New Home Sales News

no more texting and driving!

2010-03-11T11:30:00.001-08:00

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/legislature/bal-texting-reading-ban0311,0,3305888.story

10 Must Have Features in Todays New Homes

2010-02-05T09:51:00.001-08:00

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/108701/the-10-must-have-features-in-todays-new-homes.html?mod=family-love_money

Follow-up

2009-12-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

Why do sales reps make every excuse for not following up with prospects?

FHA HIGHER COST, TOUGHER STANDARDS

2009-12-07T07:22:00.000-08:00

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20091207_washingtonreport.htm

Green Homes up 17%

2009-12-04T03:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-12-03-green-house-energy-star-new-homes_N.htm?csp=34

Using Body Language In Sales Ingteractions

2009-12-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

As a sales person it's not always what you say that clinches or loses the deal, but how you say it. If you say one thing and give another message with your body, people will ALWAYS believe what your body language over your words. And it gets worse, not only will they believe your body language - they will also assume that they know what it means.

If your words and body language aren't congruent your buyers won't trust you; If you show that you are nervous your buyers won't trust you. If you aren't sure of yourself, they won't be sure of you. You need to be physically and mentally confident for them to have confidence in you.

Where learning about your body does help is for salespeople who are sure of their product, sure it's a good deal, sure they are selling for to the right person or company but aren't sure of their own ability as a salesperson. They tend to get uneasy about closing a deal, or talking about money, and their body language shows this uneasiness and it is perceived as doubt in the sale.

Your body can make it seem you are asking a question or leaving room for negotiation (or doubt): by raising your eyebrows by the tone of your voice going up at the end of your sentence by a slight shoulder shrug by turning your palms upwards as you speak by a slight holding of your breath after you finish speaking (as if waiting for a question) by a tilt of the head to one side or the other by pursing your lips

You need to practice the parts of the sale that make you nervous - talking about money gets easier over time, say the amount to yourself over and over until it sounds normal. Compare it to other things until you are comfortable with the amount. Think of it as potatoes rather than currency. Whatever it takes, do it. When you exhibit any sign of nervousness or 'question' after you have mentioned money, your prospect will not trust you in the same way as if you were confident about it. Smile and delight in telling them the price - if you believe they are getting a bargain you are giving them good news, not bad.

Relax when you ask them for their business it should be fun. You have a great product and you have found the right match for it. Enjoy.

prices are up!

2009-11-24T09:43:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091124/ap_on_bi_ge/us_home_prices

Will some of you see some $$$ from this?

2009-11-09T05:38:00.001-08:00

http://www.builderonline.com/legislation/builders-may-receive-cash-infusion-from-new-tax-bill.aspx?rssLink=Builders+May+Receive+Cash+Infusion+From+New+Tax+Bill

It's geting closer

2009-11-05T04:37:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Buying a home is about to get cheaper for a whole new crop of homebuyers — $6,500 cheaper.

First-time homebuyers have been getting tax credits of up to $8,000 since January as part of the economic stimulus package enacted earlier this year. But with the program scheduled to expire at the end of November, the Senate voted Wednesday to extend and expand the tax credit to include buyers who already own homes. The House could vote on the bill as early as Thursday.

Buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years would be eligible for tax credits of up to $6,500. First-time homebuyers — or anyone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years — would still get up to $8,000. To qualify, buyers in both groups have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30.

"This is probably the last extension," said Sen. Johnny Isakson, D-Ga., a former real estate executive who championed the credits.

The homebuyers tax credit is one of two tax breaks totaling more than $21 billion that the Senate included in a bill extending unemployment benefits for those without a job for more than a year. The other would let companies now losing money recoup taxes they paid on profits earned in the previous five years.

"We are still in a world of economic hurt, and Congress must continue to act boldly and creatively," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "With the right mix of tax breaks and investments we will get through this recession and get folks working again."

The real estate industry has been pushing to extend and expand the housing tax credit. About 1.4 million first-time homebuyers have qualified for the credit through August. The National Association of Realtors estimates that 350,000 of them would not have purchased their homes without the credit.

Extending and expanding the tax credit for homebuyers is projected to cost the government about $10.8 billion in lost taxes. While the measure passed the Senate by a 98-0 vote, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., questioned its efficiency in stimulating home sales.

"For the vast majority of cases, the homebuyer tax credit amounted to a free gift since it did not affect their decision to purchase a home," Bond said. "And for the small minority of buyers whose decision was directly caused by the credit, this raises the question of whether we are subsidizing buyers who may not have been able to afford buying a home in the first place."

The credit is available for the purchase of principal homes costing $800,000 or less, meaning vacation homes are ineligible. The credit would be phased out for individuals with annual incomes above $125,000 and for joint filers with incomes above $225,000.

