Posts from — March 2008

Staging a home.
The idea of staging a home is to make it more attractive to buyers; however, it’s an applicable concept even when you’re not looking to sell. It’s really about making your home livable, attractive and a healthier “nest” for you and your family. Whether staging your home for yourself or for a potential buyer, the act of creating that powerful first impression can be done inexpensively. For a minimal investment, you can increase the perceived value of your home dramatically, which may result in a shorter selling time and a higher sales price. There are a few distinct differences between staging your home for life versus staging your home for a sale. Read on for a few tips, no matter what your situation is.

Your stuff.
Staging for life—Staging your home is about decorating with your tastes, reflecting your individual style.

Staging for sale—When putting your house on the market, it’s important to consider the buyer. What does the average buyer need to see in order to fall in love with your home? Try to avoid leaving personal items—such as toothbrushes on the bathroom counter—in plain sight. Keep it clean and simple, and focus on highlighting the best features your home has to offer.

First impressions.
Whether you’re staging for your own life or staging for a sale, you only have one chance to make a first impression on visitors. Potential buyers may only be in your home for three or four minutes, so you want those first moments to be positive. Don’t forget simple yet significant improvements to your home’s exterior like mowing the lawn and trimming dead branches (especially near windows and doors). Place some pots with colorful flowers on the porch. Give the front door a fresh coat of paint. Your home will now give visitors a warm welcome, whether they’re over for a personal visit or as a potential buyer.

Less is more.
Staging for life—Ask your real estate agent or a professional stager the single greatest improvement you can do to make your home more livable and they’ll tell you to get rid of the clutter. Having a bit of organization and eliminating unnecessary “stuff” in your home, including piles of junk mail and old magazines, will help to create a more open environment.

Staging for sale—When putting your home on the market, you want it to look lived in, but you don’t want home buyers focusing on your collection of ceramic cows instead of noticing the custom cabinets you had installed. Most professionals also advise putting personal pictures away. This helps home buyers imagine your home as their home, rather than getting distracted by your photos. Remember to clean out closets so they appear more spacious, and don’t forget to organize or clear out medicine cabinets, as potential buyers are likely to open those too.

A room with a use.
Staging for life—You may have specific uses for various rooms in your home (using a spare bedroom as a craft room, or setting up a treadmill and weight-lifting equipment in the garage), and this is exactly how it should be if you’re staging your home for your own life. Don’t feel bound by the limitations of a room’s label.

Staging for sale—On the flip side, it’s pivotal to let home buyers see rooms as they were originally intended. You may have decided to nix your formal living room to create an impromptu yoga studio, but for the sake of home shoppers, consider turning rooms back to their original state. Perform an inexpensive and quick makeover for these rooms by hanging sheer curtains to let in daylight and replacing aging light fixtures and switches.

Freshen up.
Staging for life—We all have our routine cleaning schedules, but consider doing little extras for yourself. Touch up the paint in your lived-in rooms, and treat yourself to a few house plants to liven up your living areas. Remember, a little can go a long way.

Staging for sale—Channel your inner cleaning lady and decorator. Steam-clean the carpets, touch up the paint and add emotional warmth with throw pillows, dramatic plants and candles. For that“Architectural Digest” look, clear off the counters in the kitchen and bathroom. An inexpensive way to add color is with a vase of vibrant flowers, neatly folded towels or a bowl of fruit.

Reprinted with permission from Buffini and Company

We are seeing more activity in the real estate market recently and it is due in part to Canadian and European home buyers. The Canadian Dollar is on par with the US dollar and many Canadians are seeing this as an opportunity to jump in the real estate market and find a beach home or condo in the Clearwater / St. Petersburg area. The strong Canadian currency and also the sub prime mortgage crisis has made way for many bargains. We are receiving phone calls on a daily basis about our short sale and pre-foreclosure properties. The home buyers are out there in the marketplace and they are looking for deals. In order for a home to sell in this market, it must be the best priced, in the best condition, and be in the best location. The market is too competitive to be anything less.

Here are a few items for Canadians to consider while shopping for homes or condos in Clearwater / St. Pete:

• Who will take care of our property while we are not in town? It is important to have a local contact for someone you trust in the event the property needs care or maintenance. Many buyers prefer condos because most aspects of the exterior of the condo are maintained by the condo association through their monthly fees.

• What is the best location in Tampa Bay? The best location is a personal preference and must be experienced in person. I don’t recommend buying a home or condo in the Clearwater / St. Petersburg area sight unseen. The quality of life varies from one location to the next. Vacation here or stay a while and get to know the area layout before deciding on a final location. We can help you narrow the choices and find the best deals.

• What are the property taxes? Property taxes are reassessed after the sale of the property. The property taxes are based upon the local millage rate and multiplied by the taxable value of the property. You will not inherit the previous owner’s tax amount. There are 54 taxing entities in Pinellas County, so it is important to consider your tax consequences when purchasing a property in Florida. Starting in 2009, there is a 10% tax increase cap for vacation and rental homes. We can help you estimate your tax amount.

