5 Unexpected Side Benefits of Homeownership

You already know about the tax benefits of buying a home & the long-term financial advantages created by rising home values & bankable equity.  But some of the associated benefits of homeownership might surprise you.

1.  Pride of ownership

You understand the idea of pride of ownership, but maybe you've never actually felt it.  You will once you put those keys in the door for the first time.  And this doesn't just apply to first-time homebuyers.  If you've worked hard, saved well, spent smart, & are able to now move up to the home of your dreams, you'll undoubtedly feel it, too.

"America has a long tradition of homeownership," said the New Jersey Association of REALTORS.  "This country was founded by settlers who braved the wilds, faced the unknown, & claimed a bit of the American countryside for their own.  Having a stake in the land upon which we live is rooted in the fabric of the American psyche."

2.  It's a do-over

So your old house deteriorated into an outdated mess.  Or maybe you earned a reputation for being the grumpy neighbor because you threw one too many fits over dog poop on your own.  Now you've got a clean slate.  Your house can be anything you want it to be, & you can be anyone you want to be - even the friendly, helpful neighbor who sets out poop bags, just in case.

3.  Social Benefits

Any move brings new opportunities to make new friends & increase your social interaction.  But homeownership can also provoke deeper social benefits.

A report from the National Association of REALTORS found that homeownership positively impacts educational achievement, with homeowners having a "significant effect on their children's success.  The decision to stay in school by teenage students is higher for those raised by homeowning parents compared to those in renter households," they said.  "Furthermore, daughters of homeowners, have a much lower incidence of teenage pregnancy.

Potential reasons for this:  "Certain behavioral characteristics required of homeowners that get passed onto their children, "such as the financial commitment that leads homeowners "to minimize bad behavior by their children & those of their neighbors that can negatively impact the value of homes in their neighborhood," homeowners assuming "a greater responsibility such as home maintenance & acquiring the financial skills to handle mortgage payments," & "neighborhood stability."

An additional study shows that "homeownership has positive effects on the academic achievement of children (with) significant effects of home environment, neighborhood quality, & residential stability on the reading & match performance of children between the ages of three & twelve."

4.  Coupons galore

Chances are you've got a laundry list of things you want to do to your new pad.  Buying a new house will unleash a cavalcade of junk mail, but in that mess of unwanted refinance offers & insurance information & other nonsense will be all kinds of coupons you can use from big box companies, home decor outlets, window treatment businesses & the like.  Go through them carefully & you can fix up your place without spending the equivalent of your down payment.

There are also hundreds of dollars worth of coupons from companies like Best Buy, Lowes, & Bed Bath & Beyond available in the change of address form you fill out at the post office or online.

5.  Credit offers

Once you close escrow, your credit score will get a bump & credit offers will start rolling in.  This is great if you're looking to get a new car, do some home improvement projects on credit, or buy some new furniture.  By taking advantage of special offers from Home Depot, Best Buy or furniture stores like Rooms To Go, you can do some updates & spread out your payments over time without accruing interest - if you qualify.  Just make sure to keep track of how much you need to pay monthly to take full advantage of the program.


Shared from:  Jaymi Naciri

Selling Deceased Parent's Home

Chris Freitag moving furniture to a trash bin as he cleared out a home in Ridgefield whose owner had died.

After Dwight Trainor's mother died unexpectedly earlier this year, he and his sister decided to sell her Leonia home, which had been in his family since the 1930s. But first, they had to clean it out — a task that took seven days of their time, plus the services of an estate sale company and a junk-removal team.

"There was four generations' worth of stuff squeezed into every corner," said Trainor, a geologist who lives in Texas.

As Trainor discovered, selling a home after a death isn't like other real estate transactions. Not only are the homes often overstuffed with decades' worth of belongings; they're also often poorly maintained.

In addition, heirs sometimes disagree over pricing and marketing the house. And sellers are not only dealing with the house sale, they're mourning their loss and figuring out how to handle an estate — often while living in another part of the country, as in Trainor's case.

