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If you are interested in hearing more about relocating to the Greater Raleigh Area, including Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Wake Forest, Garner and Clayton, please feel free to call me at (919) 235.007.  My Raleigh Real Estate Team is here to help you.

Linda

If you, or anyone you know, has any further questions or if you would like a private, confidential analysis of your current real estate situation, please call me at (919) 235.0007.  I am here to help you.

Linda

Linda,

The location of the houses you sent and used in my weekly home competition report concerns me. I am actually familiar with this subdivision off of Rock Quarry Road. Yes, the houses are similar, but the area is not.

Bob

Hi Bob,

I understand your analysis of different locations as well as your concern. However, please note that my search comes direct from MLS and it pulls only your MLS area which is about a 5 mile radius. It also pulls your price bracket. The way this search was created for you is exactly the way a buyer and a REALTOR searches for homes to consider viewing in person. Someone relocating or not familiar with the area is not going to judge this search as you have. To them all these houses for sale will appear equal until they schedule an appointment to see them in person.

If A Home Is Not Competitive Online Then No One Will Come To See It In Person

The challenge I have in marketing your home and getting them through your front door is; if your house is not competitive on a computer screen they may not select your house to see at all. This is why it is important to look at everything in your area the way a buyer searches for home and be competitive with all. If they select your home to view in person and the other home in the neighborhood you feel is inferior they may draw the same conclusion you have and your house wins the sale. However, if they do not choose your house because it doesn’t “appear” to be a good value you have no chance of winning the sale.

My Job As Your Real Estate Marketing Agent Is To Get You “In The Market” And Not Just On The Market.

Other sellers always affect your ability to sell because home buying decisions begin online and not in person. Hope this helps to clarify the search data that was sent to you.

Linda

Dear Linda,

I’m not ready to move anytime soon but when I do, you will be the listing agent so I figure I better ask your opinion now. We are remodeling our master bath. We’ve put down tile floors, a marble shower, new vanities, new mirrors, new light fixtures…..but we took out the garden tub we never use and don’t want to replace it. We were thinking a window bench that lifted up for storage or something like that. Is that going to kill our resale? Do you have any ideas for the space that the tub used to be in? We paid $232,000 for our house almost 4 years ago. We have done too many upgrades (just like in our last house!!!). Granite in the kitchen, new windows, new hot water heater, tile floors in all the bathrooms. We have so many nice upgrades but are we making a big mistake not having a tub in the master bath?

Thanks!
Ava

My Response Drawn From 25 Years of Working as A Real Estate Agent in Raleigh

Hi Ava,

I am sure your house is beautiful just like the last one I sold for you. The bathroom remodel sounds very nice but, you really, really need at least a garden tub. I have seen many people chose to not buy a house because it didn’t have a bath tub in the master. I know we never have time to use them but, people want them just in case.

Please let me know if you have anymore questions as it is always my pleasure to help you.

Linda

Hi Linda,

I have talked to my mother and she is so indecisive I am not sure how to push her forward at this point. She doesn’t feel that she knows where to go and doesn’t know how to go about making the decision. She feels that she needs to make a decision on where to go before going forward. I try to provide help but she is very hard to deal with. She needs to be gone from that house!

Bill  

Parents Need Help and Time to Process a Major Change

I wrote back:

Hi Bill,

In my experience with situations like this all elderly parents and especially moms have to know where they are going before they can take this leap of faith. Older people really have a hard time with change and this is her nest where she feels safe. Help her get rid of stuff. She is overwhelmed with how to physically move and everything she parts with she will need to grieve. It is part of letting go. If she is giving her extra things to family members to enjoy she will feel good about letting them go. She will feel she is helping and providing which meets the motherly need in her. If she has to take her life long positions to the Goodwill or dump she feel wasteful and have a hard time letting things go. Help her get rid of things in positive way.

I would also suggest that you take her to visit her choices. Hopefully she will see the fun she can have there instead of being alone. She needs to have a goal she is excited about to work towards because this is going to be a lot of emotional and physical work for her. The unknown is not going to get her motivated. She needs to see her new life.

Hope this helps.

Linda

So What Happened?

Hi Linda,

Again I think you are right on target. It is like the Lord intervened as the day after you sent your email a woman who lived behind my mother and who had been friendly with my mother for years emailed and asked what she could do to help. I sent your email to her and she said she will do what she can. She is younger by far than my Mother’s other friends who can’t do much to help her. I don’t have much ability to deal with it being an only child and three hours away with a disabled wife and two dogs to take care of so I really need someone in the area to help her. Hopefully this woman will be able to be a catalyst to get things moving.

Bill

How Will A Raleigh Homeowner Benefit?

