HONEY, things have changed. Forget everything your parents and grandparents told you about sales it's a New Millennial in town.  

Do you want the Home of your Dreams? If so, here are the Best Tips for Todays Market! 

5 Winning Tips for Writing an Offer Letter

In some hot housing markets, including a letter with your formal offer to buy a home is all but required. Unfortunately, Hallmark doesn’t make a card for the occasion (yet). Here are a few tips:

1. Get emotional.
Take advantage of this opportunity to sail beyond the facts and figures to convey a personal connection to the home. Pick one or two features and talk about how they fit into your vision of the perfect home. For example, “Holiday meals are important to my family. Your large kitchen has everything I need to re-create my grandmother’s recipes, and would fit all of my relatives who like to gossip while cooking.” Or, “During our showing my children escaped to climb trees in your back yard. They fell in love with the home as much as I did.”

2. Connect with the seller.
Find one or two similarities between your family and the seller’s, based on what you can discern from the home. Show you have something in common, but be careful not too dig too deep (nobody wants to sell to a stalker). For example: “We’re so excited that your home not only has a beautiful, fenced yard, but also a dog door. Our lives revolve around our two rescue pups, Sonny and Cher, who would literally leap for joy in a yard of their own.”

3. Don’t be afraid to flatter.
Tell the seller why you adore specific features that have been upgraded: “We love those colorful tiles you used on the kitchen back splash. They remind us so much of our honeymoon in Portugal.”

4. Don’t whine.
This is not the place to play the sympathy card. No sob stories about why you sold your last place, or how many deals have fallen through. You want the seller to feel good reading your letter.

5. Grammar matters.
Check spelling and grammar. Have a grammar-nerd friend triple check it for you. You want the seller to know you put time and care into your honest appeal.

Income need to Qualify

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Hiring the Right Realtor for your Luxury Home

Hiring the Right Realtor to Sell or Buy a Home - 

You've made the decision to buy or sell a luxury home, and now it's time to select the real estate professional who can best assist you. Not all good agents operate effectively in the upper-tier market. It is a market segment that requires special competencies. Please allow me to introduce myself to you and why I'm different. 

 

Here are some general guidelines for choosing an agent to help you in the upper-tier residential marketplace:

 

1. Look for market knowledge and real estate skills. Not only should your agent know the city or area you are interested in, he or she should be knowledgeable about the price range you've targeted. A luxury home expert should be able to discuss the amount of inventory available, the average number of days a property is on the market before going under contract, the number of sales in the last 90 days, and the list to sales price ratio, all by price range. The more knowledgeable the agent is about the upper-tier market, the more valuable he or she can be as a resource for you. When you schedule your first meeting with a prospective agent, let the agent know you want an overview of the market conditions based on price range. A solid track record of success is also a clear indicator of market savvy, LeAnne Long has this. Don't choose an agent based on country club membership, the kind of car he or she drives, or similar criteria. Do choose your agent based on the answer to the question, "Does this agent have the skills and resources necessary to help me accomplish my real estate goals?"

1. Notice special luxury affiliations and designations and ask what they mean. To zero in on professionals who specialize in the fine homes and estates market, look at an agent's memberships and designations. Many real estate brands and companies offer special recognition to their associates who work successfully in the luxury market. Some firms have special luxury marketing programs available to their agents. All these memberships, affiliations and credentials add credibility and may provide access to networks and marketing tools designed for luxury properties. Also, know that agents who are Members of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing have met strict education requirements. Those who have also earned our Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist ™ (CLHMS) designation and Million Dollas Gild. LeAnne Long has both of these and is recognized as an experienced Realtor with a well documented track record of success. 
   
2. If you are selling, ask that the listing presentation include a specific marketing plan for your property. Don't assume that the best marketing plan is always the most expensive. Listen to why the agent has included each element of the plan. Be sure that your home will be promoted Online as well as in more traditional ways. If the home is very expensive or the buyer is likely to come from outside the area, a luxury home magazine may be an important part of the plan. Recognize that the marketing plan in a fast-moving sellers' market will differ from the plan to be implemented in a slower buyers' market. Your agent should outline his or her proposed plan and explain it. Look at the quality of the marketing pieces the agent has used in the past as part of your evaluation process. Some agents will have access to special luxury home marketing systems with special marketing pieces that add value to their toolkit.
   
3. If you are selling, don't let an agent "buy" your business. Choosing an agent based on the highest suggested list price is counterproductive if the house is overpriced. The agent doesn't set the price-the marketplace does. If your home goes on the market as an overpriced listing, agents and their prospects will quickly move on to other properties that offer more value relative to cost. Will they come back if the price goes down? In many cases, no.
   
4. Rapport and clear communication are important. Buying and selling can be stressful. Choosing an agent with whom you communicate clearly will help simplify the process. Be sure he or she understands your needs and expectations and that you understand the process and the agent's expectations of you. Give LeAnne Long with RE/MAX Collection of Fine Homes a call today 770-851-0380. 
   
