The TAX CREDIT for “Dummies”

No, you’re not a dummy. I would never say that. But, I DO have to say, this whole “First-Time-Homebuyer-Tax-Credit” thing can be a bit confusing if you aren’t good with numbers, or taxes, or legislation. So, I’ve decided to break it down for you, so that maybe the whole thing will be a bit easier to swallow and/or comprehend. Here are some basic questions about the tax credit, ANSWERED, in a hopefully, clear and concise manner. 

1. Who is eligible to receive this “tax credit” anyway? The tax credit can go to ANY person who is purchasing/buying a home for the FIRST TIME (in a three-year period) prior to December 1st, 2009. 
2. What do you mean “three-year period”? Well, say you owned a home, a long time ago. But you have NOT owned a home in the last three years. Well, you’re eligible! But sorry married folks, if you or your spouse has owned a home, you don’t qualify. Only those who have NOT owned a home individually or jointly may qualify to receive the tax credit. 
3. Wait, so how is the amount of the tax credit determined? Meaning, how much money will you get? The tax credit is equal to 10% of the purchase price/selling price of the home — up to a maximum of $8,000. So, if you purchase your house for $100,000, 10% of that would be $10,000. But that’s too much, so you would get the maximum credit of $8,000. Get it?
4. How is this NEW first-time-home-buyer tax credit different from the one that Congress passed and enacted in July of 2008? The biggest difference is that THIS NEW tax-credit DOES NOT have to be repaid. I repeat. DOES NOT have to be repaid! Basically, the previous tax credit was like a loan that didn’t have any interest associated with it, basically making it not really an actual tax credit. However, the homebuyer MUST stay in the home for 3 years or else you may have to pay some of it back.
5. Can you combine this tax credit in conjunction with any other first-time-home-buyer tax credits? Nope, sorry Greedy Gus, you can only choose one. 
6. How do you make sure you are going to receive this tax credit? Well, you are going to file for this tax credit on your 2009 federal tax return and it will show up then. If you have any doubts, ask an accountant or CPA. I know that I, myself, am not always the best at filling out forms, so it’s always smart to have someone double check your work. Oh, and if you want to receive it early, talk to an accountant. You may be eligible to have less money taken out of your paychecks in 2008. Wouldn’t THAT be sweet? 

So, all in all, this NEW-First-Time-Homebuyer-Tax-Credit is a pretty awesome deal. Essentially making this the PERFECT time to buy a home. The market is TRULY a buyers market and you can only benefit from buying a home right now. 

Need to sell your home? Sell it yourself and save on commission. You can sell your home with our friends, Just List ‘Em. 

Now is the time to save money and earn the money you deserve. You’ve worked hard. Treat yourself.

-Jim Ingersoll

Social Media = Key to Real Estate Business SUCCESS!

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This blog post is courtesy of Just List ‘Em: a Flat Fee MLS real estate company geared towards helping YOU sell YOUR home.
We love them. You should too.

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After reading a great article by real estate guru, Mike Andrews on Real Estate Marketing in an Online World, I felt compelled to write and share some of my thoughts on a related topic. Whether or not a real estate company, or any company for that matter, is working on marketing, buying, selling, or just listing (pretty close to JUSTLISTEM, am I right?), social media has become a viable venue for building and expanding a business. However, when a business is just starting, or if a business is new to the interactive world, it can be overwhelming to decide how to successfully hit and tackle the right social media outlets–there are SO many.

So, here are a few questions and concerns I want to briefly consider and address:

1. What exactly is social media and why is it so important for business, more specifically real estate?

• Social media, in essence, is the new, hip, and ONLINE version of what face-to-face mixers and organized networking events used to be. (Not to say that those things aren’t valid anymore, because frankly, nothing beats meeting, connecting, and relating to someone face-to-face).
• For real estate etc., social media creates an interactive, responsive, and engaged audience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Can you honestly say you get that with a print, radio, or television ad presence? 
• Real estate can be a tough venue, for anyone, particularly in this economy. When someone is buying or selling a house, stress levels are UP, way up. Social media creates transparency, which ultimately, fosters a more inviting and relatable atmosphere giving potential clients the feeling of working and doing business with a trustworthy resource.

2. Which venues should I tackle first in my social media quest? (Yes, there are a lot of places to start. I say start with the big THREE and work your way from there).

