More information for the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit that has been extended, expanded, and modified. I wrote about most of the changes on my previous post about the Tax Credit, so read that for a description of the most common circumstances.
Within the new law, there are some other changes that some people might want to be aware of in case it effects you.
All active members of the military have a different deadline to follow. If you were/are active military overseas for more than 90 days in either 2008 or 2009, your extension goes through April 30, 2011 instead of 2010. You get one extra year to buy a house!
You can now claim the credit if you are obtaining Seller Financing even if the Seller retains title to the property. This would include a land contract or a contract for deed. In order for this to work, the IRS would want proof of several things including the ability to show possession, proof of paying property taxes, holding insurance on the property, and a few other things.
With the new $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit law, you must actually show proof that you purchased a home, fancy that! It's hard to believe, but the United States Government was issuing tax credits to people solely on their word that they bought a house. No proof was required, just the word of honest Americans... and there's a reason this was modified as even a four year old tried to file claim to the tax credit!
It was rumored with the previous law that you could claim the tax credit prior to closing, but you absolutely CANNOT do this! The IRS has begun prosecuting people who claimed the credit prior to closing or without actually buying a property.
As mentioned, the above are special circumstances and will not effect the majority of people, but it's always good to know for the just in case.
Email or call me with further questions and don't let this last chance at a tax credit slip past you. I highly doubt it will be extended again as the government just doesn't have anymore funds to be giving out.
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
The $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit has been extended, expanded, and modified. It is no longer just for First Time Home Buyers, but it's also for Move-up Home Buyers.
There are many rules you need to know in order to comply with this credit, and yes, it truly is a credit as long as you're in the house for a minimum of three years. If you sell prior to three years, you will have to pay it back.
First Time Home Buyer means someone who has not owned a primary residence in the last three years. This means you could own an investment property and still qualify, but not a homesteaded property. If you are married and your spouse has owned a primary residence, but you have not owned one, you do not qualify for the tax credit. However, something new is that if you have a parent who has owned property and they co-sign for you, you could still qualify.
This tax credit is mostly referred to as the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, however, not everyone gets $8000. The number is the maximum number you are allotted for the tax credit and it's based on 10% of the purchase price, not to exceed $8000. In plain English, that means if the house you purchase is $80,000 or more, you will get the $8000. If you buy a $73,000 property, you would only qualify for $7300. Make sense?
Move-Up Home Buyers are a new category for this tax credit, and there are more rules. You must have owned a primary residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight years. That means, if you have owned a property that is currently being used as a rental, but you lived in it for five consecutive years prior to renting it within the last eight, you qualify. If you bought an investment property that you rented out a few years ago, but now currently have lived in it for five years, you qualify. Simple enough...
The Tax Credit for the Move-Up Home Buyer is limited to $6500 and not $8000. Same rules apply where it's 10% of the sales price, not to exceed $6500.
The income requirements have changed as well, and the limits are the same whether a First Time Home Buyer or a Move-Up Home Buyer. Single tax filers can receive the entire tax credit up to $125,000 whereas they can receive a partial credit from $125,001 to $145,000. Joint tax filers can receive the entire tax credit up to $225,000 whereas they can receive a partial credit from $225,001 to $245,000. Above these income limits, home buyers are not eligible for anything.
There has also been a purchase price cap added to this new law which was not part of the previous one. The cap is $800,000. That's a lot of house, but if you can afford that much house, you probably have bigger things to worry about than this small tax credit.
Of course there is a deadline for everything, and this new law actually has two deadlines you need to pay attention to. The first one is that you must be under contract with a property by April 30, 2010. The second deadline is that the property must close and fund prior to June 30, 2010. That way, no one can wait until the last minute to purchase homes and then hope they close on time. There is a two month buffer, but that actually means you only have less than six months to find a property and get an executed contract!!
The above does not cover every single rule in this new law, but the above takes care of 99% of the cases. There is a rule that you cannot buy a house from a blood relative and receive the tax credit, but you can buy a house from a step-relative and still receive the credit... and others that are very rare circumstances.
Email or call me today for further questions, and let's get you into a new house before six months come and go! The time will move faster than you think! And if you have a house to sell to be one of the Move-Up Home Buyers, we need to get that house on the market ASAP!
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
Senna Hills - Austin TX - Homes for Sale are going strong. There are usually a very wide variety of homes for sale within the community, but there are currently only eight houses for sale.
How do those eight houses compare? You could get an older home that is already about fifteen years old for $455,000 or you could get a brand new home built in 2009 for a mere $739,900.
Why do people like Senna Hills Austin TX? The community offers a lot. There are views from many properties. There is a community park, pool, tennis and basketball court. They even have community happy hours during the summer so neighbors can get out and get to know each other.
Another huge benefit?? It's outside the city limits. Some people refer to Senna Hills as being in Austin while others refer to it being in Bee Cave or West Lake Hills. But, it's actually not within the city so there are no City of Austin, City of Bee Cave, nor City of West Lake Hills property taxes. BONUS! Most residents do use Austin TX as the postal address for mail.
