This Fredericksburger\’s Real Estate Blog

Yesterday I was talking with my Mom about the adventures at the Jeffrey house and she encouraged me to write my stories down.   She found them quite funny and I hope you will too…

Halloween Costume: This year Robert and his friends decided to dress up as the characters from Scooby Doo.   Robert of course chose Shaggy because he has the same lanky  build and he even has the same “shaggy” beard.  

First, I searched for a green v-neck Mens shirt.   They just don’t make them anymore so, I hit the thrift shops and came home with one womans v-neck (too small), one mens green round collar shirt (not right either) and a white men’s v-neck under-shirt (perfect if only it was green).

I went to the store and bought green (they only had dark green)  Rit dye.   We dyed Rob’s shirt.   The instructions instructed us that if we wanted a lighter color to take it out sooner.   We did and it was a nice shade of blue!   Back to the store for yellow dye to try to get our blue shirt to turn green.   Would you believe the shirt turned out perfect!   Just the right Shaggy green.   Shortly thereafter Rob managed to get mayonaise on it and so now, it is the perfect Shaggy green with an oil spot right in the middle.  

Robert told me Shaggy needed brown corduroy (I thought) pants.   At the thrift store I found a pair of tan  corduroys that were slim in the waist and long in the legs.   I was very proud of myself until  Robert informed me that Shaggy’s pants are actually a very dark red color or dark brown and they aren’t corduroy.   He claims he never told me they were.

We went to Bealls and found a pair of nice pants that would work for him.   When we got to the register we found out they were $55.00!   No, sorry Rob, no $55 pants for a Halloween costume.   So, off to the store to get more dye.   Can you believe there at Wal-Mart I found Wine colored dye!   We dyed his pants and they were the perfect color, until  I (as instructed by the instructions) washed them in warm water.   Into the dryer  go the bright red corduroy pants.   hmmm…The pants will have to do as it’s now after 6pm and Jasmine and her friend are ready to go trick or treating.

When I returned home there was Robert in his bright red wine pants and perfect green- with-an-oil-spot Shaggy shirt…Playing video games with his Dad.   He and his friends didn’t plan when or where they were going to meet and he couldn’t get ahold of them so, he didn’t go trick or treating at all!

This information was published in The National Association of Realtors  Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.   The data is compiled from surveys given to 120,038 home buyers who purchased a home between July 2008 and June 2009.   Here is some data about Home Buyers I found very interesting:

• 47% of recent home buyers were first-time buyers.
• The typical first-time home buyer was 30 years old, while the typical repeat buyer was 48 years old.
• 21% of recent home buyers were single females and 10% single males.
• New home purchases were at the lowest level in eight years – down to 18%.
• The typical home purchased was 1800 square feet and was built in 1991.
• 77% of home buyers purchased a detached single family home.
• The median price of home purchased was $210,000 in the Northeast, $158,000 in the Midwest, $175,000 in the South and $240,000 in the West
• For more than 1/3 of home buyers, the first step in the home-buying process was looking online for properties.
• 9 out of 10 home buyers used the internet to search for homes.
• The typical home buyer searched for 12 weeks and viewed 12 homes.
• 10% of buyers purchased a home in foreclosure, up from 3% in 2008.
• 92% of home buyers financed their home purchase.
• The percentage of first time buyers who financed 100% of the purchase price with a mortgage dropped to 15% from 23% last year.
• 1 in 10 first-time home buyers reported the mortgage application and approval process was much more difficult than expected and 1/5 reported it was somewhat more difficult than expected.
• 44% of buyers found their agent through a referral from a friend or family member. If you know anyone  thinking about buying or selling or investing in real estate please give me a call so I can help them.   Your referrals are  how I grow my business!  

The full report is available in my office if you’d like to read it!   I’ll post more about Sellers soon.   Hope you found this information useful!  

