The First Time Home Buyer's Tax Credit is $8,000 and ends April 30, 2010. You must close by June 30 2010. To Qualify you must: Be a first time home buyer-first-time home buyer as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase The tax credit is for 10% of the purchase price with a maximum of $8,000 The contract on the home must be accepted by April 30, 2010, a binding sales contract in force. The home must "close" by June 30 2010. The closing of the property occurs and the title to the property tranfers to the new owner For sales after November 6, 2009 the income limits are $125,000 for single taxpayers and $225,000 for married taxpayers. (Prorated tax credits for up to $20,000 above these limits) Use IRS form 5405 to claim along with y... 02/14/2010

The Federal Government on November 7, 2009, extended and EXPANDED the housing TAX CREDIT to include $6,500 for current homeowners that qualify: Current Homeowners that have lived in their PRINCIPLE residence for 5 out of the past 8 years Tax credit is equal to 10% of the price of the home up to a maximum of $6,500 Homes above $800,000 do not qualify Income limits of $125,000 for single, $225,000 for married taxpayers (phase out program up to $20,000 above) Accepted contract on the home by April 30, 2010 Close on the home by June 30, 2010 Use IRS form number 5405 to claim If you have any questions about this tax credit, or the First Time Home Buyers $8,000 Tax Credit, simply send me an e-mail or give me a call.   Scott Baker's Profile 02/14/2010

Selling your house can be challenging when you have pets and I'm going to focus today on your CAT. Your furry friend and family member. I've got three myself so I understand and can empathize with my selling clients when it comes to this subject. I got plenty of inspiration to share some kitty tips when selling from my own experience over the weekend. I decided to move my cat's litter box from the basement to our first floor mudroom. See, my cats are senior citizens now and since I'm not planning to move into a ranch style home with no stairs for THEIR sake, I had to make some adjustments for them. The dreaded 'litter box" can pose some challenges when you put your house up for sale. I've seen litter boxes in just about every room now in working with sellers over a number of years. I s... 02/10/2010

The number of homes Sold in the Cincinnati MLS in 2009 was VERY close to the number sold in 2008. 2009 18,826 Residential Sales 2008 18,808 Residential Sales We were on pace to have more like 17,600 for 2009. But once the tax credit kicked in, it did spur sales. It spurred sales for first time home buyers. We were at 47% for first time home buyers. This is an unusually high number. The number of homes sold for November 2009 jumped up over 400 more than November 2008. This is the month the Tax Credit was supposed to end. Everyone timed everything to close by the end of November so this greatly increased the November sales. But the tax credit was extended on November 7, 2009 to April 30, 2010. It would be logical to assume we will see the same type of jump in April over a year ago as we ... 02/10/2010

I recently asked my favorite loan officer this simple question... How Do Rates Affect What $100,000 Can Buy? I think this break down is really simple and interesting. This is something I will be handing out to my buyers and sellers to help them break down what they can buy and why it's important to buy now with historic rates!   $100,000 loan amount 30 Yr fixed 5.000% P&I: $536.82 ($5.3682 per $1000 financed) $100,000 loan amount 30 Yr fixed 6.000% P&I: $599.55 ($5.9955 per $1000 financed) $100,000 loan amount 30 Yr fixed 7.000% P&I: $665.30  ($6.6530 per $1000 financed) $100,000 30 Yr fixed 8.000% P&I: $733.76 ($7.3376 per $1000 financed) $100,000 loan amount 30 Yr fixed 9.000%P&I: $804.62 ($8.0462 per $1000 financed) I doubt we'll ever get back to the 9% range (economy would have to h... 02/08/2010

Hi Everyone, I recently saw briefly an agent's business card and on the back it had discounts to lots of local restaurants. What a great idea. Do any of you know anything about these and where I can find them? I think it is a wonderful way to keep the cards in your clients hands. Your card becomes a mini Entertainment Book! Thanks! Brenda Swigert, e-PRO  Relocation Specialist  Realtor  ReMax Unlimited  West Chester Ohio Office www.BrendaSwigert.com    www.LovetosellCincyhomes.com 513-378-1461 02/02/2010

If only I had a squirt gun that would reach through the phone and liquidfy the shirt of those solicitors who call every single day... from so many different companies and many within the same company with the same canned response..."Do you sell residential property... I work for company 'abc' and we can put you on the first page of google, but we are only have room for one more agent..." UGH! How many Realtors can fit onto the front page of google? How many agents really go with these solicitors who call out of the blue and want thousands of dollars for search engine optimization? I just can't believe how many calls I get every day with the same verbiage, selling the same thing. You can ask them to remove you from their list and they say that they can only take you off of their individu... 02/02/2010

Consumers across the country can now take advantage of a Federal Housing Administration program to allow qualified home buyers to apply the $8,000 tax credit when purchasing a home. Also for current homeowners who have lived in their current home as their primary residence for 5 years may qualify for a $6,000 tax credit when purchasing a home! FHA will now permit its lenders to provide a short-term bridge loan that will let qualified home buyers use the tax credit to either make a larger downpayment above the FHA required 3.5 percent, cover closing costs, or buy down their interest rate. (995 Havensport Forest Park, Ohio MLS MLS: 1201394) Shaun Donovan of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development stated in May that HUD would allow the first-time buyer tax credit to be used fo... 01/13/2010

Start the countdown- in a few hours the "Union Centre Blvd Bash" begins!The "Bash" starts Friday afternoon and runs through Sunday evening. The weather report is great - so expect to see a lot of your neighbors wandering around.If you are eating your way through the restaurant booths- pop into the office and grab a soda and popcorn.See you there. 08/14/2009

