If you allow the seller to stay in a property you are buying after the closing, make sure you have an airtight occupancy agreement that clearly spells out the dates of occupancy and the consequences of failure to abide by those dates.
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From floor-to-ceiling windows to retractable glass walls, more of today’s homes are being built to incorporate copious amounts of natural light in all rooms.
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Q: Gerald, who are the big winners under the new tax law that just passed? Sandra, NY, NY A: Under the new tax law, taxable income is likely to increase for most people but the rate percentages are lower which may offset tax increases. The best way to see how the new law will affect you is to scrutinize your own taxes before and after the new law to see how your tax burden changes. Here are 5 winners and 5 losers under the new tax law: New Tax Law Winners Corporations-tax rates lowered from 35% to 21% Corporations-AMT (alternative minimum tax) repealed Pass through entities-taxes under the new law are lowered by a 20% deduction for qualified business income […]
continue reading Both Trulia and Zillow acknowledge that their home value estimates are often inaccurate.
continue reading Q: Gerald, what’s your 2018 forecast for the Real Estate Market? Cindy, Scotch Plains, NJ A: Happy New Year to you, Cindy and to everyone in my real estate insider family! Cindy, there is no “real estate market,” every local real estate market is unique and different. However, there are characteristics of my local market in North Jersey that you are seeing in many other places. One characteristic is low housing inventory–this is why home prices have been edging up so fast in so many places, because there simply isn’t enough available housing for sale to meet demand for a variety of reasons. I see no significant increase in residential family construction this year so I expect inventory levels to […]
continue reading More than half of respondents to an NREI survey conducted in July said the real estate cycle has reached its peak. The percentage of survey respondents who believe we are currently at the peak of the market totaled 52 percent.
continue reading Overpricing a property reduces its selling price. It inevitably ends with price cutting & a weak negotiating position. The longer a property stays on the market, the less it will sell for. The key to selling a property for top dollar is pricing it correctly in the 1st 30-45 days it’s on the market.
continue reading Q: Gerald, I’ve been arguing with my business partner about what sales price to start with on a house we just rehabbed. We want to get the highest price we can, any suggestions? Reggie, South Orange, NJ A: Reggie, great question. Like you and your business partner, everyone wants to get the highest price they can when they sell a home. The a mistake that a lot of people make when they sell a home is overpricing their property. I understand the mistaken logic that many people use when they make this critical error–they figure, if their property is worth say $250,000, maybe I should put the property on the market at $300,000 and see if I get any takers? […]
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