• What about homeowner’s insurance? Homeowner’s insurance is available and can be obtained for vacation and rental homes. We have several vendors available to quote rates when a property has been selected.

• How long can we stay in the US? As a non-citizen, a Canadian can stay in the US for a maximum of 6 months regardless of whether or not they have a residence in the United States. Check with the authorities to make sure this is accurate and up to date.

• Is now a good time to buy? Absolutely, there are more properties on the market than we have seen in years. The heavy competition is pushing real estate prices to new lows and bargains are everywhere.

I had the good fortune of attending a presentation yesterday in our office with Pamela Dubov, Chief Deputy Property Appraiser for the Pinellas County Property Appraiser located in downtown Clearwater, Florida. She presented the facts about Amendment 1 and the guidelines regarding Save Our Homes Portability. Dubov is a 18 year veteran with the Property Appraiser’s office and is running for Property Appraiser in the general election this November. She is currently seeking signatures to get on the ballot.

The following is a summary of the property tax reform measures reprinted with the permission of Pam Dubov.

Increase the Homestead Exemption from $25,000 to $50,000

The amendment increases the current homestead exemption amount of $25,000 to $50,000, but the additional $25,000 will not be exempt from taxes for schools. The additional exemption will be applied to a property owner’s assessed value between $50,001 and $75,000. This means that homeowners who live in homes that have Save Our Homes capped value of $50,000 or less will not receive the additional benefit. This measure will save the typical homestead property owner about $300 per year.

Save Our Homes Portability

Currently, when a homeowner sells his or her homestead property and purchases a new home, the assessed or capped value of the new home is its market or just value. If the owner has benefited from the Save Our Home cap for many years on his or her former home, the tax bill on the new homestead can be much higher than the owner’s former tax bill because the new bill is based on the full value, rather than a capped value.

The amendment allows owners of homestead property who currently benefit from the Save Our Homes cap to transfer their existing benefit (up to $500,000) to another residence within two years of giving up their previous homestead. They must apply for the homestead exemption and portability on their new homestead. The benefit is also available to those who had a homestead as of January 1, 2007, and who move from that home to a different home and apply for the homestead exemption for 2008. The legislature has also developed rules to determine how the cap will be moved to a new homestead when the owners of the former homestead divorce, marry, or establish separate residences.

The method used to compute the capped value of the new homestead will depend on whether the new residence is more of less valuable than the former homestead. The Property Appraiser’s staff, in the county where the new homestead is located, will acquire several pieces of information from the Property Appraiser’s Office in the county from which the property owner moved. The property owner will provide the former address, and the names of all owners of the former home.

If the just value of the new homestead is more than the previous home’s just value, the appraiser will deduct the dollar value kept off the assessed value of the former homestead from the just or market value of the new homestead.

If the new residence has a lower just value than the former homestead, the percentage of just value kept off the roll due to Save Our Homes cap on the former homestead will be applied to the new homestead’s just value to establish its Save Our Homes capped or assessed value.

In either case, homestead and other exemptions will be deducted from the new Save Our Homes capped value to arrive at the property’s taxable value.

The deadline to file for homestead exemption and for portability was March 3rd, however the Property Appraiser’s office says to go ahead and file anyway. Since this is new legislation they be somewhat flexible with the deadline date.

Ten Percent Cap on Assessed Value Increases for Non-Homestead Property

Currently, the Save Our Homes value cap applies only to properties used as a primary residence by Florida residents. The ten-percent cap will limit future increases in value for non-homestead property such as rental residential, apartments, retail, office, hotel, motel, industrial, warehouse and other property not protected by the Save Our Homes cap. While this cap does not provide as much protection as the three-percent limit on homestead property, it will help prevent the dramatic increases in commercial and rental property values in the future when the real estate market experiences double digit inflation in consecutive years, as occurred from 2001 through 2005. This cap does not apply to the taxes for schools. The 10-percent cap does not go into effect until 2009.

Twenty-Five Thousand Dollar Tangible Personal Property Exemption

Most people are familiar with the fact the owners of real estate - land and buildings - pay property taxes. What many people do not realize is that business owners also pay property taxes on the value of their personal property - things like office furniture, computers, copy machines, and manufacturing equipment, display cases and cash registers. Mobile or manufactured home owners who rent their lots from landlords also pay property taxes on their carports, storage sheds, and utility rooms and other home attachments. The constitutional amendment creates an exemption for the first $25,000 in value for each tangible property owner who files a property tax return with in 2008, and exempts them from having to file a return in the future unless they purchase additional property that increases their total property value to more than $25,000. This provision eliminates over 50,000 of the 66,000 personal property accounts in Pinellas County which contribute about one half of one percent of the value to the Pinellas County tax roll. It also ends the practice of requiring thousands of small businesses and manufactured home owners to file an annual tangible personal property return with the property appraiser’s office.

For more information about Amendment 1 and how it affects your property taxes contact your local property appraiser.