What to do if your Lender cuts off your HELOC.

• What to Do if Your Lender Cuts Off Your HELOC

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Copyright 2014 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

So you want to sell your home? Don't miss these often overlooked tips.

http://www.houselogic.com/blog/home-improvement/what-homebuyers-want-tips-for-remodeling/#.

7 Common Landscaping Mistakes That Wreck Curb Appeal

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  7 Landscaping Mistakes That Wreck Curb Appeal

  Don’t let badly designed or maintained landscaping wreck your home’s curb appeal. Here are pitfalls to avoid. Read

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Copyright 2014 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Tobin Seven Presents 40619 Sousa Place, Aldie, VA 20105 - MLS #LO8319499

7 Storage Solutions You Didn't Know You Had

7 Storage Solutions You Didn’t Know You Had

According to HouseLogic, "Every square foot of your home is valuable. These storage solutions take advantage of underused nooks and crannies. And just for fun, we did some back-of-the-napkin calculations based on the average price per square foot of a U.S. home (81.00 dollars) to attach a theoretical value to the bonus space.”  Full article.

9 Common Mistakes Homeowners Make On Their Taxes

Do not pay more taxes than necessary.  Also, tips on how to avoid causing the IRS to look at your tax return.  Information is from the National Association of Realtor's  and is helpful advice on completing your 2013 Federal Tax Return.  LInk to article is below:

http://members.houselogic.com/articles/common-tax-mistakes/preview/

You may be surprised at what the best return on your investment is on a single home improvement.

What is the single best ROI (return on investment) on a home improvement?  You may be surprised.

According to National Association of Realtors (NAR), the best return on investment for a home remodeling job is replacing the front door. 

HouseLogic reports: The winner is a Steel Entry Door.  The perennial champ when it comes to giving a return on your investment, an entry door replacement featuring a modestly priced steel door upgrades both energy efficiency and curb appeal. Steel doors come in many colors and can be painted to fit your exterior scheme.

National average cost: $1,162

ROI: 96.6%

Source is: http://www.houselogic.com/photos/home-improvement/best-home-improvement/slide/steel-entry-door/

30 Year Interest Rates Fall To Lowest Level In 10 Weeks. Now is the time to buy!

Unexpected good news.  The rates on 30 year mortgages has fallen to the lowest rates in 10 weeks according to the Wall Street Journal today.  This is an unexpected drop as rates for mortgage loans had been going up due to the Federal Government easing their purchase of bonds.  If you have been sitting on the sidelines trying to decide if now is the time to buy a home---you should act now if you want low mortgage rates.

Rates today, according to Bankrate.com is 4.24% for 30 year fixed mortgage.  

Chart below is from my website, www.SoldBySeven.com, courtesy of BankRate.   On my website you can look at the mortgage rates for 30 year, 15 year, 30 year fixed  jumbo and 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages.  

Older Buyers Do Not Want To Climb Stairs

According to the National Association of Reactors®, if you are young you do not mind climbing stairs.  Once you hit 55 years of age or older, it becomes more important for you to live in a house that is a single level.  

Source is 2013, NAR Home Features Survey.

7 Smart Strategies for Kitchen Remodeling

HouseLogic® from Realtor.org reports that Kitchen Remodeling does not return all of the investment in the remodeling back to you in resale value.

Major remodeling often defined as a project costing $50,000+ is reported by HouseLogic to return about 74% of the cost back to you in your home's resale value.  However, smaller remodeling projects, defined around $19,000 return a higher resale percentage or approximately 82%.    

If you are spending this  much money, you want to  do your remodeling right.  HouseLogic reports on the "7 Smart Strategies for Kitchen Remodeling", article.

More Homeowners Return to Positive Equity in 2014

According to Realtor.com®, more homeowners will return to positive equity in 2014. ☺

Today it is estimated that over 1/5 of all homeowners are still underwater or had negative equity.  

In Northern Virginia last year, the average home value rose 7%.  It is expected in 2014 that home prices in Northern Virginia will rise 9%.   Good news for those with negative equity.