Email or call me today for further information about Senna Hills and making Senna Hills Austin TX your home.
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
Falconhead Bee Cave - Austin TX - has a large variety of homes for sale. The houses that are currently on the market range in age from 2003 up to brand new built in 2009. Sizes range from 2967 sqft up to 6204 sqft. Prices range from $379,900 up to $1,250,000.
Why is there such a large difference in homes available in Falconhead Bee Cave Austin TX? Because we have a wide variety of people moving to the area, and they're all looking for something a bit different.
Many people are drawn to the community because of the Falconhead PGA Golf Course. You do not have to be a member to live in the community, and you can be a member without living in the community. It's a public course.
The prices will dictate whether or not the house backs up to the course, at either a fairway, tee, or green. But price is also dictated by whether or not the house backs to the course at all. Even if it doesn't back to the course, there are cul-de-sac properties that are highly desirable as the yards are larger. I don't think there are any "bad" lot locations in Falconhead.
Overall, the lots are about eighty feet, whereas most of the Suburban areas around Austin TX have sixty foot lots. For many people from other parts of the country, this is not that much land, but who wants to spend their free time mowing that much grass?
Call or email me today for further information about Falconhead or Falconhead West in Bee Cave Austin TX.
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
Martha Stewart sent a goodie package to one of my neighbors so she threw crafting party last night. We had a blast trying to figure out how to use some of the tools. To an extent, we felt like fools reading the instructions for a paper cutter that cut the design into the sides, a glue stick, and other things that weren't completely obvious to use.
Martha Stewart sent three different kits. One was a card making kit, one was an ornament kit, and one was a box kit.
My Card was the guinea pig card as I was the first to try to figure out how to use the paper edging, through trial and error as you can see... definitely not "perfect" by any means. But it was still fun. The foil embossing for the "Happy Birthday" was tricky, but turned out cool.
My ornament also didn't turn out the greatest. Note to self, decide what you want on it before you start! Also, it probably would have made more sense to start with the background, and then written "Alyssa" on top of that... I tried it the other way around...
Some of the other ornaments that others made turned out good...
I think I made the best box! Again, I used the paper edger, but this time, I had figured it out and it came out perfect on both sides. I even stuck two cupcake stickers on it instead of just one. It's called a "Cupcake Box", but it's currently holding my glitter ornament.
As I mentioned, these came as kits, so you don't have to go to the store and try to coordinate anything. The kit comes with matching colors and accessories, like the zinnia flower on the card and the cupcake for the box. I'm not sure if they're exclusive, but they were pushing Michaels Arts and Crafts pretty heavily, and also gave 50% off coupons to buy anything from Martha Stewart's collection.
Not really sure crafting like this is something I could do all the time, mainly because I don't have the patience for it, but thanks to Martha Stewart, we had a great Mom's Night In last night and it was a lot of fun!
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
I had the Brazilian Hair Straightening system put in my hair on Monday, and thus far, WOW! I couldn't wash my hair for four days, until today. All week, people were saying how great my hair looked. Well, it looks the exact same way as when I would use the Chi flat iron, so that wasn't the test. The test was whether or not it would be straight after I washed it and while it was wet... and it was straight! There was a tiny wave at the front around my ears, but that's always a hard place to straighten, but when I dried it, it was straight!! And it's incredibly soft and I can run my fingers through it with no knots. It's awesome!
And there is even some body to it so it doesn't look plain and dead.
Here are a couple of pictures from the front and the back. My hair has absolutely nothing in it. No gel, no mouse, no hairspray, no nothing...
What is the Brazilian Hair Straightening System? It's a Keratin treatment. Keratin is a protein found in the skin, nails, and hair. The treatment reconditions the hair preventing frizz, YEAH!!! Even though it's been "straightened" it can still be curled or done in many hairstyles. It doesn't have to be straight.
What was the process like? Painless and easy. My hair was washed with a salt-free clarifying shampoo, twice. Some people need to have it washed three times depending on how dry, porous, and damaged it is, but a minimum of two times. It was then completely dried with a hair dryer. Then the keratin was applied to small sections of hair at a time, always combining that section to the sections already done to ensure an even coating. Then, my hair was dried again.
Once completely dried, a flat iron was taken to tiny sections at a time until my entire head was done. The iron needs to be somewhere between 350-450 degrees. Mine was done at 400 degrees.
I was told to not wash my hair for four days. It was completed at 12:30pm on Monday afternoon and I washed it this morning, Friday, at 7am. Close enough to four days...
The Brazilian Hair Straightening System will last anywhere from 3-6 months. I was the hair model for my mom's hair stylist for a certification class he teaches, so I didn't have to pay for it, but we'll see if it's worth the $250-300 to have it done again. I love straight hair!!
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
I'm so excited!! The book I interviewed for last year, Make the Move - How to Move Your Real Estate Business Online by Claudia Wicks, is finally going to come out!! Check out Claudia's blog for updates, but below is a small snippet about what I had to say...
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
In my last blog, I mentioned that I would share some excerpts from my new book, “Make the Move.” Here is a preview of the cover- what do you think?
