For months now, the doomsayers have been forecasting a burst in the real estate bubble. The burst has yet to happen. According to data released during the first week of October, the median existing homes for sale price fell in August by 1.7 percent, a first in over ten years of year-to-year pricing. The number of homes for sale has jumped to 3.9 million, which is the highest inventory level since 1993.

The bubble for homes for sale still exists; however, because jobs, income and interest rates are still in great shape. This means that forecasts are still excellent for this year, which is expected to be the third best year in history for home sales.

That does not mean that sales figures are as good as last year at this time, when the bubble made homes for sale pricing unrealistically high. With prices coming down and homes for sale inventories rising, the real estate market is moving toward a buyer’s market but we still are a long way from there at this time.

The current homes for sale market means that buyers can take longer to make buying decisions, which keeps many homes for sale on the market longer. There is more competition for owners of homes for sale, requiring different selling techniques.

The most important thing is to accurately price homes for sale. Too high, and they will remain on the market too long. Sellers must be realistic. Homes for sale owners must begin to look at the “real” price of their home, based on what they actually paid for it and for what price they can sell it. They cannot look at the “paper” equity that was created by the bubble you cannot lose money that was never real! The only money lost is in “theory,” based on what an earlier, unrealistic market said for what you could sell your property. The only “real” money that would be lost would be if you had to sell a home for less than you paid, and the homes for sale market is not at that point and hopefully never will be.

The second most important selling technique for homes for sale is to market it correctly and make it stand out amongst all the other homes for sale. Preparation before putting your home on the market will make a difference. Have it inspected beforehand and repair, renovate and replace any defective items in the interior and exterior of the home, as well as landscaping problems. Stage your home for showing fresh paint, fewer furniture pieces attractively positioned to make rooms appear larger (put your extra pieces in storage), adding small decorative accents of color to pull the viewer’s eye to unique features within the rooms, and so on. Some realtors can assist owners of homes for sale with “buy-down” mortgage products to add more buying appeal to the property without having to lower the sale price.

In this current market, the owners of homes for sale with the edge are those who take the extra time and effort before putting their homes on the market, along with a realistic selling price.

John Harris
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/the-bubble-has-yet-to-burst-on-existing-homes-for-sale-70165.html

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Experts predicted that the New Year would bring new results with respect to the foreclosure crisis. They expected the housing market to recover on a country wide level whereas what actually happened was that the country witnessed a remarkable increase in foreclosures homes for sale.

The first few months of 2009 showed a dramatic increase in the rate of foreclosures. The Washington to Arizona belt was most severely hit by the crisis. However county foreclosures seem to be slowing down as we move deeper into 2009. While people continue to lose their jobs home owners are receiving assistance from various sources which may help them to qualify for loan modifications.

When we look at the statistics we find a marginal decrease in county foreclosures homes for sales for April this year compared with last year. This year Butler County Sheriff’s Office reported 227 properties sold off in foreclosure auctions. Last year this number was recorded at 270 which means a difference of 43 homes has been witnessed.

The foreclosure trend however remains a mystery and the month of May seems to be revealing it self as a different story. With only a week in May already 199 properties are tied up in foreclosure proceedings. In 2008 the entire month of May recorded 254 foreclosure auctions in the county which is set to be surpassed this year for sure.

Losing homes in such large quantities to foreclosures is further straining the economy. This is why various steps are being taken to control the volume of foreclosures homes for sale. The idea behind the assistance is not really on sympathetic grounds towards those at risk of losing their homes, it is more of an attempt to bring down the volume of foreclosure homes.

Nonetheless there are good foreclosure pickings in many counties through out the country. Adams County for example has some excellent foreclosure homes in the city of Aurora. Similarly the city of Denver in the Jefferson County promises good bargains. Arvada too is a good place to look for foreclosures homes for sale at this point in time.

JosephSmith Jr.
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/foreclosures-homes-for-sale-1054461.html

In May of 1997, the tax code governing profit from the sale of a personal residence was changed. In the past, any gain from a home for sale could be taxed, unless rolled over into the purchase of a new home.

The new Internal Revenue Service rules are more advantageous to sellers of homes for sale. You can no longer roll a gain into the new home; however, not all gain is taxable as in the past.