The $6,500 tax credit will really help many sellers offset any depreciation they may have experienced in the Raleigh Real Estate market and will give them the extra funds they need to buy a new home. When selling a home you have to deduct the mortgage pay off, property taxes, real estate commissions, revenue stamps and other miscellaneous charges for selling a home. The remainder after everything is paid is the net proceeds. Or better described the check the seller gets at closing to spend on their new house. The Government is giving them an additional $6,500 tax credit to help home sellers in Raleigh buy new homes. This is pretty exciting especially when you consider mortgage interest rates are still around 5% for a 30 years fixed rate mortgage. The low interest rates and the tax credit will help many homeowners get into better houses than they ever dreamed.

Raleigh Mortgage Lending Guidelines Have Changed

Today in order to buy a home most lenders require a minimum of 5% down. We can usually negotiated to get the mortgage closing cost paid by the seller but, when the Raleigh housing market hasn’t appreciated over the past several years it makes it really hard to sell and be able to net enough money from the sale for the down payment on a new home. The $6,500 tax credit will put many home buyers in the market now that could only sit and wait before. Here are some details:

Who is Eligible  

• Existing home owners who have been residing in their principal residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight and are purchasing a home to be their principal residence (“repeat buyer”), may be eligible for up to a $6,500 tax credit.
• All U.S. citizens who file taxes are eligible to participate in the program.

Income Limits

• Home buyers who file as single or head-of-household taxpayers can claim the full credit ($8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,500 for repeat buyers) if their modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is less than $125,000.
• For married couples filing a joint return, the combined income limit is $225,000.
• Single or head-of-household taxpayers who earn between $125,000 and $145,000, and married couples who earn between $225,000 and $245,000 are eligible to receive a partial credit.
• The credit is not available for single taxpayers whose MAGI is greater than $145,000 and married couples with a MAGI that exceeds $245,000.

Effective Dates

• The eligibility period for the tax credit is for homes purchased after Nov. 6, 2010, and before May 1, 2010. However, home purchases subject to a binding sales contract signed by April 30, 2010, will qualify for the tax credit provided closing occurs prior to July 1, 2010.

Types of Homes that Qualify

• All homes with a purchase price of less than $800,000 qualify, including newly-constructed or resale, and single-family detached, townhomes or condominiums, provided that the home will be used as their principal residence. Vacation home and rental property purchases do NOT qualify.  

Tax Credit is Refundable

• A refundable credit means that if the amount of income taxes you owe is less than the credit amount you qualify for, the government will send you a check for the difference.
• For example:
  • A repeat buyer who owes $5,000 would pay nothing to the IRS and receive $1,500 back from the government. If you are due to get a $1,000 refund, you would get $7,500 ($1,000 plus the $6,500 repeat buyer tax credit).
• All qualified home buyers can take the tax credit on their 2009 or 2010 income tax return.

Payback Provisions

• The tax credit is a true credit. It does not have to be repaid unless the home owner sells or stops using the home as their principal residence within three years after the purchase.

The www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com site is being updated and you can find alot of useful information there.

Please remember to talk with your CPA or tax advisor to verify how the tax credit can help you and your family.  I am not a tax advisor but have given you the information above as I understand it.

Hope you stay warm today!

Linda

Hedingham Raleigh NC Subdivision Video

Learn More about Hedingham Subdivision

Visit the Hedingham neighborhood profile page to learn more about Hedingham Subdivision.

Homes for Sale in Hedingham Subdivision Raleigh NC

Below are a few of the most recent homes for sale in Hedingham. Visit the Hedingham Home Search Page to view all homes and townhomes for sale.

What is Happening With Luxury Homes Here in Raleigh?

This past meeting I asked everyone what percent they believe real estate values have fallen in the Raleigh, Cary, Apex and Triangle area. We all agreed prices have dropped 15% to 20% in the upper end and at least 10% drop in other price ranges. This is so much better than other areas of our country but, still very painful to folks who need to sell now. 28% of American home owners are under water and that number is expected to be in the 45% by the end of 2010.

If you know of anyone who needs to sell and finds themselves in this negative situation have them call me or visit my web site to learn about some of the solutions available. Several years ago we all believed Raleigh homeowners would be mostly bullet proof when it came to declining real estate values.   Now we know different. Ouch it really hurts!

Linda Craft’s Raleigh Real Estate office is a bustle of activity today as she and her team pass out a truckload of Apple and Pumpkin Thanksgiving Pies to their past clients.   Linda and the team wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and a safe holiday weekend.

For more properties in the Greater Raleigh Area feel free to check out my raleigh real estate website where you can create your own search.