The premise of “Make the Move” is to help agents who have not mastered online marketing and systematized their business using Internet tools. The goal is to help them migrate their business online. My goal is to provide you with the information I have learned over the past 7 years teaching Internet marketing and technology training to agents and brokers. I will also share with you the best and brightest ideas of the top agents across North America. They have generously shared their ideas. We have all learned from one another.
So today, let’s start with one of the Top Agents featured in the book- someone many of you already know, Donna Harris, as an Active Rain Rainmaker. Donna generously shared how she started an online business and how she now generates nearly 100% of her business online.
Donna’s consistent blogging and the online presence that she has developed has generated high search engine ranking, Internet leads, provided a real service to her customers and allowed her to prospect painlessly.
Here’s how to work with Internet consumers in Donna’s own words:
“Working with Internet leads is different from working with the traditional consumers. You have to understand how to work with Internet consumers versus traditional consumers. The typical open house buyer, you get to meet. There is no anonymity. You know they are real, same with a sign call. You have the opportunity to talk with them. The Internet buyer, however, is just searching online. They may click on a pop-up without thinking about it. They insert their criteria; they are casually looking. You never know their actual price range. They still have anonymity; you need to follow-up differently. You can’t push. You don’t know their motivation. You need to stay in touch in a less invasive manner. Targeted drip e-mail campaigns work well for this. This just provides a way to stay in touch without constantly bugging them for an appointment.”
NEXT BLOG- I’ll share how Donna grew her database to over 3,500 prospects. Now that the book is almost ready- you’ll be able to find it on my website in about 1 month- my future blogs will contain smart tips from the book garnered over the past 7 years as an Internet marketing innovator and some of the very best ideas from the Top Agents featured in the book, who so generously share their expertise.
Amy's Ice Cream - Hill Country Galleria - Bee Cave Austin TX- FREE ICE CREAM give away!!
Today, November 4, 2009, between the hours of 2-6pm, Amy's Ice Cream will be giving away FREE Ice Cream to celebrate their 25th anniversary. This is good at all locations except the Airport. This does include the brand new store at the Hill Country Galleria Bee Cave Austin TX.
If you have time today, stop by and show your support for one of Austin's locally started businesses.
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
The Hill Country Galleria - Bee Cave Austin TX - had their trick or treating event last night. This was Alyssa's first time to trick or treat as last year, she wasn't even one yet, and she didn't like her ladybug costume.
We had visited the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary a couple of times, and she became obsessed with the Tigers and "big cats" so I bought her a Leopard costume. "I don't like that, Mommy!" I heard that for two weeks. Yesterday afternoon, she decided she liked it when I put the head band on her head and took her to the big, three-way mirror. After that, I didn't have a problem putting the costume on her!
We even saw a big Elmo. She smiled, but wouldn't go up to him. I picked her up for a picture, and a lady walked right in front, so I had to crop it down, but it's still cute.
We'll be sure to stop by the Hill Country Galleria next year too! They were great hosts!
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
I use my blog in many ways to enhance relationships with friends, family, clients, and others across the world wide web, which includes ActiveRain.
I've been here at ActiveRain since the beginning, back in the Summer of 2006. I didn't completely understand the concept of blogging, but gave it a shot. Weeks and months went on, and I feel I figured it out. A blog is just a "Web Log" which is like a diary. I started making my blog more personal, about me and my experiences, instead of just plain real estate information, and the followers came.
I'm definitely not afraid to talk about my opinion when I'm analyzing statistics and market activity. I think my neighbors and clients like the bluntness and the no sugar-coating as they know they're going to get a good deal when negotiating with me.
I recently did a series that explained The Simple Steps to Follow when buying a house in Austin TX. These steps are almost universal across the country, with a few differences per area customs. I've emailed these steps out to many buyers I'm working with.
I also get my message out with Twitter and Facebook. Whatever I post publicly on ActiveRain, Twitter auto-posts. Then, Twitter has an auto-post to Facebook. My posts are out there so no matter what platform you're on, you can see my latest information.
Whenever people bug me about pictures of my daughter, I always say, "You haven't read my blog lately, have you?" I've never had anyone ask twice for an update as they know where to go!
I had a closing a couple of weeks ago with a Relocation buyer. After several weeks of email communication, and only one phone conversation, they drove into town. Her first question to me was,"How's that Topsy Turvey working for you?" She read on my blog about the Topsy Turvey and was interested in using it herself next year.
Many people use their blogs to have one-sided conversations with themselves. With my blog, I feel I'm having several conversations at once with different people about different topics, and it's a great thing! No longer can someone hide behind a phone and still obtain new business in today's market. You have to put yourself out there for all the world to see, and you can't be shy about it!
Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.
This blog is to help educate Buyers, Sellers and even other Realtors across the country. Each market is different and the way Real Estate is done is different. Austin Real Estate is completely different than Dallas, California and Florida and everywhere else in between. Some times there will be other things besides real estate as I like to rant and rave as much as the next!! Come back often! Donna Harris, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Promote Your Page Too
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
Why is there such a large difference in homes available in 
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