Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Photo courtesy of Peggy James, Exit Realty Woodbridge, VA

 

One of the great parts about being an agent is helping people find a home--a setting for their family's story, a place where they can build traditions, a place they can fill with love and memories. From The DuBois Team to you, we wish you a joyful and happy holiday season. 

Avoid Home Heating Fires

 

Home heating fires are the second leading cause of home fires. According to an October 2013 report from the National Fire Protection Association, "More than one-third (37 percent) of reported home heating fires began in and were confined to a chimney or flue."
Using the Pine Mountain Creosote Buster every 40 fires helps prevent dangerous chimney fires by reducing creosote buildup. Creosote will often build up FAR UP in the chimney... far enough that you generally won't see it in the darkness. So even if you keep a tidy fireplace, the creosote danger can be there lurking out of sight.
Some home-heating fire statistics:

• In the U.S., there are 27 million households with wood burning fireplaces and 7 million households with wood or pellet stoves.
• Fifty-nine percent of consumers who burn indoor fires believe their chimney should be cleaned at least once per year, but less than half (41 percent), actually do so.
• Top three reasons for NOT having their chimney cleaned: expense (58 percent), time (51 percent), and laziness (48 percent).
• Of those who have cleaned their chimney, 69 percent used a professional chimney sweep. Thirty-eight percent used a chimney cleaning log.

Chimney Fire Facts from the National Fire Protection Association

• Home heating fires are the second leading cause of all home fires in the U.S., with 38 percent of those involving the fireplace or chimney.
• More than half (57 percent) of home fireplace, chimney and chimney connector fires involve failure to clean as a factor contributing to ignition.
• Leading factors for fire deaths in fires involving fireplaces, chimney and chimney connectors are: heat source too close to combustibles (51 percent), unclassified misuse of material or product (36 percent), unclassified operational deficiency (17 percent), and leak or break (16 percent). These sum to more than 100 percent because fires can be coded with multiple factors contributing to ignition.
• Fireplaces, chimneys and chimney connectors accounted for 16,160 injuries (not limited to fire or burn injuries) reported to hospital emergency rooms in 2012.

Warning Signs of Chimney Fires

• A loud crackle, pop or rumbling sound like a freight train.
• Shooting flames or dark smoke billowing from the top of the chimney, that can be seen outside.
• Smoke inside the home and an intense, strong smell.
• A chimney fire can occur without your knowledge due to creosote being built up high in the chimney. Some fires can burn slowly in the chimney at incredibly high temperatures and can cause severe structural damage.

Chimney Safety Tips from the National Fire Protection Association

• Burn only dry, well-seasoned wood.
• Use artificial logs according to manufacturer's recommendations.
• Use only newspaper and kindling wood to start a fire.
• Never use flammable liquids, such as lighter fluid, kerosene or gasoline to start a fire.

Pine Mountain adds:

• Supervise children around an open fire.
• Never leave a fire unattended.
• Make sure there are working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in every bedroom and on each floor of the home.

Source: Pine Mountain

Selling Your Home? 6 Tax Tips to help

Selling Your Home? 6 Tax Tips

Tax season may still feel far off, but with the rush of the holiday season, it's important to start thinking ahead, especially if you sold a home this year. Below are several need-to-know facts about tax season for home sellers.

Under $250,000? You may be able to exclude gains. Just because you profited on your home sale does not mean you have to pay taxes on it. In fact, if you're eligible to exclude your gains, you don't even need to note that you sold your home at all when you file.

To be eligible, you need to have made a profit of less than $500,000 on a joint return or $250,000 on an individual return, and the home must have been your primary residence for at least two years prior to sale.

You may not have to report your home sale at all. If you can exclude all of the gain--meaning it was under 500,00 on a joint return or $250,000 on a single--you probably don’t need to report the sale of your home on your tax return at all. Double check this with your accountant, but this is the case in most situations.

But you can't deduct your losses. While it's great you can exclude financial gains, you can't deduct financial losses, which is unfortunate.

The more homes, the more complicated tax-time can be. Several complications can arise from owning more than one property, be it an investment or vacation home. The home you live in the majority of the time is considered your primary residence. This is important because it's necessary for you to report any gains you may have made on your second home.

If you can't exclude gains...If you can’t exclude all of the gain because it was over the allotted amount, or you choose not to exclude it, then you will need to report the sale on your tax return. Keep an eye out for Form 1099-S, Proceeds From Real Estate Transactions.

If you’re selling your first home...One more reminder about selling your home and tax season: Special rules may apply when you sell a home for which you received the first-time homebuyer credit.

Keep in mind that tax time can be stressful and busy, so it's always a good idea to have a professional look over your paperwork if you had an unusual financial year.

As a Member of the Top 5 in Real Estate Network®, I have a wealth of real estate and homeownership information that may be of help to you. Feel free to contact me any time to learn more about this important information, and be sure to forward this article on to any friends or family that may be interested as well.

Sincerely,

Pamela DuBois Pamela@MRIS.com RE/MAX Town Center Office: 301-937-9762 Mobile: 301-674-4804 http://www.pameladubois.com

This email was sent by RISMedia, Inc. on behalf of Pamela DuBois.
If you wish to edit your subscription or unsubscribe, please click here.

Mortgage applications slipped again

For the fifth consecutive week, mortgage applications slipped, reaching the lowest level since early September, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports.
Most of the drop in loan demand has been attributed to a big decrease in refinancing applications.
The MBA’s index -- which reflects both refinancing and home purchase demand -- fell 12.8 percent for the week ending Nov. 29. The MBA adjusts for the Thanksgiving holiday. Broken out, refinancing applications fell 17.5 percent last week and applications for home purchases dropped 4.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased 3 basis points last week to average 4.51 percent, the MBA reports. The MBA’s survey covers more than 75 percent of residential mortgage applications.

New Home Sales in October

MCT)—New home sales shot up in October, evidence that buyers nationwide may be absorbing higher mortgage interest rates.

Sales of newly built single-family houses rose 25.4% from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 444,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The sharp rise comes after new home sales fell 6.6% in September.

Compared with October 2012, sales are up 21.6%.New homes in October sold for a median price of $245,800 nationally. Sales rose in all regions. The West saw the smallest rise as buyers purchased 15.2% more new houses than a month earlier.

The pause and decline in the third quarter appears to be a reaction to rising interest rates and the rising uncertainty around government debt and deficit resolution that led to the shutdown in early October. As rates fell back and the shutdown ended, consumers returned to the market. Even with the large variances, the 25.4% change is enough to be considered an increase at the 90% confidence level.

The inventory of new homes for sale dropped back to 183,000 as builders’ inventories suffered from relatively slow building trends in the last several months. Because of the uptick in the sales rate, the months’ supply dipped to 4.9 months, the lowest since the second quarter. Economists generally consider a supply of six months to be healthy.

The inventory of completed homes is particularly low at 42,000, up slightly from the third quarter and back to levels last seen in the first and second quarter. The completed inventory is important to many potential home buyers who waited to be certain that their existing home sold and hence need a home ready for occupancy.

Home prices dipped 0.6% from a year ago (the data is not seasonally adjusted) and that appears to be a result of a rise in sales in the$150,000 to $199,999 range and a fall in sales $300,000 to $399,000 range. Sales were up the most in the Midwest and South, also contributing to the explanation that the virtually no change in prices is driven by composition of sales rather than base home prices.

NAHB expects this sales level to sustain itself through the end of the year as pent up demand continues to feed the market, as interest rates remain low by historic standards and as the supply of existing homes for sale remains low.

Sources: MCT and NAHB Eye on Housing blog