Roswell Foreclosure Alert

Welcome back!

With two months left until the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit and the $6,500 move-up homebuyer tax credit expire, it’s time to get serious about your Roswell real estate shopping list. Now while the tax credit is a nice little incentive, you’d also like a great deal as well, right?

So we’ve compiled a list of the hottest new Roswell foreclosures for you. We have some high-end luxury foreclosures in neighborhoods such as Chatham Park, Cambridge Walk and Stonewyck priced anywhere from $600,000 to $1.6 million.

In addition, we have some foreclosures priced perfectly for the Roswell first-time homebuyer in neighborhoods such as Magnolia Walk, Foxhall, Brookfield Country Club and Horseshoe Bend.

Click here to see a complete list of Roswell foreclosures available right now.

Our team specializes in Roswell real estate and we’ll be glad to meet with you to get you started toward owning the perfect Roswell home. Contact us today to get started.

Top Selling Roswell Neighborhoods in 2009

Time for a little recap of 2009 for Roswell Georgia real estate. You probably hear more chatter at the office water cooler about how bad the Roswell real estate market was in 2009. Seems for fun to talk about bad news. But in reality, Roswell homes still sold in 2009, in fact 800 homes sold.

It’s always interesting to see which neighborhoods buyers were attracted to during their Roswell home search. Where were people buying Roswell homes in 2009? Well, let’s find out. Here are the Top Selling Roswell Neighborhoods in 2009.

Please hold your applause until all winners are announced and let’s hope that there aren’t any long-winded acceptance speeches. Just can’t stand those long acceptance speeches.

Top Selling Roswell Neighborhoods in 2009

• Martins Landing
• Horseshoe Bend
• Brookfield Country Club
• Willow Springs
• Barrington Farms
• Saddle Creek
• Wildwood Springs
• Crabapple Lake
• Westchester
• Wexford
• Edenwilde
• Litchfield Hundred
• Loch Highland
• Mountain Creek
• Crabapple Walk
• Foxhall
• Roswell Green
• Whitehall
• Centennial
• Chickering
• Habersham Woods
• Hadfield
• Highland Colony
• River Terrace
• Spring Ridge
• Elgaen Place
• Hembree Grove
• North Point
• Pine Valley Estates
• Stonebridge

So there you have it. Our 2009  Top Selling Roswell neighborhoods. If we can be of assistance in your Roswell home search, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Keller Williams Most Recognizable Brand in 2009

Exciting news for Roswell real estate. The 2010 Swanepoel TRENDS Report details the Top 20 largest real estate brands based on agent count as of December 2009.

In addition, RealSure, the publishers of the Swanepoel TRENDS Report and the Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report launched a nationwide online survey on December 3rd to determine the “Most Recognizable Franchise Brand in Real Estate.”

According to this survey, the Top 10 real estate franchises, most recognized by the real estate industry as quality national brands are:

1. Keller Williams Realty
2. Coldwell Banker Real Estate
3. RE/MAX International
4. Century 21 Real Estate
5. Prudential Real Estate
6. Sotheby’s International Realty
7. EXIT Realty
8. ERA Real Estate
9. Weichert Real Estate Affiliates
10. Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate

The brands that made it to the Top 5 were to be expected and are also the five largest real estate franchises in the country. The Top 5 also comfortably attracted more votes than the second five on the list, strongly pointing to the industry’s own internal belief that these are the top five brands that agents would like to work for.

Keller Williams Realty’s surprising #1 ranking was most likely due to the strong, above average online and social media presence of their agents and the fact that during 2009 KW surpassed RE/MAX in agent count according to a widely published REAL Trends survey. Click here to read the article in it’s entirety.

Contact us today to learn about the benefits of working with Keller Williams Realty for all of your Roswell real estate needs.

Roswell Chickens Squawk at new Ordinance

On Monday, the Roswell City Council voted 6 to 2 to ban all roosters and restrict the number of backyard chickens subject to lot size. In what turned out to be a shock, the attempt to loosen Roswell’s backyard chicken law resulted in a much tighter law.

Under the most recent version, residents could have kept up to 25 birds in some sort of enclosure at single-family homes, no matter what the lot size. People already keeping more than 25 chickens could have obtained a permit for up to 15 more birds.

However, under the new ordinance, no chickens are allowed on residential lots of 1/3 acre or less. Homeowners with 1/3 to 1 acre can keep six chickens. Homeowners with more than 1 acre can have 12 birds per acre, up to a maximum of 36. The ordinance does not regulate lots larger than 2 acres.

The council debated over roosters, but in the end there wasn’t enough support to allow roosters to be included in the ordinance, which resulted in total ban on those early morning noise makers.

The law takes effect right away, but residents were given a 90-day grace period to comply.

2010 Roswell Real Estate Market

Short sales, foreclosures and REOs are expected to make up a greater segment of the marketplace in 2010 than they did this year. Half of all closed transactions in 2009 involved properties that were in some form of distress.

Our team is dedicated to helping homeowners who are in a distressed situation to understand your options and provide solutions. Understanding your options to avoiding foreclosure is important. We have created a resource on avoiding foreclosure and are available for private consultations with homeowners. Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of working with us.

Our knowledge in the arena of short sales and foreclosures also ensures we can provide unparalleled service for Roswell home buyers who are interested in buying a home, but concerned about the ramifications of purchasing a short sale or disclosure. Contact us to set up a homebuyer seminar where we will address the top keys to buying a great Roswell home.

Black Friday

Thanksgiving time. It’s certainly a time of year when we get to spend time with friends and family and give thanks.