Now, homes for sale have the first $250,000 of profit exempt from any taxes, if you are the owner and filing single status. If you file jointly with your spouse, your homes for sale gain is tax exempt up to $500,000 – this is a half-million dollars, tax-free profit. This means that if you purchased a home for $200,000, you could sell it for $450,000 as a single or $700,000 as a couple and incur no taxes on the profit.

There is, however, a time and resident test that must be met in order to receive this tax exemption for your homes for sale profit. You must have lived in the home for two out of the past five years in order to qualify for the tax exemption.

What If You Don’t Meet the Time & Resident Test

So, does that mean that if you do not meet the time and resident test you then owe taxes on all of the gain? Not necessarily.

The tax code allows for several specific exemptions to the time and resident test, when you must move due to certain qualifying events. Here are a few of those events:

• You must move due to the health of one of the residents in the home (your immediate family) or the health of a relative who is in your care.

• A death in your immediate family that incurs the move, such as a breadwinner dies and the spouse cannot afford to keep the home.

• Divorce that forces a move.

• The unemployment of a breadwinner (must be qualified for and receiving unemployment compensation) and cannot afford to keep the home.

• A new job that is 50 miles further away from the home than the current job. Otherwise, if you drove 20 miles to your current job, then the new job must be at least 70 miles from the home to qualify for an exemption.

• Your home was damaged from a natural or manmade disaster, and you were forced to sell it.

• Perhaps an act of war or terrorism has caused the move.

• Even the birth of twins, triplets and so on, made the current home for sale too small and impractical to keep.

IRS publication 523, “Selling Your Home”, covers many other unforeseen events that would qualify you for an exemption.

When you do not meet the time and resident test but qualify under one of the unforeseen event exemptions, you receive only a partial exemption for the gain on your home for sale. You will be taxed on a pro-rated amount of the gain, based upon how long you actually resided in the home.

If you lived there less than a year, then the profit from your home for sale is considered to be a short-term gain. This means, on the pro-rated amount you owe taxes, you will pay the same tax rate as you do on your 1040 income tax form.

If you have lived more than one year but less than two in your home for sale, the profit is considered to be a long-term gain. Rather than paying the generally higher income tax rate, most people are taxed at 15 percent. So, if you have lived in the home for less than one year, it is to your advantage to remain there until you pass the one-year time mark – if at all possible.

The changes in the tax code for profit on homes for sale is much easier now to calculate and typically are more advantageous to the seller now, than in the past. Of course before making any home selling decisions or plans, consult a Certified Public Accountant or other tax professional.

J Harris
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/homes-for-sale–130632.html

If you seriously want to know of foreclosures in your area, just call up a local real estate agent and ask them for a list!

It always is exciting to begin looking at homes for sale in your area, bigger and perhaps nicer than the property you currently own. Before you let the excitement carry you away and make an offer for homes for sale, first check your FICO score to ensure you can purchase homes for sale at the best rate.

If your score is below 600 for any reason, you need to take corrective action. Better to put off looking for homes for sale, until you can purchase one at a good rate. Otherwise, you will be paying thousands more than necessary for your homes for sale over the life of the mortgage. A score below 600 puts you at a disadvantage with homes for sale lenders; but with dedication and lots of effort on your part, you can improve your FICO score and get the better mortgage rate and terms for your homes for sale. This article gives you ways to improve your FICO score and your credit report.

Payment History

Your payment history accounts for 35 percent of your FICO score and has the biggest impact on purchasing homes for sale. It covers your timeliness of payments, bankruptcy, liens, wage garnishments, collections, delinquent accounts, and the severity of the delinquencies — all very important data to the homes for sale lender. Do the following to improve your payment history:

• Catch up any delinquent bills and make them current. Begin with the revolving credit accounts and then the smallest to the largest account balances. Then, stay current.

• Begin paying all bills on time.

• If you find yourself having financial problems, contact your creditors immediately — before you are late on payments. They can help you with temporary remedies that may not impact your credit rating. If you are truly in debt and do not know what to do, contact a reputable credit counselor, generally a nonprofit firm, to help you learn to manage your finances responsibly.