A few years ago I was at an international conference and decided to take in a musical. What a treat for my husband and I. We saw Mama Mia. I felt my mood lift and the music took me back to my high school years when I thought I could anything I put my mind to. That simple reflection made me wonder when that mindset had changed? Was it after the children and bills came... you know that thing called life? Was it years of working hard and seeing peak and valleys? Was it just my age and day after day passing by? Why didn't I feel like I had as a high school girl (besides the thing called hormones)? I thought again about the music... "Dancing Queen" and how hearing that music had lifted me up to a new place that I hadn't felt in many years. I wondered, if music could really change my mood the... 07/30/2009

Summer is a wonderful time to maximize the Curb Appeal of your house. We know all the standard Curb Appeal Do's such as water the lawn, trim the bushes, power wash, etc.  I see a lot of houses on the market that have followed all the tips and their homes look, how shall I say..."very well groomed " That's a great thing...its better than weeds in the landscaping and a dirty front door, however, sometimes it just looks well...standard and kinda boring.  Yard is green and mowed (check!), bushes trimmed (check!),  2 flower pots on either side of the front door (check!), and new mat (check!...double check!)....you get the idea here.   The Curb Appeal can be "neat" but sometimes lack personality.  Summertime gives you that opportunity to create Curb Appeal that will have potential Buyers hea... 06/26/2009

The part of my job I love the most is the opportunity to work with wonderful, savvy real estate professionals that really understand marketing their listings to get them sold quickly and retain as much of the equity in their client's house. They use powerful marketing tools such as staging and professional photography to achieve that goal.  I wanted to share this powerful testimonial from Jennifer Cox of The RealCincyGroup as she shares her perspective on using staging to help sell her listings.  "I was introduced to the concept of staging several years ago, just as the market was starting to slow, and home sellers were trying to understand why their home wasn't selling as quickly, and for more money, than the neighbor's had the previous year. Inventory was increasing, sales were slowin... 06/25/2009

It's hard to believe that it is May with the cold weather still dancing through us the past few days. In the world of real estate however it certainly feels like May! Showings are up and sales are up. There are more new buyers each day looking for their chance at their dream home and with the stimulus package and historic rates there has never been a better time to live the American dream! For sellers it is especially important however to have your home priced right from the start and to not over price your home. With the new guidelines for appraisals one question every seller needs to ask their Realtor is will the home appraise at the price we are asking? If not, then why start there? Don't waste this great market "trying" and "playing the market". What will happen is your home will ge... 05/02/2009

 Late last year was the first time I have ever run into a buyer being approved by a lender for a conventional loan then having the deal killed because PMI insurance wouldn't back the loan. I live in an area where bad credit is common so I have had buyers get approved for a loan before the credit crisis only to be unable to get homeowner's insurance through anything but Ohio Fair Plan because their credit was bad. However, 2008 was the first time I have seen this PMI phenomenon. Today I had a buyer with a great credit score and good income who wanted to buy a home FHA. The house would not go FHA because of a FHA guideline that states the house is too close to a high voltage tower (this is the info on that.... http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/ref/sfh1-18f.cfm). So this buyer now has to ... 04/21/2009

You've heard the saying "You never have a second chance to make a great first impression" right?  If you are selling your home or will be shortly, you need to take that little saying to heart.  I'm going to share with you my top staging mistakes to avoid and hope that you'll apply what you've read today and be on your way to a successful sale.Staging Mistake #1: BAD MLS Photos Did you know that over 85% of buyers are looking on the Internet first to find a house to buy? First Impressions start here folks!  How do your photos look?  I am amazed a lot of times when working with sellers that currently have their house on the market that they have not even bothered to take a look at their pictures online.  I think it didn't even occur to them that this is a critical marketing tool that pul... 03/19/2009

Thanks to HGTV and many other media articles on home staging, Sellers are starting to understand the importance of removing their personal photos as part of the overall preparing their home for the real estate market.  However, I've still noticed an awful lot of personal photos in our MLS when I check out the local listings.   So what gives?Old School Thinking:  Often it is very difficult for Realtors to tell their Sellers that the personal photos have got to go.  Sellers can be very attached and proud of their grand displays of their kids and extended families. On the other hand, one of the old school thinking I have heard many times is to leave the photos up because buyers want to see who lives there and it feels more like "home".This simply is not true.  Don't buy into that old schoo... 01/26/2009

The temperatures are going down, down to "0" at the end of this week. That is cold!!! But then, it's always cold this time of year. Our Coldest days historically are between January 17 through January 23. The low average temperature is 19 degrees F. After the 23rd, temperatures slowly begin to work their way up. VERY slowly. About every 8-9 days the average temperature moves up 1 degree F. Our Real Estate Market is very similar. Right now our listings are way down, down to 13,532. Our Solds are down as well, down to an average of 51.43 sold per day. During 2005 our average sold per day stood at just over 80. When we get through this cold spell, the listings will begin to increase, as will the "solds". I'll be glad when we get through this chill. Buyers are finding what Realtors know, th... 01/12/2009

Abraham Lincoln's quote is often changed to the effect that you can't please all the people all the time... Read the whole article Or get the information delivered directly to your inbox by subscribing to theCincyBlog today.Need more info about real estate in your neighborhood or area call or email. 01/07/2009

West Chester real estate- what sold in October? Click here to see the entire article. Or get the information delivered directly to your inbox by subscribing to theCincyBlog today.Need more info about real estate in your neighborhood or area call or email. 11/20/2008

How is Real Estate in West Chester, Beckett Ridge and Liberty Township? Click here to see the article Or get the information delivered directly to your inbox by subscribing to theCincyBlog today. Need more info about real estate in your neighborhood or area call or email.   09/19/2008