• TWITTER: The micro-blogging, status updating, networking tool-of-champions. Twitter helps connect you to people all over the world. Any business can benefit from the networking power of Twitter. 
• FACEBOOK: Quite possibly the largest social networking tool out there. With almost 200 million users, creating a prominent Facebook presence through a group, profile, or fan page sets your real estate business up for far-reaching success. 
• BLOGGING. It doesn’t matter where [we like wordpress :)], but blogging allows your audience to “hear” your opinion and learn what you know. You are the expert in some area and there are people who want to learn more about that particular topic… therefore, share your expertise, and you are ultimately bound to create a sense of legitimacy among your audience. 
• **BiggerPockets.com: This is a great social networking tool for real estate companies. Use it. Share tips. Be awesome.

3. What should I or my business keep in mind when creating an online/social media presence?

• Be honest. Now that your real estate business has an online presence, which is somewhat detached from the general public, the general public is and will be savvy to everything you say. 
• Be present. Don’t set these outlets up, post once or twice, and then ditch out on them. You will only be successful if your community is always active. 
• Be engaged. Don’t talk AT people all the time. These are called communities for a reason, pose questions, answer questions, share links, respond to hot topics, etc. By becoming active among the communities you participate in, you allow your audience to grow and continue to be responsive. Be a participant, not a lecturer. 

So what is the overall lesson here? Don’t just use these tools to use them. Becoming a part of the social media spectrum takes time and commitment. Commit to these things like you would any other part of your business. You wouldn’t set up a time to meet with a potential client and not show up… you would follow through. Treat all of these avenues as a client meeting and FOLLOW THROUGH with each one. You wouldn’t buy a bunch of tools and not build the house. (I like metaphors). We are in the process of practicing exactly what we preach. We recently joined the social media spectrum and we are finding it to be extremely beneficial. In a tough economy, fostering a positive community is key to running a successful business.

Share your thoughts with us!

So, what are we all about, anyway?

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This blog post is courtesy of Just List ‘Em: a Flat Fee MLS real estate company geared towards helping YOU sell YOUR home.
We love them. You should too.

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Hi everyone! I just wanted to take a moment to welcome you once again to the blog of Just List ‘Em. You’re probably wondering what we’re all about. Well, the purpose of our blog is to create a forum that allows you to get to know us, our purpose, our mission, our goals, and foster a great, working and collaborative relationship with you, the customers.

photo courtesy of Google images.

As you all are well aware, the real estate market is growing and changing every day. No one wants to sell their home more than the homeowners themselves, and homebuyers want nothing more than to get a good bargain from a trustworthy source. At Just List’ Em, our goal and our mission is to open that line of communication with homeowners, and make their experience selling their home as quick, cost-effective, and easy as possible. Selling a home can be an extremely stressful endeavor, but our goal is to begin the process of making it effortless.

You know, there’s a lot of “real estate jargon” getting thrown around lately. So, I’m going to offer a “quick reference guide” or “cheat sheet,” if you will, to some of the most commonly used terms (i.e. ones that we may or may not use from time to time):

1. Flat Fee MLS: basically, it’s the practice of putting important information about a home for sale on a listing service for a fixed, or unchanging rate. This is a dollar amount that does not change, no matter how much you are trying to sell your home for. Whereas, with traditional brokers or real estate agents, listings are priced based on commission (for example: 4% of the selling price of the house).
2. MLS: Wait, so what’s the MLS? The MLS, strictly, stands for Multiple Listing Service. Basically, it’s a public forum where brokers, agents, etc… can list homes for sale and connect those homes with interested buyers. It’s multiple because well, it connects with more than one person, agency, brokerage, etc.
3. Real Estate Broker: This is the “middle man.” A broker acts as the intermediary between a seller and a buyer of real estate. Brokers are middle-men who like to charge a lot of money. No good!
4. Real Estate Agent: Very similar to a broker, except agents have a lot to do with the actual marketing of properties for sale. They also like to charge a lot of money.
5. Just List ‘Em (that’s us!): We eliminate that middle-man. We strictly connect those who want to sell their homes with people who want to buy them. For a flat fee (see above!) we list your home on the MLS (also see above) – in the end, we save you a lot of money. Oh, and we do everything COMPLETELY paperless. Which means, no printing out any papers, no Notary, no stamps, no hassle. We do EVERYTHING online in a safe and secure way.

So this is a lot of information and it can be a lot to swallow in a short amount of time. Here’s a quick example of how Just List ‘Em works: a man in Powhatan, VA was interested in selling his home on his own. He connected with us and we put his listing up on Monday morning, listing the home at a selling price of $145,000. On the following Saturday, the home sold… for full price. We saved him over $4,000 in commission fees.

We look forward to more success stories like this one. We know that we can help you sell your home in a quick and easy manner. Keep checking back to the blog for updates.

Oh, and check us out on Twitter and Facebook!

Just List ‘Em: Where the conversation to sell your home begins.