Even after you pay off collection accounts, they may impact your ability to purchase homes for sale. They will remain on your credit report for seven years.

Total Amount Owed

This accounts for 30 percent of your FICO score, a big factor when buying homes for sale. It covers how much you owe and how many of your credit lines are being used. Improve this area by:

• Keeping your debt-to-credit ratio low. Otherwise, if you have a total credit availability of $20,000, for instance, and total owed of $10,000, then your ratio is 50 percent. High ratio percentages are negatives to homes for sale lenders. At the most, 75 percent is barely acceptable to the homes for sale lender; 35 to 25 percent is best. So, pay down your total debt to improve this ratio, lowering your credit card debt first.

• Pay off your debt. Do not just move it around. The debt-to-credit ratio makes it useless to move what you owe from one credit to another.

• Leave unused credit card accounts open, especially when they show a good credit history in the past. Close them and you do two things — (1) raise your debt-to-credit ratio by lowering your credit availability, and (2) it wipes out the history for the cancelled accounts, if no balance.

• Do not open new credit card accounts just to increase your credit availability level, especially if you do not plan to use them. Too much credit capacity is as high a risk to homes for sale lenders as a high ratio.

Length of Credit History

How long you have been establishing credit accounts for 15 percent of your FICO score, as well as how active your accounts have been. Do the following to improve this section before buying homes for sale:

• Do not open a lot of accounts too rapidly. It will lower your average account age, especially if you have established credit in only the past few years. It also makes you look risky to homes for sale lenders.

• If you have older accounts that you do not use, consider making small purchases and paying them off within six months to continue building a positive credit rating.

• Avoid offers for new cards. Too many credit cards make homes for sale lenders see you as a disaster just waiting to happen.

• Additionally, the longer you pay your bills on time, the more improvement you will see in this sector of the FICO score.

New Credit

New credit accounts for 10 percent of your FICO score. It covers how many new accounts you have opened and what types of credit lines they are, as well as how many recent inquiries have been made against your credit. These are inquiries initiated, because you attempted to secure credit (for example, you applied for a credit card — whether the application was rejected or accepted). Improve this segment by:

• Rate shopping for credit within a focused period of time of 14 days or less. When looking at homes for sale, many people “check out” loans over a long period of time, especially if they are not in a hurry to buy. It makes it look to homes for sale lenders as if you are constantly looking for more credit. Ensure the inquiries show up on your credit report within a short span of time, so that homes for sale lenders know you were shopping for a single loan.

• If you need to re-establish credit, open one or two accounts only. Then, manage them responsibly by keeping the purchases small, the account balance low, and make your payments on time. Also, pay at least a bit more than the minimum payment.

Type of Credit

Another segment that accounts for 10 percent is the type of credit accounts you have. This includes major credit cards, retail cards, mortgage, equity lines of credit, any installment loans, and so on. Improve your credit mix by:

• Having one or two credit cards. It is ironic that homes for sale lenders are leery of people who do not have credit cards.

• Installment loans (for example, a car loan) is better than revolving debt (such as, open-ended credit cards).

• Certain finance company debts (such as buying a large appliance from a retailer with in-store financing) can lower your FICO score.

• A good credit mix shows you can handle multiple credit lines responsibly and usually includes one to two credit cards, one department store card, and an installment loan. If you try to enhance your credit mix, remember to do so slowly over time; otherwise, it becomes a red flag for the homes for sale lender.

• Closing undesirable accounts does not drop them from your credit report. If you have a balance or have shown a late payment history, they remain and continue to be used as part of the FICO scoring.

Improving your FICO score before looking at homes for sale ensures that you will pay a lot less money over the life of the mortgage. It is worth the dedication and effort required.

John Harris
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/improve-your-fico-score-before-shopping-for-homes-for-sale-58425.html

I have not heard since that they have more for sale, unless you were an occupant of one of them. In fact, i think i read i the paper they stopped selling them, because they damaged ones were decommissioned for habitation, but later buyers forged some paper work , and re-sold them as habitable.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29510684/

But if you are a current occupant:
For basic questions about the "Sales to Occupants" program, applicants can call FEMA’s call center at 1-888-294-2822 (TTY: 1-800-462-7585).