   In short, specialized knowledge + quality tools + clear communication = an agent who can deliver the results you want in the luxury home arena.

 Source: The Institute For Luxury Home Marketing, www.luxuryhomemarketing.com

Military Members : You Have 3 Weeks To Buy A Home, Claim Up To $8,000 In Tax Credits

If you're an eligible federal employee or qualified military personnel, you have 3 weeks from this Saturday to use the federal home buyer tax credit, and to claim up to $8,000 in federal income tax credits. 

According to the IRS, eligible persons include members and spouses of the uniformed services, members and spouses of the Foreign Service, and intelligence community employees who served at least 90 days of qualified, extended duty service outside of the United States between January 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010, and their spouses.

Eligible persons must be under contract for a new home on or before April 30, 2011, with the home's closing occurring on or before June 30, 2011.

The federal home buyer tax credit is a true credit, too. Eligible buyers receive a dollar-for-dollar tax reduction equal to 10 percent of the subject home's purchase price, not to exceed $8,000 for first-time home buyers, and not to exceed $6,500 for repeat home buyers.

Repeat buyers must have lived in their "main home" through 5 of the last 8 years in order to be eligibke.

Furthermore, both the buyer(s) and the subject property must meet certain minimum eligibility requirements:

• The home may not be purchased from a parent, spouse, or child
• The home may not be purchased from an entity in which the seller is a majority owner
• The home may not be acquired by gift or inheritance
• The home sale price may not exceed $800,000
• Buyers may not earn more than $125,000 as single-filers; $225,000 as joint-filers

The complete program description is published on the IRS website.

For additional information regarding your tax credit eligibility, you may want to speak with an accountant or other tax professional. It's often worth the cost.

How Does Your Real Estate Tax Bill Compare To Other Parts Of The Country?

Mortgage rates may be a function of free markets, but real estate taxes are a function of government. And, depending on where you live, your annual real estate tax bill could be high, low, or practically non-existent.

Compiling data from the 2009 American Community Survey, the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan educational organization in Washington D.C., published property taxes paid by owner-occupied households, county-by-county.

The report shows huge disparity in annual property taxes by region, and by state.

As a percentage of home valuation, Southeast homeowners tend to pay the fewest property taxes overall, while Northeast homeowners tend to pay the most. But statistics like that aren't especially helpful. What's more useful is to know how local real estate taxes stack up as compared to local, median household incomes.

Not surprisingly, real estate taxes are least affordable to homeowners in the New York Metro area. The 10 U.S. counties with the highest tax-to-income ratios physically surround New York City's 5 boroughs. The areas with the lowest tax-to-income, by contrast, are predominantly in southern Louisiana.

A sampling from the Tax Foundation list, here is how select counties rank in terms of taxes as a percentage of median income:

• #1 : Passaic County (NJ) : 9.7% of median income
• #6 : Nassau County (NY) : 8.6% of median income
• #15 : Lake County (IL) : 7.2% of median income
• #18 : Cheshire County (NH) : 7.1% of median income
• #70 : Travis County (TX) : 5.0% of median income
• #90 : Marin County (CA) : 4.6% of median income
• #110 : Middlesex County (MA) : 4.4% of median income
• #181 : Sarasota County (FL) : 3.9% of median income
• #481 : Douglas County (CO) : 2.4% of median income
• #716 : Maui County (HI) : 1.3% of median income

The U.S. national average is 3.0 percent.

The complete, sortable list of U.S. counties is available at the Tax Foundation website. For specific tax information in your neighborhood or block, talk with a real estate agent.

March Fed Minutes Show Inflation Risks And Rate Hikes On The Horizon

The Federal Reserve released its March 15 meeting minutes Tuesday. The notes revealed a Federal Reserve split between optimism and caution for the U.S. economy.

The minutes' official name is "Fed Minutes". It's a periodic publication, published 3 weeks after each meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. The FOMC meets 8 times annually, so the Fed Minutes is published 8 times annually, too.

The Fed Minutes is similar to the meeting minutes released after a condo board gets together, or after a meeting of the Board of Directors at a large corporation. The minutes give a detailed account of the important conversations and debates that occurred among the attendees.

At the Federal Reserve, those conversations are deep and, as such, the minutes are long; much longer than the more well-known, post-meeting press release anyway.

Whereas the press release is measured in paragraphs, the minutes are measured in pages.

Here is some of what the Fed discussed last month:

• On inflation : Pressures are rising, but largely because of food costs and oil costs.
• On housing : The market remains "depressed" with large inventory and weak demand.
• On stimulus : The Fed will keep its $600 billion bond plan in place.

In addition, there was talk about ending the Federal Reserve's accommodative monetary policy (i.e. the near-zero percent Fed Funds Rate). The FOMC's voting members unanimously elected to leave the Fed Funds Rate near 0.000 percent last month, but there was talk of raising the benchmark rate later this year.

Conforming and FHA mortgage rates in Atlanta are mostly unchanged since the Fed Minutes release.