"Rising prices helped 2.5 million homeowners who were previously underwater regain positive equity status during the second quarter of 2013. However, approximately 7.1 million homes were still in negative equity at that time and an estimated 10 million homeowners, or about 21.1 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, remained “under-equitied,” with less than 20 percent in home equity. The good news is that prices are expected to continue rising in 2014, which will lift more homeowners into positive territory. According to realtor.com®, median list prices for homes in October rose 7.57 percent above the same month of 2012."  

Source is:  http://www.realtor.com/news/experts-predict-2014-housing-market/#.Uri8hpEimVj

Mortgage Rates Drop

USA Today reported yesterday that the average  30-year mortgage rates dropped to 4.41% This is great news!  Full  article at http://usat.ly/1aaoAGX

15-year rates also dropped to 3.45% from 3.56%

Many economist are expecting rates this year to go up to 5%.  If you are thinking of buying a home---now is the time!  

7 Don'ts After You Apply For A Mortgage

"Common sense" is not always "common practice".  This is especially true when people are in the process of buying a home and do things that hurt or actually prevent them from buying   their dream home.

Below are the 7 actions that a home buyer should not do.

1. Buy home on your own.   The  commission for a Realtor® is paid by the seller or new home builder.  Why not utilize the expertise of a well established Realtor to find your dream home and to negotiate the sales price and terms.
   
2. Unexplained large cash deposits.  Lenders need to show your source of funds.  Sudden deposits of $5,000 or more in cash into your  bank account will cause your Lender to ask where the money came from.  Usually, funds deposited into your bank account that was 60+ days previous will not require an explanation as most Lenders ask for the 2 most recent bank statements.
   
3. Do not make any large purchases such as for a car or new furniture or a vacation.  This causes new debt and that will hurt your qualification for your home loan.
   
4. Do not co-sign a loan for another person.  When you co-sign, you are legally responsible for that debt if the  debt is not paid.  Lenders will count the payments against your income even though you do not make the payments.
   
5. Do not change banks or bank accounts.  Lenders need to track the source of funds and that is made very difficult if you change banks or bank accounts.  Also, a Lender may become suspicious as to the reason for the change.
   
6. Do not close any credit accounts.  My wife and I paid off several credit cards and we thought it was prudent to cancel the credit accounts as we thought less credit accounts the higher our credit score.   This was wrong.   Credit scoring companies take into consideration how long you have had the credit account, payment history and amount of credit outstanding compared to credit limit.  By closing out 3 long time credit accounts we actually hurt our credit score.
   
7. Do not apply for any new credit.  Credit inquires leave a record and multiple credit inquires will negatively impact your credit (FICO) score.  Do not do it.   Wait until after you have moved into your new home and then apply for new credit.  Also the lower your credit score the more expensive or higher APR you will pay on your new mortgage.

Tobin Seven, REALTOR® / Veteran is Agent with REMAX.   Website: www.SoldBySeven.com, phone 703 327-6800

7 Smart Strategies For Kitchen Remodeling

Great article from National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

If done right, a kitchen remodel can recoup much of its cost. Kitchen remodels in the $50,000 to $60,000 range recoup about 69% of the initial project cost when the home is sold.

A minor kitchen remodel of about $18,500 does even better, returning more than 75% of your investment, according to the most recent Cost vs. Value data from Remodeling magazine.

To maximize your return on investment, follow the link below for the  7 strategies to keep you on budget and help you make smart choices.

You also need a reputable person to do the remodeling.  I recommend someone I have used before and he is local and has been in business for 20+ years.  Recommendation is Mr. Nadeem Rahman.  Website:  http://www.cmihomedesignstudio.com/

Article from NAR is below:
http://members.houselogic.com/articles/tips-for-kitchen-remodeling/preview/

2014 Is A Good Year To Buy A Home

According to CBS News, home prices nationally in 2013 appreciated over 13%. This is a very good increase.  In 2014 it is expected that home prices will moderate to around 7% in the Northern Virginia area due to an expected increase in mortgage rates from the current 4.5% to around 5.0%  This is still a good increase in home values.

As CBS News pointed out; if you rent than at the end of 2014 you will have 12 cancelled checks for your monthly rent.  If on the other hand you owned your home than at the end of 2014, you would have 12 cancelled checks which go toward a home mortgage interest deduction and you also will see appreciation in your home value.  More details at CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-2014-is-a-good-year-to-buy-a-home/