denver (99.8)
Tucscon, Ariz. (99.3)
Portland (98.9)
Seattle (98.3)

Source: ZipRealty

Read More

10 Metros That Attract the Wealthy

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/02/15/10-best-markets-for-home-sellers?om_rid=AACssQ&om_mid=_BRHmKMB8w5Pbld&om_ntype=RMODaily

arizona homes sale, arizona house,arizona real estate, az houses, az real,az real estate, business, chief economist, economy, for sale by owner, FSBO, gilbert arizona, gilbert az,gilbert real estate, home for sale in arizona, homes for sale in san tan valley az, homes for sale in san tan valley az san tan valley arizona arizona homes sale home for sale in arizona real estate az real estate arizona arizona real estate san tan san tan heights homes in az for sa, homes for sale valley, homes in az for sale,houses for sale, houses in Arizona for sale, how to sell my home, johnson ranch, queen creek, queen creek arizona, queen creek az, real estate arizona, real estate az, real-estate, san tan, san tan heights, san tan valley arizona, san tan valley real estate,Selling my home, short selling my home, valley homes sale, where is san tan valley az

Friday, February 15, 2013

25% of Consumers Have Errors on Credit Report

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Consumers need to be extra vigilant about checking for any errors on their credit reports, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

One in four Americans report they’ve found an error on their credit report, according to a study conducted by the FTC, which analyzed 1,001 consumers’ credit reports from the three major agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Researchers helped the consumers spot potential errors on their reports.

Five percent of the consumers found such large errors on their report that they could have gotten stuck paying more for mortgages or other financial products, if they hadn’t taken steps to correct it before applying, according to the study.

Twenty percent of the credit reports studied that were found to have errors in it were ultimately corrected after the consumer took steps to dispute it, which resulted in about 10 percent of consumers receiving a higher credit score, according to the study.

Consumers are entitled to receive a free copy of their credit report each year from the three reporting agencies.

Source: “Study: 1 In 4 Consumers Had Error In Credit Report,” The Associated Press (Feb. 11, 2013)

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/02/12/25-consumers-have-errors-credit-report?om_rid=AACssQ&om_mid=_BRGpXlB8w0qair&om_ntype=RMODaily

Thursday, February 14, 2013

88% of U.S. Cities See Housing Price Gains

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2013

As the housing recovery broadened in the fourth quarter of 2012, the National Association of REALTORS® reports that prices for single-family homes rose in nearly 88 percent of U.S. cities.

According to the report, the median sales price rose on an annual basis in 133 of 152 metro areas tracked. In the July-through-September period, by comparison, just 120 areas had registered gains.

Researchers cite low interest rates coupled with an improving job market as the main reasons for the higher home prices. Those two factors combined have fueled demand for a tightening supply of listings.

According to NAR, the national median price for an existing single-family home was $178,900 in the last three months of 2012 — a 10 percent increase from the fourth quarter a year prior and the biggest gain since 2005.

Here's a look at the top-performing metro areas:

Phoenix: Prices soared 34 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011
Detroit: Prices rose 31 percent
San Francisco: Prices rose 28 percent
Cape Coral, Fla.: Prices rose 26 percent

The Kingston, N.Y., area had the biggest decline in the NAR report — down 7.9 percent in the quarter — followed by Kankakee, Ill., with an 7 percent drop.

Source: "Home Prices Increase in Most Metro Areas" Fort Worth Star-Telegram (02/12/13)

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/02/12/88-us-cities-see-housing-price-gains?om_rid=AACssQ&om_mid=_BRGpXlB8w0qair&om_ntype=RMODaily

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Avoid These IRS Red Flags at Tax Time

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2013

The overall rate of IRS audits is low; but, despite a lack of hard numbers, being a real estate agent appears to increase the chances of getting extra attention during tax season.

While passive loss rules severely restrict the ability to deduct rental property losses from other nonrental income, real estate professionals can claim an exemption. However, the IRS will look more closely at their return as a result—particularly if the filer has full-time employment and claims to be a property professional as well. The agency believes that most people with day jobs do not have the time to qualify as a real estate professional for tax purposes.

Another way to bring on IRS heat is to claim use of a vehicle 100 percent for business purposes when that is the only vehicle owned by the filer.

Also, agents who fail to report all income could face an audit, since the IRS compares the 1099 forms that self-employed realty practitioners receive with the tax forms to determine if there are any discrepancies. Claiming ambiguous general expenses, making charitable donations that seem out of reach with income, and/or claiming large travel and entertainment deductions also could prompt the IRS to contact a filer.

"6 Ways to Increase Your Chances of Being Audited," Inman News (Feb. 8, 2013)

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/02/11/avoid-these-irs-red-flags-tax-time?om_rid=AACssQ&om_mid=_BRGScXB8wywcIq&om_ntype=RMODaily

Monday, February 11, 2013

Foreclosures Remain a Problem in Some States

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2013

One in 53 mortgages were foreclosed on in 2012, according to the latest data from CoreLogic. While the number is still high, CoreLogic notes the numbers are quickly improving.

Foreclosures dropped 21 percent in December 2012 compared to December 2011. In December, 56,000 foreclosures were completed compared to 71,000 a year prior. An average of 21,000 foreclosures completed in a month is considered more of a “normal” range, according to CoreLogic.

Since September 2008, there have been about 4.1 million homes lost to foreclosure, according to CoreLogic data.

Foreclosure inventories are falling too, declining nearly 20 percent year-over-year.

"The most encouraging foreclosure trend reported here is that the inventory of foreclosed properties is almost 20 percent smaller than a year ago," says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "This big improvement indicates we are working toward resolving the backlog of the most distressed assets in the shadow inventory."

The following five states accounted for nearly half of all completed foreclosures over 2012:

California
Florida
Michigan
Texas
Georgia

The following five states, according to CoreLogic, have the highest foreclosure inventories as a percentage of all mortgaged homes right now:

Florida
New Jersey
New York
Nevada
Illinois

Source: “CoreLogic: 1 in 53 Mortgages Foreclosed in 2012, 767k Total,” Mortgage News Daily (Feb. 1, 2013)

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/02/08/foreclosures-remain-problem-in-some-states?om_rid=AACssQ&om_mid=_BRFS-XB8ww3p8N&om_ntype=RMODaily