Catherine Jeffrey, Realtor   830-456-4584         www.fredericksburgtxhomes.com

If your old refrigerator eats money or your washing machine loses more energy than socks, you could be wasting hundreds of dollars in energy each year and should take advantage of the third-annual Texas ENERGY STAR Sales Tax Holiday. Texans who want to purchase a new air conditioner, refrigerator, dishwasher or certain other appliances can get big savings on energy efficient products over Memorial Day weekend. During the annual three-day tax holiday, which runs May 29 “ 31 this year, Texas shoppers do not have to pay state and local sales tax on certain energy efficient products.

The tax holiday begins on Saturday, May 29, at 12:01 a.m. and ends on Monday, May 31 (Memorial Day) at 11:59 p.m. Texas shoppers get a break from sales taxes when they purchase household equipment bearing an ENERGY STAR label. Shoppers can expect to save about $3 million overall in state and local sales taxes during the event.

The ENERGY STAR Sales Tax Holiday applies only to the following appliances and household equipment, as listed in the state tax code:

• Air conditioners priced at $6,000 or less
• Refrigerators priced at $2,000 or less
• Ceiling fans
• Incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs
• Clothes washers
• Dishwashers
• Dehumidifiers
• Programmable thermostats*

* ENERGY STAR specification of programmable thermostats was suspended on December 31, 2009; however, any existing stock of ENERGY STAR labeled programmable thermostats offered for sale by retailers is still eligible for the exemption.

More information and frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the tax holiday are available at www.texaspowerfulsmart.org. For exemption information on associated fees, please see Delivery and Installation Charge FAQs.

ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy for products that meet strict energy efficiency guidelines. Qualifying products display the ENERGY STAR logo on the appliance, the packaging or the Energy Guide label. Clothes dryers are not included in the sales tax holiday because they use similar amounts of energy; therefore, the program does not label clothes dryers. For details on products, visit www.energystar.gov.

If your old refrigerator eats money or your washing machine loses more energy than socks, you could be wasting hundreds of dollars in energy each year and should take advantage of the third-annual Texas ENERGY STAR Sales Tax Holiday. Texans who want to purchase a new air conditioner, refrigerator, dishwasher or certain other appliances can get big savings on energy efficient products over Memorial Day weekend. During the annual three-day tax holiday, which runs May 29 “ 31 this year, Texas shoppers do not have to pay state and local sales tax on certain energy efficient products.

Our personal home went on the market and was under contract in just two weeks!   We had our eye on another home here in Fredericksburg and put our offer in and it was accepted.   How  do we  stay protected in case our buyers can’t get financing or back out of our contract?   Here are some things to consider when juggling the purchase of one property and the sale of another  property.

 1.)  Put a contingency for sale of other property  on  the offer for the new home.   That means if something goes wrong on the sale of  the old home,  You will no longer be  bound to the contract on the new home and  the  money  put in  escrow  should be refunded.

2.) Plan to  buy and sell  on the same day (we will be using funds from the sale of our old house  to purchase the new home).

3.) Be sure to get a lease back to give you time to move to your new home after closing. (In our case, the seller’s of our new home need a week to move out after closing so, the buyer’sof our old home  are giving us up to two weeks to move out of our home after we close and receive funds)  

5.) Pre-approval for financing is important for everyone purchasing property.   Don’t waste your time putting in an offer on another home if the buyer’s of your home are still working on financing.

 At this time, we have made it through the option period and inspection on the home we are selling.   We are scheduling inspections (septic, termite, house) for the new home we are under contract to buy and have  9 days left on our option period.   We have submitted our w2′s to our lender and received pre-approval for a loan.   We have looked at three different types of loans including conventional with 10% down, conventional with 5% down and FHA.   We have decided to go FHA and put down 3.5%.   We have asked the sellers to contribute a large majority of our closing costs to keep the cash out of pocket low.   We are working on getting our 3-6 months of income into savings (as Dave Ramsey tells us we should.)

 I’ll keep you posted!