Category Archives: Real Estate

Is your RE agent looking our for your, or someone else

Posted on January 22, 2019 | Leave a comment

When you’re involved in a real-estate transaction, do you assume that the realty agents are required to represent the best interests of the home buyer or seller with whom they are working?

The Consumer Federation of America recently posed that question to a national survey sample of adults, and 50 percent answered yes. Another 16 percent said “yes, almost always.” So two-thirds of consumers in the survey had roughly the same impression.

But a new report from the Consumer Federation, an umbrella group representing nearly 300 local and state consumer organizations, suggests that it’s not necessarily so. The reality, according to the study, is that “real estate agents often are not required by law to represent the interests of buyers or sellers.” As a result, sometimes things can go seriously awry.

Among the common forms of representation examined in the CFA study:

— Single agent. In this case, the agent works solely for the client and has a fiduciary responsibility to the client.

— Subagent. This is where the agent works with the buyer but has a fiduciary duty to the seller.

— Transactional agent. In this case, the agent works with both the buyer and seller to facilitate a sale but has no fiduciary responsibility to either party.

— Dual agency. The study describes this as an arrangement whereby “the agent somehow is expected to represent the interest of both the seller and the buyer in a home purchase.”

“The Holy Grail is to capture the entire commission,” Brobeck told me. “The listing agent might say to the seller, we’ve got a hot buyer for your house” who happens to be a colleague.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Preparing your property for sale

Posted on January 17, 2019 | Leave a comment

There are three key areas to focus on when preparing your home for sale to help you get the best price:

1. Make simple repairs

One of the biggest turn-offs for buyers is wear and tear such as chipped tiles, cracked windows, scuffed paintwork, stained carpets, and other obvious signs of damage. These unsightly areas instantly alert buyers there is work required, which can diminish their initial enthusiasm for your property and lower the price they are prepared to pay. Discuss with your agent which areas you should overhaul before holding open homes. You want to ensure you are increasing appeal while not overcapitalising.

2. Clean and declutter

Study other houses currently on the market and you will see they have been decluttered, cleaned thoroughly, and may even have been styled to look modern and pristine. Removing lots of clutter makes the prospective buyer able to see the room properly while more importantly, making the room appear larger. Cleaning the house, even hidden areas such as under the sink, makes the house look well-cared for. This gives the buyer a subliminal impression that the house has been well-maintained and there should be no hidden problems.

3. Style your home

Styling is another instant facelift that can give your property a fresh look which appeals to buyers. You can hire a stylist to take care of this for you, or hire furniture and accessories and do it yourself.

Real Estate Investors see riches in a tax break meant to help the poor

Posted on January 15, 2019 | Leave a comment

In a former warehouse on a dimly lit street in the South Bronx, developers sipping Puerto Rican moonshine listened as a local official urged them to capture a new U.S. tax break by rebuilding the decaying neighborhood.

In Alabama, a young lawyer quit his job after seeing the same tax break’s potential to help one of the nation’s poorest states. He now spends his days driving his Hyundai from town to town, slideshow at the ready, hoping to connect investors with communities.

And on a conference call with potential clients, a prominent hedge fund executive pitched investments in a boutique hotel in Oakland, which he described as San Francisco’s Brooklyn. The project is eligible for the same tax break, designed to help the poor.

Betting on Opportunity Zones; Sales of development sites are surging in areas eligible for tax breaks.

Fervor about opportunity zones is heating up across the U.S. For a limited time, investors who develop real estate or fund businesses in these areas are able to defer capital gains on profits earned elsewhere and completely eliminate them on new investments in 8,700 low-income census tracts. The goal is to reinvigorate these areas. But the question is whether the 2017 tax law will, as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin predicts, pump $100 billion into places that need it most, or if investors will play it safe by funding projects in a few zones already on the upswing.

read more at: https://www.bloomberg.com/