Affiliated Organizations
Real Estate in Salt Lake City
Open House – Short Sale near 9th & 9th
Great opportunity to buy in the sought-after 9th & 9th area! One of the best values around.
Listed at $230,000 (Short Sale – all offers must be approved by the lender). Totally remodeled within the past four years – newer systems, roof, and more.
1064 Princeton Avenue, Salt Lake City 84105
Open House Saturday, June 12th from 2:00 – 4:00: 1064 Princeton Avenue, Salt Lake City 84105. For details contact Beverly Hanson: 801-680-4325.
A Great Financing Option for Home Upgrades
The FHA 203k Loan is a great mortgage option that can provide clients up to $45,000 on top of their purchase loan for property upgrades. It is specifically for renovation of a purchased home (but can also be used as a refinance option for people who want to renovate their existing homes).
This loan allows buyers to add up to:
$35K for non-structural home improvements and upgrades
$8K for Energy Efficiency Upgrades (Ex. windows, furnace, insulation, energy star appliances, etc.)
$2K for Weatherization Upgrades
These loans are the perfect solution for buyers who want to buy a “fixer upper” or even those who simply want to update a home that doesn’t have the granite countertops and new appliances they want.
While these loans are perfect for the right buyer, they can be tricky to navigate. Make sure you work with a loan officer who knows the ins and outs of the 203K process and can minimize the impact on the borrower.
For more information, or to see if you qualify, contact Carl Churchill, Mortgage and Refinance Specialist, at 801.573.8475 or carl@mortgagebycarl.com.
Salt Lake City – 1st Quarter Real Estate Sales Report
According to the National Association of Realtors, median home prices are on the rise in most U.S. metropolitan areas, with 91 out of 152 areas showing higher median sales prices compared to the first quarter of 2009.
Unfortunately, Salt Lake City ranked in the bottom 10 areas, with the largest home price decline. In Salt Lake, home prices fell 11.4 percent in the first quarter compared to the same quarter of 2009.
Salt Lake’s falling home prices are expected to continue throughout 2010, but should stabilize in 2011, according to a report commissioned earlier this year by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors and conducted by Jim Wood, Director of the University of Utah’s Business of Economic and Business Research. In that report, Wood said that Salt Lake home prices would fall another 3 percent to 5 percent in 2010.
The falling home prices have attracted more first-time buyers and have led to a 33% increase in home sales compared to the same period last year.
So, if you need to move, but are waiting for prices to rebound, you may want to consider selling now. Also keep in mind, if you’re “moving up,” you will make up whatever you lose on the sale of your current home upon purchasing a more expensive home (I’ll help you do the math!).
Buyers – it’s still a great time to buy. Interest rates have just dropped again, there’s great inventory, and these “bargain basement” prices will be going away soon.
Please contact me if you, or anybody you know, could use my professional assistance with a real estate transaction: Beverly@SLCGreenHomes.com
Now is the Time to Go Solar
Take advantage of the new renewable energy rebate for home & business owners while it lasts!
The Utah State Energy Program will be offering a new rebate for home and business owners that install solar energy. That means if you install solar energy on your home or business you could get a check in the mail for thousands of dollars back! This is a brand new program intended to stimulate economic growth and create jobs, but it won’t last forever and everyone will have questions about how it works. To help answer those questions and provide the info you need to take advantage of the new rebate while it is available, the Utah Solar Energy Association is hosting the Utah Renewable Energy Conference 2010 that will provide a physical location where you can come and learn about the new rebate and how much money it can save you. This event will be held on Saturday, March 27th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and it will be located at the Salt Lake Community College Miller Campus off I-15 at 9750 South in Sandy. Admission is $5 for an individual or $10 for a family, and your conference admission will get you $100 off a solar energy system from any of the solar installers participating in the conference! For more information and to register for the event visit www.utsolar.org.