"There's an emotional component to this," said Wendy Dessanti, a Weichert agent in Tenafly. "People can be going through a hard time. They miss their parent, and they have to be making smart decisions. Sometimes it takes people a long time to deal with."

Nonetheless, John Kopp, an attorney in Clifton, said that it's a good idea to sell as quickly as possible.

"Acting on an estate property sooner rather than later is always better, because you have carrying charges," said Kopp, who has been dealing with the home sales of his recently deceased mother and mother-in-law. Property taxes and maintenance costs add up, and if a property is empty, the owners have to pay for special vacant-home insurance.

To move the process along, Kopp said, heirs can start doing the preliminary work toward a sale — such as interviewing real estate agents and making repairs — while they're waiting for the will to be probated and the executor to be officially named. And Dessanti recommends that heirs work with a lawyer familiar with both estate and real estate law, if possible.

Because elderly homeowners can't always keep up with maintenance, heirs often find headaches like faulty plumbing and heating, ratty carpets and obsolete septic systems. In the case of Trainor's family home, for example, a contract to sell the house fell apart when an inspection turned up a leaking underground oil tank, which had to be remediated.

And even houses that are in decent repair are often filled with a lifetime's worth of stuff.

"They've been in the homes 40 or 50 years, and they've hung on to things," said Barbara Ostroth, a Coldwell Banker agent in Oradell.

Agents say clearing out the house is usually a multistage process. First, families need to find and remove the important papers, heirlooms and expensive items — a process than can take days. Then, a tag-sale or auction company can be called in to sell anything that has any value, for fees that average around 25 to 30 percent of the sale amount. Items not sold can then be donated to charity. Finally, a cleanout company can haul away what's left, at a cost of roughly $600 to $1,800, depending on the size and contents of the house.

All in all, it's much tougher than a typical move, in part because it takes time to figure out who should get what, said Emilia Freitag, an agent with Rand Realty Better Homes and Gardens in Ridgefield.

Often, the late parent's treasures have little worth, because tastes have changed.

"Collections of Hummels — you can't give them away," Kopp said, referring to the series of porcelain figurines.

Joanne Randazzo of Brick said clearing out her father's belongings was the hardest part of selling his New Milford split-level after his death at age 92 in 2011. He had lived in the home for almost half a century, and it was full of souvenirs from his frequent travels, as well as books, records, a stamp collection and more.

She didn't want any of the furniture, but she couldn't interest charities or a dealer. "I was panicking," she said. "I didn't want to put it on the street." In the end, a family friend who had just bought a second home took the furniture.

But no one wanted the Ellery Queen books and the encyclopedias, which went to the recycling center. And the stamp collection is sitting in her daughter's dining room in plastic bins. "That was so precious to him, but she's not interested in stamps, and neither am I," Randazzo said. "It doesn't mean anything to anybody else — that's sad."

Another complicating factor in estate sales is that there are often a number of heirs.

"When there are four, five or six people involved — typically siblings — with an interest in the estate, it turns into four, five and six different opinions as to what the price should be, how much should a price reduction be if necessary, what price should we accept, what should we give on a home inspection and what attorney should we use," said Rick Bandazian, a Coldwell Banker agent in Upper Saddle River.

"Each has their own idea of value. I've seen four siblings turn down an offer because they wanted $10,000 more," said Terri Golden, a Coldwell Banker agent in Fort Lee. "That's $2,500 per person. In the end, they sold for less and had to pay taxes and maintain the property for longer than necessary."

Ostroth told of a family where the adult children — all living out of state — didn't trust each other to clean out the house unless they were all there to see what everyone took. It took over a year to get the property ready for sale.

Some of the family conflict can be avoided if the executor keeps the other heirs informed.

"The executor should be transparent in their dealings with the property," Kopp said. "Every effort should be made to include the beneficiaries in the process."

Heirs living out of state often lean heavily on real estate agents, asking the agents to check on the house and hire auction and cleanout companies, as well as painters and contractors, to get the house ready for sale.

