My kids would have this gorgeous carpet all splotched up in no time at all.  This house in Nashville area is coming on the market this week!

This could be a classic case of the right arm not knowing what the left arm is doing.  A woman had her house repossessed and her parrot taken by a bank contractor who was there to padlock her pad.

The home owner said all her mortgage payments were current and because she - and her parrot - have been traumatized, a lawsuit has been filed.  From MSNBC.com,

…  she suffered irreparable emotional damage and is afraid to set foot in the house. The lawsuit says she eventually regained possession of the bird, named Luke, after repeated phone calls to the bank.

I’m glad Luke has been returned and can definitely understand her nervousness when it comes to returning to the house.  Good luck!

Photo by crispin swan via flickr creative commons.

A huge selling point for many people trying to realize the American Dream of home ownership has been the promise of tax deductions available from the Feds.  Is it really worth it?  What exactly can you claim?

To answer the first question, YES!  If you are turned off by home maintenance, consider a condo or town home where all the outside maintenance is done through your HOA fees.  Otherwise if you’re eligible for any of the home-buyer tax credits now in effect, NOW is the time to get started.  Do not delay because you have to be in a binding contract no later than April 30th.

Besides getting money back from the government for purchases, other homeowners may also deduct their mortgage interest from their taxes as they file the income tax.   In addition to deducting your property taxes, you can also claim the interest on up to $100,000 borrowed on a home equity loan or home equity line of credit, regardless of the reason for the loan, according to Turbo Tax.

What can’t you deduct?

Dues to a homeowners association

Insurance on your home

Appraisal fees for your home

The cost of improvements to your home, except in the relatively rare case where they qualify as a medical expense. (But keep those receipts. They may help you reduce your taxes when you sell your home.)

Want to know more?  Click here.

I have a seller who is enthusiastically preparing her house to list.  She had a pre-inspection done yesterday and there was a minor list of items that needed repaired or worked on.  For example, new caulking was required on one outside window and one pipe needed to be insulated.

Her husband won’t let her list the house until everything is done, which is normally a great attitude.  However my concern is that by delaying they may miss out on buyers who are looking to get the nice juicy federal tax credit.  It’s a magnificent house and none of the repairs should hinder any buyer.

In any case, I am of the school that it’s good to get a listing pre-inspected in order to have all repairs made and to eliminate any surprises from when the house sells.  Another agent in my office were discussing this and he has the opposite view … he believes that if you have it inspected and find something wrong, then the seller is liable for disclosing it in the future. My thought is that if something that major is wrong, they’ll have to repair it anyway.  If they don’t and the seller walks away, they’ll still have to disclose it.  I’d much rather find a problem and address it in advance.

What do you think?  Would you be more inclined to buy if a house had already been inspected?  If you were selling, would you want it pre-inspected?

Photo from apartment therapy.

Just 10 years ago, the absence of mail on Saturdays from the U.S. Postal Service could have caused great hardship on real estate transactions.  We had to mail earnest money checks long distance and other documentation.  Sometimes even closings that occurred were done by mail - received, signed, and mailed back on the same day.  Delays could have potentially caused a transaction to fall through completely.

Today the USPS is considering eliminating Saturday mail delivery.

Last year the agency handled 177 billion items, down from 213 billion in 2006 — and there is little likelihood of an increase in the future. The Postal Service has previously proposed eliminating delivery six days a week, but got a cold reception in Congress.

While I think there could be repercussions on individuals (e.g., no delivery person to check on an elderly person), the fall out on real estate could be minimal.  Most states allow communication to be done by fax, email, overnight delivery - and all allow “in person” delivery.

In my own real estate world, it would just mean that people relocating from out-of-area would be delayed a day or two from getting the information packages I send.  I suppose email will be a good option for them, as well.

Photo by Quigley Brown. Go visit at Flickr for some amazingly beautiful photography.

I’m all about saving money wherever I can these days… it’s so scarce that I’d rather use my coins toward making my house payment than replacing everyday items when they could last longer.  That’s why I love this post about stretching the life of common household items.  My favorite tip,

If your sponge starts to look gross, simply wet it and put it in the microwave for one-two minutes to sterilize it and give it a new life. Once it has reached its end in your kitchen, make this sponge your new bathroom cleaning sponge to stretch its life even further.

At my house, I use every last drop of toothpaste I can.  My husband - and this is weird to me - doesn’t use toothpaste at all.  Instead, he brushes his teeth with his mouthwash thereby eliminating toothpaste completely.  I turn off power strips at night (every penny counts), use leftovers for soup (or dog food) (I know, dogs shouldn’t eat human food but I still give them some), and don’t return my red box movies the day they’re due unless I’m out already.  Why spend that money on gas when it only costs a dollar to keep one more night.

What money saving tips do you have?

Photo by Horia Varlan via flickr creative commons.

Oh Miami I feel your pain.  Your real estate values already plummeted almost 50 percent (47.7) over the past three years.  With new predictions out, your houses are expected to drop another 29.2 percent by this September for a total loss of value at 64 percent.  This is according to Moody’s Economy.com and reported by CNN Money.com.

Side note here … when I add 47.7 percent with 29.2 percent, my numbers come out to 76.9 percent.  As a result I’m hoping the projections don’t add up either.  Nationwide, the numbers aren’t much better,

The average home price in the United States will fall by about 6% by September 2011, according to a joint report between Fiserv and Moody’s Economy.com. And that’s after plunging more than 27% in the past three years.

Meanwhile, Miami.  I went in search of homes available in Miami and found one, two, three, fifty … all in what I would describe as terribly expensive.  Homes that cost $500,000 AFTER the market dropped?  $1.3 million?  $10.2 million?  How big was that bubble where real estate is near beautiful ocean, sand and sun?

I dug more and found listings for foreclosed condos in Miami.  The highest priced one is $2.795 million.  The least expensive is $309,900 (with taxes coming in at a jaw dropping $6,879 per year).  I did find a two bedroom, one bath single family resident in the sunny city for $319,000.

Holy cow, Miami! How do people afford to live there with these prices and those taxes? Before I completely gave up finding something affordable in this dynamic city, I went to one more source - Trulia.  At last I found homes that were nice and didn’t cost a fortune.  My favorite?

This $229,000, four bedroom, two bath, 1965 square foot home with the beautiful screened in back porch.

Now we’re talking!  If you want more information about it, contact Keyes Real Estate Company or click here.

Photo from this listing.

When someone “FORKS” over some cash for the house occupied by Edward Cullen and his Twilight family, they won’t have to pay as much as the original asking price.  According to CNN Money, the house - located in Vancouver, British Columbia - was originally listed for $3.3 million.  As a reflection of the housing market adjustment, the price just dropped to $2,998,000.

The home features over 5,000 square feet, five bedrooms, two full baths and two half baths.  You might find some pretty big trees surrounding it - trees that are easy to climb if you’re a vampire!

To see more photos, visit the listing agent’s site here.