Boston Real Estate News

Nothing can throw cold water on the post-Valentine's Day feelings of love and affection than talk of divorce or alimony, but significant changes to the Massachusetts alimony law are set to take effect in March 2012.

Here is a quick overview of what they new law will provide for - http://cdn-ecomm.dreamingcode.com/public/172/documents/Version-20111121145421-New_Alimony_Reform_Act-172-1386-1.pdf

Many communities in the Greater Boston area, including Boston, offer a special tax exemption to residents who own and occupy a property as their primary residence.  This exemption can result in a significant reduction in property taxes.

If you own a property as your primary residence in Boston, you should have received your residential tax exemption on your Fiscal 2012 3rd Quarter tax bill which was mailed on January 2, 2012.  If you don't see the exemption, you have until March 31, 2012 to file the necessary paperwork with the City of Boston's Assessors Office.

To check online to see if you are receiving the exemption, just go to www.cityofboston.gov/assessing/search and search for your property.  If you need additional information on the residential tax exemption, visit http://www.cityofboston.gov/assessing/exemptions/resexempt.asp

Many communities in Massachusetts finalize their tax rates and assessments in December which may either increase or lower the amount of the February tax payment.

If you have a mortgage and your mortgage company escrows for Town / City tax payments, you may want to make sure that the amount due for your February 2012 payment hasn't changed.  It is never good to pay more than you have to, and if you pay less, your payment may not be applied resulting in late-fees and additional interest.

As an exclusive buyer agent in the Greater Boston area my first and only allegiance is with my client, the home buyer. My clients are serious, have their financing lined up and are looking for a property that is going to meet their needs. After searching for a while, they have one or two properties in mind that they are seriously considering and the decision process begins to change from one of "will it meet my requirements" to "how confident am I with the property".

Home buyers today that are considering buying a condo have much more information at their disposal via the internet than even just a few years ago. However, there are some pieces of information that are not public knowledge that the seller and the listing broker need to provide. In many cases, this information is going to impact the ability to get financing or determine whether they are going to be interested in the property to begin with (e.g. the condo assn being pet friendly).

When these pieces of information are not readily available, the condfidence of the buyer quickly begins to erode and I have had many clients "pass" on a property that they liked very much just because the sellers and their agents have not been able to answer some basic information about their property. I have been on many, many showings where my client and I leave and the client turns to me to say something like "If they have no idea about what they are selling, I'm not comfortable buying".

Here are a few basic questions that the listing broker and the seller should have readily available answers for before they start to market the property:

What is the owner-occupancy of the condo assn?

Does more than one person / entity own more than 10% of the units?

If there is commercial space as part of the association, what is it's percentage of the association?

Is the building pet-friendly? If yes, are there any restrictions?

Are there any special assessments pending? When was the last special assessment? What is the amount of the reserves for the condo assn?

Is the building professionally managed? If not, how are services such as trash removal, snow removal, common area cleaning / maintenance handled?

How old is the roof and boiler / heating system (if applicable)?

When was the last time the condo fees were increased?

HOME SELLERS - Make sure your agent has the accurate answers to these questions readily available - it may mean the difference between a deal that comes together and stays together or many more days-on-market for your home.

I was at a training course today and it seems that there is still some confusion and misinformation about the 3.8% Federal tax on the capital gains from the sale of a personal residence as part of the health care bill.

Under the current provisions of the law there is a 3.8 percent tax that will take effect in 2013 for those with incomes over $200,000 a year ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly). And even for those who have such high incomes, the tax still won't apply to the first $250,000 on profits from the sale of a personal residence - or to the first $500,000 in the case of a married couple selling their home.

The good news is that for a vast majority of home sellers, there will be no additional tax. The bad news is that for some home sellers there will be additional tax, but it will only be on the amount over the $250K / $500K exemptions.

For more information - visit http://www.factcheck.org/2010/04/a-38-percent-sales-tax-on-your-home/

If you are thinking about buying a new home or refinancing soon (or even if you are not), it is a good idea to check your credit reports to make sure you won't have any surprises.

You can check each of your credit reports (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) FREE each year. You won't get your FICO score for free, but you can check to see if there are any errors and start the process to get them resolved.

This is the link to the official free website developed by the three major credit reporting bureaus - https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp 

You can also obtain your FICO Score for a small fee at www.myfico.com

One of the most important financial benefits of owning a home is the ability to itemize and deduct mortgage interest and property taxes (as well as at least one more year for Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)) when calculating your federal income taxes.

Many home buyers often ask what impact this will have to them and how to calculate the benefit. Here is a quick example:

Assume:

$ 20,000 = Mortgage interest paid (a loan of $400,000 for 30 years, at 5 percent, using year-one interest)
$ 5,280 = Property taxes (at 11 percent on $480,000 assessed value)
______

$25,280 = Total deduction

Then, multiply your total deduction by your tax rate.

For example, at a 28 percent tax rate: 25,280 x 0.28 = $7,078.40

$ 7,078.40 = Amount you have lowered your federal income tax (at 28 percent tax rate)

Note: Mortgage interest may not be deductible on loans over $1.1 million. In addition, deductions are decreased when total income reaches a certain level. Illustrative example only - check with your tax adviser for your specific situation

Forget a fancy dinner, chocolates, flowers or expensive jewelry. Man or woman, homeowner or renter -everyone has the same item at the top of their Valentine's Day wish list - a lockbox.

As a buyer agent, I love lock boxes. It makes a property much more accessible for showings and, particularly when it is the first showing, it can save the listing brokers time if my client doesn't think the property will meet their needs. If the buyer likes the property, we can always schedule a second showing with the listing broker or follow-up with specific questions after the showing.

I also like lock boxes for after the sale and the buyer has the keys in their hands. It is not uncommon for a homeowner (or a tenant) to get locked out of their house, thinking that they had the keys in their pocket. Even worse, realizing that you have lost your keys on a Saturday evening out and it is now 1:30 a.m. and there is no one home to let you in. Even if someone may have a set of keys for an emergency, the thought (and process) of waking someone up in the middle of the night is not pleasant. In most cases, it requires the services of a locksmith which can be expensive and time consuming.

The simple solution is a lockbox which can be purchased at many hardware stores and home improvement centers such as Home Depot and Loews. There are a variety of styles available - from ones that connect to a fence or pole to ones that can be screwed into a wall or fence post. For $30.00 or so you can save yourself a lot of time, money and aggravation.

So this year, spread the love on Valentines Day with a lockbox - they may not love you for it that night, but at some point you will be the love of their life!

A recent study from the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) showed that 89 percent of homebuyers chose a real estate agent to help them with the purchase of their new home in 2010 vs. 69 percent in 2001.

Some of the key reasons cited for this increase include the complexity of the buying process today, the desire to work with a licensed and trained professional, the myriad of issues that can come up with regard to financing, condo associations and title issues.

Other reasons noted were the desire for buyers to have someone help them evaluate a property, coordinate showings, provide negotiation expertise and assist them in managing the process.

Sounds exactly like what I have been doing for Greater Boston home buyers since 2004!