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Take Necessary Precautions When Buying a Flipped House

NORFOLK, VA, Jan 07, 2014—As home prices are rising, home flippers are returning to the fold, snapping up properties or listing already flipped masterpieces they've been sitting on while prices were low. Home flipping is the process of buying a property, renovating it and selling it for a higher price. Many investors, known as “serial flippers,” buy multiple homes and flip them in quick succession. If you're looking at a home that has recently been flipped, Louis Eisenberg, Associate Broker REALTOR ABR SFR of Prudential Towne Realty offers you a few things to keep in mind.

The history
“Check the tax records to see how long the previous owner owned the property,”
suggests Eisenberg. “If it was a very short time, do your due diligence to determine whether the home was an investment opportunity, or whether the owner may be leaving because something is awry.”

The flipper
If the current owner of your home's information is available, and they seem to be a serial flipper, check out any homes they have flipped in the past. How does their previous work look? Were the buyers of those homes satisfied?

The permits
“If any structural changes were made, be sure they were properly permitted and that all the necessary inspections were done,” notes Eisenberg.

The quality of renovation
Make sure to get a proper inspection on the property, and have a builder pay special attention to the home's structure or any recent changes. “While many home flippers are extremely talented renovators, some cut corners and take shortcuts to flip the home faster,” cautions Eisenberg. Make sure everything is sound so you don't stumble upon a problem post-sale. “If you can't have an inspection until you've made an offer, make sure to include a contingency clause enabling you to walk away if the inspection shows a critical issue,” says Eisenberg.

Plumbing, heating and AC
Since many flippers do not live in the homes while working on them, their systems may not have been used, and issues may go unnoticed or unnamed. Does the AC work? How about the plumbing? Any leaks? Be sure to check thoroughly.

For more information on flipped homes, please contact Louis Eisenberg REALTOR, Prudential Towne Realty, 109 E. Main Street, Norfolk, VA 23510, leisenberg@prudentialtownerealty.com, 757-572-7244, or  www.LouisEisenberg.com

Home Selling 101: Capital Gains on the Sale of Your Home

NORFOLK, VA, Jan 02, 2014—For those who sold their home this year, it's important to understand how selling your home may impact your tax returns, now that tax season is upon us. Below, Louis Eisenberg, Associate Broker REALTOR ABR SFR of Prudential Towne Realty explains how capital gains work for those who have recently sold a home. “If you sell your primary residence, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of gain – $500,000 for married couples – from your federal tax return,” says Eisenberg. To claim the exclusion, the IRS says your home must have been owned by you and used as your main home for a period of at least two out of the five years prior to its sale. There are a few catches, Eisenberg explains. “You also must not have excluded gain on another home sold during the two years before the current sale.” However, special rules apply for members of the armed, uniformed and foreign services and their families in calculating the 5-year period. If you do not meet the ownership and use tests, you may use a reduced maximum exclusion amount. But only if you sold your home due to health, a change in place of employment, or unforeseen circumstances. An extra perk? According to Eisenberg, if you can exclude all the gain from the sale of your home, you do not report it on your federal tax return. If you cannot exclude all the gain, or you choose not to, you must use Schedule D of Form 1040, Capital Gains or Losses, to report the total gain and claim the exclusion you qualify for. How about for those with more than one home? “You can exclude the gain only from the sale of your main residence,” says Eisenberg. “You must pay tax on the gain from selling any other home.” If you have two homes and live in both of them, your main home is usually the one you live in most often. For more real estate information, please contact Louis Eisenberg, REALTOR, Associate Broker, Prudential Towne Realty, 109 E. Main Street, Norfolk, VA 23510, leisenberg@prudentialtownerealty.com, 757-572-7244, or www.LouisEisenberg.com

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Alternative Home Buying and Selling Strategies

NORFOLK, VA, Dec 26, 2013—In a dream world, every interested homebuyer would qualify for a mortgage, and every seller would be able to sell their home in a timely, efficient and stress-free fashion. However, that is not always the case. In the following article, Louis Eisenberg, Associate Broker REALTOR ABR SFR of Prudential Towne Realty takes us through two of the most popular alternative methods for buying and selling when a mortgage may not be available.

Seller Financing
Also known as a purchase money mortgage, seller financing is when the seller agrees to “lend” money to the buyer to purchase and close on the seller’s home. “Usually sellers do this when money is tight, interest rates are high or when a buyer has difficulty qualifying for a conventional loan or meeting the purchase price,” explains Eisenberg.
Seller financing differs from a traditional loan because the seller does not actually give the buyer cash to complete the purchase, as does the lender. Instead, Eisenberg notes, it involves issuing a credit against the purchase price of the home. The buyer executes a promissory note or trust deed in the seller's favor.
The seller may take back a second note or finance the entire purchase if he owns the home free and clear, and the buyer makes a sizeable down payment and agrees to pay the seller directly every month.
The interest rate on a purchase money note is negotiable, as are the other terms in a seller-financed transaction, and is generally influenced by current Treasury bill and certificate of deposit rates. The rate may be higher than those on conventional loans, and the length of the loan shorter, anywhere from five to 15 years.

Lease options
“A lease option is an agreement between a renter and a landlord in which the renter signs a lease with an option to purchase the property,” says Eisenberg. The catch? The option only binds the seller; the tenant has a choice to make a purchase or not.
“Lease options are common among buyers who would like to own a home but do not have enough money for the down payment and closing costs,” explains Eisenberg. A lease option may also be attractive to tenants who are working to improve bad credit before approaching a lender for a home loan.
Under this arrangement, the landlord agrees to give a renter an exclusive option to purchase the property. According to Eisenberg, the option price is usually, but not always, determined at the outset, and the agreement states when the purchase should take place.
A portion of the rent is used to make the future down payment. Most lenders will accept the down payment if the rental payments exceed the market rent and a valid lease-purchase agreement is in effect.
“Before you opt to do a lease option, find out as much as possible about how they work,” cautions Eisenberg. And as always, have an attorney review any paperwork before you and the tenant sign on the dotted line.

For more information on buying a home, please contact Louis Eisenberg, Prudential Towne Realty, 109 E. Main Street, Norfolk VA 23510, leisenberg@prudentialtownerealty.com, 757-572-7244, or www.LouisEisenberg.com