Home Buyer Tax Credit Made Simple
With so much buzz about the first-time (and “long time”) homebuyers tax credits, I thought it might be helpful to post a straightforward summary of the rules that govern these credits:
General Rules:
- A “first time home buyer” is defined as someone who has not owned a primary home in the last three years. If you are a “first-time home buyer,” your tax credit will amount to 10% of the purchase price of your new home, not to exceed $8,000.
- A “long-time resident” is defined as someone who has lived in the same primary home for 5 out of the past 8 years. If you are a “long-time resident”, your tax credit will amount to 10% of the purchase price of your new home not to exceed $6,500.
- The tax credit does not need to be paid back if you continue living in the home as your Primary residence for three years without selling it. (more…)
Home Sales To Rise, Prices Still Falling
Single-family home sales in 2010 could rise as much as 10 percent in Salt Lake County compared to 2009, according to a study released today by the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS.
The study, by economist James Wood, noted that 2008 was likely the bottom of the housing recession. Sales of single-family homes increased 3 percent in 2009 compared to 2008. In 2010, single-family sales could reach 10,000, up from 9,100 sales in 2009.
Home prices in 2010 will continue to fall another 3 to 5 percent, Wood said. Single-family home prices have already fallen 11 percent from their peak.
Salt Lake City October Home Sales Climb 24%
This is great news, and evidence that the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit may be working:
The Salt Lake Board of REALTORS reported that sales of existing homes and condominiums climbed 24% in October. There were 1,061 homes/condos sold in October compared to 855 sales in October 2008.
The full story is available at the Salt Lake Tribune at: www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13851384.
Salt Lake City: Top 10 Cities to Find a Job
I always knew Salt Lake City is a great place to live, and now it’s also a great place to find a job! With unemployment at less than 6% (U.S. average is getting close to 10%), it’s obvious that employers see this as a great place to run a business too.
See the U.S. News and World Report story:
http://www.usnews.com/listings/americas-best-places-to-find-a-job/7
Of course, all these employed workers need a home to live in – call me for a personalized “Rent-vs-Own” calculation.
Beverly Hanson
801 680-4325
Positive Gain in Existing Home Sales
Finally, some good news to report! The latest home sales statistics, as reported by NAR, gives hope that we may finally be through the worst of the market. Most likely, these numbers are due in part to the $8,000 tax credit being offered to qualified buyers. Also, many buyers are taking advantage of the great deals out there, as well as extremely low interest rates (5.25% versus 6.5% one year ago).
Washington, August 21, 2009
For the first time in five years, existing-home sales have increased for four months in a row, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 5.24 million units in July from a level of 4.89 million in June, and are 5.0 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace in July 2008. The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, and the last time sales were higher than a year earlier was November 2005.
And while the inventory of unsold homes remains lofty, it was reported at its best level in a year.
Remember: the $8,000 tax credit is soon to expire. As of today (8/24/09), we only have 98 days left for a buyer to 1) find, 2) qualify for a loan, 3) negotiate an offer and 4) close on a home. The clock is ticking – who do you know that I could help take advantage of this great opportunity?
Energy-Efficient Appliances
The following is useful information for anybody considering the purchase of a new appliance – such as a refrigerator, washer or dryer. Also be aware that there are a lot of rebates being offered by manufacturers and/or utility companies.
https://www.ecobroker.com/misc/articleview.aspx?ArticleID=13
Energy-Efficient Appliances
Technology Snapshot & Benefits:
Both immediate and indirect economic savings can come from energy-efficient appliances such as refrigerators, horizontal-axis washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, etc. Immediate and continuing savings accrue from lower utility bills for electricity and/or water. The performance levels of these appliances meet, and generally exceed, those of industry “standard” models. As a case in point, consider household refrigeration. By the late 1970s, refrigerators reached their most inefficient performance by requiring about 1750 kiloWatt-hours per year to operate. Modern energy-efficient refrigerators provide the same or better service at 450-550 kiloWatt-hours per year, and they are much quieter in operation.