Lisa Tannenbaum, a Coldwell Banker agent in Allendale, recently worked with out-of-state heirs when she sold an estate house in Oakland. She couldn't find any local charities to take all the furniture, but she did find a charity from the South that took it. She also helped the out-of-state heirs find a contractor to upgrade the cesspool to a modern septic system.

"There's a lot of hand-holding on estate sales," said Chuck Martini of Friedberg Properties in Tenafly.

Agents say it's not necessary to spend a lot of money on major renovations — such as a new kitchen — when selling an estate property. But most say it's crucial to brighten up the space by clearing clutter, having the house and windows professionally cleaned, painting the walls and removing old carpet, especially if there are hardwood floors underneath.

Tannenbaum said she got a good price — more than $300,000 — for the Oakland property, a two-bedroom ranch, because all the interiors were repainted and the floors refinished.

"Whether it's an $800,000 house or a $300,000 house, buyers tend to not want to do a lot of work," she said. "Sprucing up really brought in the money."

Reposted from:  http://www.northjersey.com/real-estate/selling-a-home-when-a-parent-dies-1.671483?page=all

Our website!

Our website, www.maryandbengriffith.com has been spiffed up & reflects our brokerage change last year.  It is chock full of information about the new group we're with.  Please take a look & don't hesitate to get in contact with us if we can be of service.  We can be reached at (727) 804-4468.  

Why You Should Work With a REALTOR®

Not all real estate practitioners are REALTORS®. The term REALTOR® is a registered trademark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. Here are five reasons why it pays to work with a REALTOR®.

1. You’ll have an expert to guide you through the process. Buying or selling a home usually requires disclosure forms, inspection reports, mortgage documents, insurance policies, deeds, and multi-page settlement statements. A knowledgeable expert will help you prepare the best deal, and avoid delays or costly mistakes.
2. Get objective information and opinions. REALTORS® can provide local community information on utilities, zoning, schools, and more. They’ll also be able to provide objective information about each property. A professional will be able to help you answer these two important questions: Will the property provide the environment I want for a home or investment? Second, will the property have resale value when I am ready to sell?
3. Find the best property out there. Sometimes the property you are seeking is available but not actively advertised in the market, and it will take some investigation by your REALTOR® to find all available properties.
4. Benefit from their negotiating experience. There are many negotiating factors, including but not limited to price, financing, terms, date of possession, and inclusion or exclusion of repairs, furnishings, or equipment. In addition, the purchase agreement should provide a period of time for you to complete appropriate inspections and investigations of the property before you are bound to complete the purchase. Your agent can advise you as to which investigations and inspections are recommended or required.
5. Property marketing power. Real estate doesn’t sell due to advertising alone. In fact, a large share of real estate sales comes as the result of a practitioner’s contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, and family. When a property is marketed with the help of a REALTOR®, you do not have to allow strangers into your home. Your REALTOR® will generally prescreen and accompany qualified prospects through your property.
6. Real estate has its own language. If you don’t know a CMA from a PUD, you can understand why it’s important to work with a professional who is immersed in the industry and knows the real estate language.
7. REALTORS® have done it before. Most people buy and sell only a few homes in a lifetime, usually with quite a few years in between each purchase. And even if you’ve done it before, laws and regulations change. REALTORS®, on the other hand, handle hundreds of real estate transactions over the course of their career. Having an expert on your side is critical.
8. Buying and selling is emotional. A home often symbolizes family, rest, and security — it’s not just four walls and a roof. Because of this, home buying and selling can be an emotional undertaking. And for most people, a home is the biggest purchase they’ll ever make. Having a concerned, but objective, third party helps you stay focused on both the emotional and financial issues most important to you.
9. Ethical treatment. Every member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS® makes a commitment to adhere to a strict Code of Ethics, which is based on professionalism and protection of the public. As a customer of a REALTOR®, you can expect honest and ethical treatment in all transaction-related matters. It is mandatory for REALTORS® to take the Code of Ethics orientation and they are also required to complete a refresher course every four years.

Reposted from:  http://realtormag.realtor.org/sales-and-marketing/handouts-for-customers/for-buyers/why-you-should-work-realtor