But for some savvy shoppers, this is also the time of year to prepare to assault the stores on what has become known as Black Friday. Now while you may be looking to take advantage of the latest deals, keep in mind that not all deals are found in the stores.

For example, you can find lots of great deals online.

Another option is in the Roswell real estate market. Home prices have been reduced, interest rates are phenomenal and if you’re a first-time homebuyer you can qualify for $8,000 and if you’re a move-up homebuyer you can qualify for $6,500.

These kind of deals are going to be hard to beat in the stores or even online. To make your Black Friday shopping spree, easier, we’ve compiled up-to-date lists of Roswell short sales as well as foreclosures in Roswell.

• Roswell Short Sales
• Roswell Foreclosures

If you’re interested in taking advantage of the Roswell Black Friday deals in the real estate market, be sure to contact us for your free buyer consultation.

Obama Set to Sign New Homebuyer Tax Credit Bill

If you thought you missed your chance of $8,000 from the government, think again!  Buy a home before May 1 and collect up to $6,500 from the government.  If you’re a first-time homebuyer, get up to $8,000.  That’s right…President Obama is set to sign an extension of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit and this new bill also includes a credit for current homeowners.

Already passed by the Senate, the House voted 403-12 Thursday to expand on the current $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit.  Included in the bill is an extension of unemployment benefits and expands a tax break for money-losing businesses.  It is expected that President Obama will sign the bill today.

Buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years would be eligible, subject to income limits, for tax credits of up to $6,500. First-time homebuyers — or people who haven’t owned homes in the previous three years — could get up to $8,000. To qualify, buyers have to sign purchase agreements before May 1 and close before July 1.

The credit is available for the purchase of principal homes costing $800,000 or less, meaning vacation homes are ineligible. The credit would be phased out for individuals with annual incomes above $125,000 and for joint filers with incomes above $225,000.

Extending and expanding the tax credit for homebuyers is projected to cost the government about $10.8 billion in lost taxes.

The credit is equal to 10 percent of the purchase price of a primary residence, up to a maximum of $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and $6,500 for others.

Taxpayers can claim the credit on their federal income tax returns. If the credit exceeds their tax bill, the government will issue a payment. Taxpayers who want immediate refunds can amend their tax returns for 2008 to claim the credit.

The homebuyers tax credit is one of two tax breaks totaling more than $21 billion that were included in a bill extending unemployment benefits for those without jobs for more than a year. The other tax break would allow money-losing companies to use current losses to offset taxable profits earned in the previous five years.

That break would help industries that have suffered big losses in the recession, including retailers, homebuilders and newspapers.

Expanding the tax credit for money-losing companies is projected to cost $10.4 billion.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension Passed by Congress

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extended

Congress has overwhelmingly passed a bill, with the House of Representatives passing it today and the Senate passing it on Wednesday, that would extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit to home purchases under contract by April 30, 2010 and closed by June 30, 2010.

This is an extension of the credit that was set to expire on November 30th. This The bill could be signed by the President as early as Friday.

The bill also creates a $6,500 credit for those who buy a home after living in their current house at least five years. These homes would also need to be under contract by April 30th and closed by June 30th.

The credit would be available only for the purchase of principal residences priced at $800,000 or less.

The bill also raises the adjusted gross income cap to $125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for joint filers. The amount of the credit currently begins to phase out for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is more than $75,000, or $150,000 for joint filers.

This is a great opportunity for first-time homebuyers and move-up homebuyers and we’ll be discussing the value and opportunity for both of these targeted groups.

If you need assistance with your Roswell real estate needs, be sure to contact us, your local market experts.

Senate Passes Extension of Homebuyer Tax Credit

Senators agreed on Wednesday to extend the popular tax credit for first-time homebuyers and to offer a reduced credit to some repeat buyers.  The current $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit is set to expire at the end of November.

The agreement in the Senate extends the existing tax credit for first-time homebuyers while also offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 tax credit to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years.

These tax credits would be available to homebuyers who sign sales agreements by the end of April.  They would have until the end of June to close on their new homes.

September saw a 3.6 percent fall in new home sales…the first time it fell since March.  Many feel that it was the uncertainty of the tax credit that made new home sales fall in September.

It takes 45-60 days to close on a house, making it unlikely that a sale made today would qualify for the current tax credit which has a deadline of the end of November.

About 1.4 million first-time homebuyers have qualified for the credit through August. The National Association of Realtors estimates that 350,000 of them would not have purchased their homes without the credit.

Will the $8,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit Be Extended?

This is a question I’ve been hearing a lot lately…”will the $8,000 home buyer tax credit be extended?”  Unfortunately, I am no fortune teller, neither is H2 Realty’s lead Realtor Aaron Hofmann or any other real estate professionals that I know of.  Here is what I’ve found though in doing some research.

There is no official extension.

Here is where things stand.

• There is bipartisan support in Congress for extending the credit past Nov. 30th.  It is still unclear if it were to be extended, how far it would be extended, the size of the credit and how many more buyers would qualify.
• It is unclear what President Obama’s stance is on the issue.
• The latest idea under discussion is a credit worth up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and up to $6,500 for homeowners looking to trade up to a bigger primary residence and who have already lived in their current home for five years.
• Proponents of the credit say that if it is allowed to expire, the housing market and the broader economy will grow moribund again.
• Critics state that of the nearly 2 million homebuyers who will have gotten the credit by Nov. 30th that only about 10% to 20% bough homes solely because of the credit.

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