The credit would be extended an additional year, until June 30, 2011, for members of the military serving outside the United States for at least 90 days.

Expanding the tax credit for money-losing companies is projected to cost $10.4 billion.

The business tax break would allow money-losing companies to use current losses to offset taxable profits earned in the previous five years, giving them refunds of taxes paid in those years. Under current law, businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $15 million can claim losses back only two years.

The tax break would help industries suffering losses in 2008 or 2009, including retailers, homebuilders and newspapers. Congress included a scaled-back version of the tax break — for companies with revenues of $15 million or less — in the economic recovery package enacted in February. The new tax break would be available to companies of any size, providing a quick source of cash.

The U.S Chamber of Commerce has been a big backer of the tax break for money-losing companies.

"It frees up capital that they can use to maintain jobs and potentially even hire new people as the economy returns," said Caroline Harris, senior tax counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The tax breaks would be paid for largely by delaying a tax break for multinational companies that pay foreign taxes. It was passed in 2004 and originally was to have taken effect this year, but would now be delayed until 2018.

___

The bill is H.R. 3548.

Things are looking up!

2009-11-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

Senate’s Tax Credit Favors Higher-Income Homebuyers (Update1)

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By Ryan J. Donmoyer

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate is working to boost home purchases among six-figure-income households, turning away from Bush administration policies that helped fuel a property bubble.

By replacing a $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers earning less than $150,000 with a $15,000 break for all income groups as part of the economic stimulus package, senators are encouraging purchases by higher-income households with a reduced risk of default.

A sponsor of the measure, Republican Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia, said the credit is aimed at helping restart the stalled housing market. It would do so without the “far too loosey-goosey” underwriting standards of recent years that spurred an explosion of defaults by unqualified borrowers, he said.

“By doing it the way we did, people making $120,000 are more likely to be motivated to buy a house,” Isakson said.

Unlike the current law, the $35.5 billion provision wouldn’t be restricted to first-time homebuyers. It also would end homebuyers’ ability to claim the full credit if it exceeds the amount they owe in taxes.

The effect would be to wipe out the $15,000 of income tax a family of four earning about $122,000 would otherwise owe this year if they bought a house. A family earning half that amount would get about $2,300 less in tax benefits for buying a home than they would under current law.

Stimulus Package

The Senate credit, approved Feb. 4, is included in a broader $780 billion stimulus package the chamber may vote on Feb. 10. The provision faces an uncertain future because it would have to win support in the House of Representatives to be included in the final economic stimulus plan. If enacted by Congress, it would take effect the day President Barack Obama signed it into law. Obama, 47, said this week in an interview with Fox News that tax cuts for people who buy homes or businesses “has some potential and I’m willing to take a look at it.”

Some lending experts said it isn’t clear whether the tax credit would jumpstart the housing market, especially while the broader economy is still in recession.

Concerns on Economy

“There are stronger forces at work here,” including fears about the economy, fears that housing prices remain too high, and expectations that Congress may still subsidize mortgage rates, said Ricardo Kleinbaum, a credit analyst at BNP Paribas in New York. “If you can’t afford a house today, it’s not going to make much of a difference.”

The credit, which is worth the lesser of $15,000 or 10 percent of a house purchase price, was added to the stimulus bill along with a break to spur car purchases. That provision gives a credit to people who have bought a new car since Nov. 12, 2008, or buy one before Dec. 31, and also gives the biggest savings to higher-income earners.

The Senate-passed credit for homebuyers, unlike the existing $7,500 credit, isn’t refundable, which means house purchasers who owe less than $15,000 in federal income tax won’t get the full benefit in a single year.

Instead, the Senate provision would allow homeowners to split the $15,000 into two separate tax credits of $7,500 to be taken in successive years. To pay $7,500 in federal taxes, a family of four would have to earn about $92,125, according to Internal Revenue Service tax tables.

No Refund

Lower-income people whose taxes over two years don’t total $15,000 won’t get the full benefit and in many cases would get a better deal under current law, which requires the government to send a check for the difference between taxes paid and the $7,500 credit.

Under existing law, the $7,500 has to be repaid. The Senate bill wouldn’t require the $15,000 credit to be repaid. In its version of the economic stimulus bill, the House agreed only to waive the repayment requirements, though it left the refundable credit at $7,500 and preserved income limits for eligible users.

Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington, said the new housing credit would stabilize housing prices, though he questioned whether such intervention is necessary.

“This is saying we’re going to put a floor underneath how far housing prices are going to fall,” Williams said. “It may well induce a lot of people to buy houses who otherwise might not have,” he said.

‘Awful Lot of Money’

At the same time, Williams said, the measure may not have a big effect because a large number of people would still buy a house even without the benefit. “If they’ve really given it to everybody then its spending an awful lot of money on activities that will already happen,” he said.

