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Pinellas Property Online - News, Articles, Facts and Lists of homes in Pinellas County Florida

Easy Resolutions to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

Tuesday, 29 December 2009 14:42 |

Part I: HVAC Systems

Are you looking forward to saving money in 2010? Are you ready to finally make those changes that will make your home more energy efficient? UF/IFAS Pinellas County Extension would like to help. In 2010 we will be offering classes and workshops on energy efficiency, alternative energy and the incentives that are available to help you achieve your goal. In the mean time, here are some easy and affordable steps you can take to begin streamlining your home into an energy-efficient one.

According to the University of Florida, the average home devotes 40% or more of its monthly energy towards the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. In Pinellas, this figure may be slightly higher, as many of our homes are older and less energy-efficient than homes built in the 1980s and later. As for the remaining 60% of your bill, approximately 20% goes to lighting, 15% for heating water, and about 10% is attributed to refrigeration. That leaves 15% for other appliances, TVs, computers, and energy you don’t even get to use. This is “phantom energy” and a great target for savings; but more on this later.

Government plans to end First-time Home Buyer Tax Credits

Tuesday, 29 December 2009 14:40 |

Home buyers hoping to take advantage of a new or extended tax credit should not procrastinate: This third bite at the apple will be the last.

Proponents of the $8,000 credit for first-time buyers and the $6,500 credit for move-up buyers made it clear during the debate on Capitol Hill that the benefits would not be renewed when they expire. And a lobbyist for the National Assn. of Realtors confirmed that at the group's annual convention last month.

Lawmakers "made us promise practically in blood that we would not come back" for another extension, Linda Goold, the Realtor group's director of tax policy, told her members.

New Rules for Short Sales Released by the Government

Tuesday, 29 December 2009 14:37 |

It’s here, the much anticipated plan from the Treasury Department on how to streamline short sales was announced on Monday, November 30th. Since the Making Home Affordable program has been a miserable failure thus far, the Obama administration has turned their attention from loan modifications to short sales as a way to solve the real estate debocle in America. Here is what you need to know about the changes that have been enacted:

1. Who Qualifies: Like all Gov’t programs, there are stipulations…

The property must be the homeowner’s principal residence.
The homeowner is delinquent on the mortgage or default looks likely.
The loan was made before Jan. 1 this year and is less than $729,750
The borrowers’ total monthly mortgage payment exceeds 31 percent of their before-tax income

Be Aware of Water Usage and Conservation

Monday, 28 December 2009 10:01 |

Most of us take water for granted. Water is piped into our homes and landscapes; we turn on the faucet or irrigation system and there it is. Water conservation goes way beyond watering efficiently, which is the second principle of the nine major principles emphasized by Florida Yards & Neighborhoods. Naturally, checking our irrigation systems for leaks and misdirected or broken heads, making repairs, and calibrating the system to apply ¾” per application are all good practices.

We can do more, including following local water restrictions. The Tampa Bay area has been in a four year drought. While we have had some recent rains the drought is not over. We can still see the effects of it in our lakes, rivers, and groundwater. Recently the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) eased water restrictions from Phase III to Phase II. We are still limited to one day a week watering before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. and will need above normal rainfall this winter to bring our levels up enough to lift restrictions further.

Clearwater Green City Certified

Friday, 18 December 2009 10:39 |

Clearwater earned Green City certification from the Florida Green Building Coalition, recognizing it for outstanding environmental stewardship.

“Municipalities awarded with this distinction are recognized as more environmentally efficient than other municipalities,” a city press release said. “The designation focuses on improving environmental performance in areas such as energy, water, air, land and waste.”

To be certified as a green city, a list of criteria must be met, including environmental programs, initiatives and events.

“This is a great accomplishment for the city of Clearwater and its residents,” said Mayor Frank Hibbard in a press release, “and I am proud of the hard work that our residents, volunteers and staff do on a continual basis to preserve Clearwater’s sustainability.”

Marketplace Statistics for the Month of October Now Available

Wednesday, 02 December 2009 10:56 |

Heading into the two final months of 2009, we’re seeing a much brighter picture than what we endured in 2008. We’ve moved out of the extreme buyer’s market into a buyer’s market. We are edging closer and closer to a balanced market. There is continued concern about growing job losses that undermine confidence. At the same time low mortgage rates contribute to a favorable buying environment.

Single family unit sales at 718 were 37.3% higher than last year in October, and following the usual September to October pattern, sales were almost the same for both months. The number of listings on the market also held fairly steady, but were down almost 27% from the previous year.

Contact me as your Pinellas County Realtor right away for up to the day statistics and a free evalauation of your home buying or selling situation.

Treasury sets guidance to simplify" short sales"

Wednesday, 02 December 2009 10:36 |

The U.S. Treasury on Monday set long-awaited guidance on a plan for mortgage companies to speed "short sales" of homes and other loan modification alternatives to stem a rising tide of foreclosures.

The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program provides financial incentives and simplifies the procedures for completing short sales, a growing practice in which a lender agrees to accept the sale price of a home to pay off a mortgage even if the price falls short of the amount owed, according to an announcement on the Treasury's website.

Guidelines address barriers that have often sidelined short sales by setting limits on the time it takes a bank to approve an offer, freeing borrowers from debt and capping claims of subordinate lenders.

Understanding what is Regulation X: New Good Faith Estimate

Tuesday, 01 December 2009 09:57 |

All new loan applications signed on or after January 1, 2010, must follow the guidelines and rules set forth in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s revisions to RESPA, known as Regulation X. Included in the rules are the use of a new Good Faith Estimate form and a new settlement statement (HUD-1). Both are designed to make it easier for borrowers to understand the loan and its related fees, and to compare one loan with another, since the new forms will be the same ones used for all loans.

Keeping Home Records is Still Crucial

Tuesday, 01 December 2009 09:55 |

As soon as a personal residence is placed on the market, it will be prudent for the seller to gather together all records of what was spent on improving the property while he or she owned it. When Revenue Code 121¹ went into effect in 1997, some financial advisors suggested that we no longer needed to hold on to such records. With an exemption amounting to $250,000 for single taxpayers and $500,000 for married taxpayers filing together, it seemed unlikely to these advisors that home values could rise enough so that potentially taxable gains (profits from the sale) would exceed these limits.

But they did. Home values skyrocketed for several years and, especially with luxury homes, home sellers discovered to their alarm that they were receiving more than the property gains exemption covered.

Let us assume that Frank Homebuyer, a single taxpayer, had bought his home for $250,000, and had immediately installed a swimming pool and new landscaping after his purchase closed. The completed work cost him a total of $60,000.

When he eventually sold the home he’d paid $250,000 for nearly a decade ago, it fetched $550,000, very roughly a $300,000 gain.² That is $50,000 more than the tax law allows a single taxpayer to exempt from taxation.