This should help all of you explain this tax to your clients:
MORE TO EXPLAIN THE 3.8% TAX ISSUE: NAR has created a series of materials including a video, FAQ and downloadable brochure to help members and consumers better understand a 3.8% tax that happened as part of health care reform, that goes into effect in 2013. It is not a real estate transfer tax.
For inf. go to the site below
http://speakingofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org/2010/11/24/the-3-8-tax-is-not-a-real-estate-transfer-tax/
Allen & Selig Realty has a new home; we are located at 208 US Route One, Freeport.
Walnut Hill Heights contemporary home needs a new family to move in. This four bedroom, three bath home has a lot to offer. Large living /dinning room with a wood stove and family room with fireplace sets just off the kitchen. Large deck overlooking the back yard, great for entertaining on those warm summer nights. $345,000
By Melinda Fulmer of MSN
Banks aren’t ditching foreclosures at nearly the rate they were last year, which is helping to keep the housing market stable. But a recovery hinges on how long it takes to dispose of the huge backlog of distressed properties.
“According to our numbers, if you just look at the properties in foreclosure or on the bank’s books, it will take us three years to work through that inventory at the current rate of sales,” says Rick Sharga, senior vice president of Realty Trac.
Compare that with the nearly 350,000 distressed properties in the first quarter of 2009, and you can see why the foreclosure pipeline is so bloated.
Distressed properties-those in some stage of foreclosure edged up to 28% of all U.S. residential sales in the first quarter from 27% the previous quarter, according to Realty Trac.
Indeed, with such a large supply of distressed properties and foreclosures, the timing of a recovery hinges in part on how quickly banks and servicers dispose of these properties.
Of course, this slowdown in foreclosure sales is (at least in the short term) a good thing for the housing market, helping to keep home prices more stable, Sharga says.
The downside is that this approach ensures that we will be in the doldrums in housing for several more years, he says.
The numbers tell the story: In the first quarter of this year, 158,434 bank-owned properties (or those in the foreclosure pipeline) were sold, a 36% decline from the first quarter of 2010 and a 16% decrease from the fourth quarter of last year.
The percentage would have been higher, analysts say, but overall housing demand is weak and the banks are not disposing of these assets at nearly the rate they were at the same time last year, when distressed properties made up 29% of all sales.
Walnut Hill Heights-40 Edna Lane
Four bedrooms, three baths, kitchen, family room, living room and dining room. Living, dining and family room have cathedral ceilings, hardwood floors woodstove and fireplace. Beautifully landscaped yard with a large deck and hot tub for entertaining on those warm summer nights. $359,000
20% Down Payments Put the American Dream Out of Reach.” A proposal that could go into effect by the end of the year could dramatically impact what buyers will need for down payment requirements.
There is a proposal before regulators to require a minimum of 20 percent down on all residential transactions. If allowed to take effect, the rule would put homeownership out of reach for middle-income Americans. It would take the average family 14 years to save the down payment to buy a home.
Kelly
MREIS reports Maine home sales in April 2011 decreased 23.7% compared with April 2010. The statewide median home sales decreased 2.84% to $160,750 in that same time period.
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