Stephen Fuller, a housing economist at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, said the credit is similar to a $5,000 break enacted in 1975 for buyers of newly constructed, never-occupied homes that reduced backlogged housing inventories to the point where demand for new construction was stimulated.

“The logjam right now is in the trade-up market,” Fuller said. “There’s a lot of pent-up demand. They’re ready and able once they get the go-ahead signal; this may be that kind of signal.”

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said the risk is the tax credit will act as an incentive for people who don’t need one, because the Senate measure favors higher-income earners.

“It’s close to the craziest thing I could think of,” Baker said. “The vast majority of users will just be people shuffling houses.”

‘Game the System’

In some cases, he said, people will try to “game the system” and engage in sham sales with trusted relatives or business partners to claim the credit, although tax lawyers said anti-abuse rules in the tax code may limit such fraud.

The breaks for car purchases, championed by Maryland Democratic SenatorBarbara Mikulski, are limited to families that earn less than $250,000 that spend less than $49,500 on a new car. A 6 percent sales tax on a $25,000 minivan would be $1,500; deducting that would save a family between $150 and $495 in federal taxes, depending on their income-tax bracket. Tax savings from interest deductions also would vary depending on tax brackets.

“The deduction for the automobile purchases is going to be more valuable for middle-income and higher-income people,” said Robert Carroll, vice president for economic policy at the Tax Foundation, a Washington research group.

Carroll questioned the wisdom of both breaks, saying they would artificially prop up failing industries while encouraging overleveraged taxpayers to borrow more.

“Propping up a failing industry is certainly outside the scope of stimulus,” he said. “Households who are overleveraged and businesses that are overleveraged are much more susceptible to financial distress. You’d think Congress would know better.”

SLOTS NEAR BWI

2009-11-03T05:32:00.000-08:00

Will this be good or bad for homes

builders in this area? Your thoughts?

Company Offers Site Near BWI For

Slots

BALTIMORE (AP) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1

A company has proposed a possible venue for a slots casino near Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Heffner & Weber, based in Linthicum Heights, has offered selling a parcel of more than 50 acres of undeveloped land near the BW Parkway and airport to a slots developer -- presumably the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos.

Cordish is seeking a state license and county zoning for a proposed casino near Arundel Mills mall. The Anne Arundel County Council is considering two zoning bills and the state slots commission has given the council until mid-December to resolve the issue.

Cordish officials have said they are not considering other sites for their project. Heffner & Weber outlined its idea to county officials last month.

RENTERS WILLING TO PAY MORE

2009-11-02T06:08:00.000-08:00

For those who have rental property or are looking for rental property. Please note the following:

According to a national Apartments.com survey—conducted during national crime prevention month—96 percent of respondents said neighborhood crime rate influences where they choose to live. More than 750 renter survey respondents stated violent crimes including assault and battery followed by theft and burglary concern them most. To protect themselves, renters are acting responsibly including keeping strangers out of the apartment community and are even willing to pay more in rent to live where they feel secure.

Any thoughts or feedback?

$6500 Tax Credit

2009-10-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

This is even better than the 1st $8k. Now 2nd time buyers can reap the benefits of a tax credit. Your thoughts?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33522046/ns/business-real_estate

Foreclosure.com College Scholarship Program

2009-10-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

OK Builders, Realtors and everyone else in the biz. Do you know of anyone who can use this money? Forward this today!

Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program

Often, scholarship opportunities also serve as opportunities for students to think about and respond to pressing issues of the day, and one of the problems weighing most heavily on society in the last year has been the global economic crisis. While the recession has begun showing signs of abating, it is still creating serious problems in several areas of life, ranging from paying for school to owning a home. Homeowners have been facing threats of foreclosure due to a combination of factors related to the recession, and this problem could still get worse before it gets better. The real estate website Foreclosure.com is sponsoring a scholarship essay contest that invites college students to propose solutions to the ongoing spike in foreclosures, by writing an essay that best explains "how to solve the foreclosure crisis."

Prize

Top prize: $5,000. Four runners-up: $1,000

Eligibility

Students who are currently enrolled in or have been accepted to an accredited college, university, law school or trade school in the United States. U.S. citizenship is required.

Deadline

December 31, 2009

Required Material:

A completed online scholarship application, along with an essay of 1,000 to 2,500 words addressing the essay topic. Scholarship applications will be judged on writing ability, creativity, originality, and overall excellence.

http://www.foreclosure.com/education/scholarship/index.html

New Home Sales News

2009-10-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

I just read an optimistic article in Builder magazine about realtor's perspective on the housing rebound. Northern VA saw growth in housing sales up 4.3% in the 3Q 08 and 09.

VA agents: are you seeing a difference?