National Association of REALTORS

Feb 27 2015

Thinking of putting your Western MA home on the market? Do it NOW!

If you have been thinking of putting your home in Western MA up for sale you might want to move your timeline up to right now.

Common thought is the best time to sell your home is in the Spring, most people think April and May are the right time. Following that timeline may not be your best plan.

There are several factors at play that make now a great time to get your home on the market:

Listing inventory is at a serious low level. There are not many houses available and that means the buyers have less selection. New inventory that is priced appropriately will get a larger percentage of “screen time” for these buyers.

According to a post by Keeping Matters Current, “The January National Housing Trend Report from realtor.com now reveals that inventory in January has decreased another 6.7% month over month and 8.7% year over year. This is occurring at the same time that buyer activity (demand) remains strong.”

The next piece to this puzzle is the buyer activity. Mortgage activity is on the rise with a fresh pool of buyers getting ready to hit the market in March. As reported by CNBC in their story about the rising mortgage applications, ” Spring generally brings more sellers to the market, but so far Realtors are not seeing enough new listings at affordable prices to meet the demand. ”

Buyers who are out looking right now are very motivated and serious about a home purchase. They may need to purchase before they lose their low interest rate or perhaps are relocating. Whatever the reason, they want housing NOW and there isn’t enough inventory to satisfy the current demand, much less the buyers in the wings who are getting pre-qualified now.

Waiting until the traditional “spring market” will mean there will be more homes on the market to and your edge will be reduced.

So, snow or no snow, these signs point to NOW being a really great time to get a jump on the competition and get your Western MA home sold.

If you would like a free, no obligation home value analysis, please contact me:

Lesley Lambert, REALTOR with Park Square Realty 413-575-3611

Jan 02 2013

Fiscal Cliff Bill Passes, Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Tax Treatment Extended. Good News for Short Sales in Western MA

Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Treatment Gets One More Year.

The advancing fiscal cliff debates were getting everyone’s concerns up, but for those of us who work in the real estate industry, we had specific issues that were of high notice. The mortgage forgiveness tax treatment has been instrumental in assisting people who are in underwater mortgages to recover by using a short sale and has been beneficial to the housing recovery.

This from the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley’s Ben Scranton:

“The law – which was set to expire at the end of 2012 – is crucial to foreclosure mitigation efforts such as principal forgiveness and short sales. Normally, U.S. law decrees that when a lender forgives all or a portion of a borrower’s debt, the forgiven amount is considered taxable income for the borrower. This is known as Cancellation of Debt (COD) Income and must be included in a taxpayer’s gross income. This Act, however, created an exception to this rule under the U.S. Tax Code. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act allows homeowners who received principal reductions or other forms of debt forgiveness to not pay taxes on the amount forgiven. The amount extends up to $2 million of debt forgiven on the homeowner’s principal residence. For homeowner’s to qualify, their debt must have been used to “buy, build, or substantially improve” their principal residence and be secured by that residence. The law, which was passed in 2007 with a 5 year sunset provision, will now be in effect until January 1, 2014.”

Good News for Short Sales in Western MA

For more information on this and other real estate related impacts from the fiscal cliff bill, see this brief from the National Association of Realtors:

If you are a homeowner in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts who thinks that a short sale might be the answer to your real estate troubles, please give me a call to schedule a consultation. Lesley Lambert, short sale specialist at Park Square Realty 413-575-3611.

You can visit www.shortsaleyourho.me for more information to see if you might be able to avoid foreclosure on your Western MA home with a short sale.

Dec 01 2010

Foreclosure Guidance from REALTORS

: Image via Wikipedia

As a member of the National Association of REALTORS, I have access to a lot of helpful information on trends, current events and programs for foreclosure prevention and guidance.

Several of these tools are available to the public, as well. If you are investigating your options in a foreclosure situation, please make sure that you are reading reputable information and speaking with reputable people. It is a sad by product of these times that many seedy people and underhanded companies have cropped up offering loan modification and foreclosure assistance. You must take great care before working with any of them as it could potentially cost you a lot of money, money I would safely presume that you do not have to spend in these difficult times.

First and foremost, your trusted area REALTOR who has extensive experience not only in your marketplace but specifically with short sales and foreclosures is to be leaned upon as a trusted resource. It is our commitment to assist those in need of help during these hard times and for many of us, a source of pride that we are able to, in some small way, give people some much needed help, support and guidance through a very stressful time.

Secondly, use the resources that the National Association of REALTORS makes available to you. This information is factual, trustworthy and helpful. Following the guidance in these materials can make all the difference in the world to a home owner in distress.

The Houselogic page, brought to you by NAR, is a wonderful resource full of information. Here you can learn what to do when you can’t continue making payments on your home, how foreclosure will impact your credit score, how you can help others and who can help you.

If you are a home owner in the Greater Westfield and Springfield area of Western Massachusetts, I am here to help. I am ready to put my over two decades of real estate experience with specialties in helping foreclosure and short sale home owners to work for you. Help is only a call away: Lesley Lambert of Park Square Realty in Westfield, MA 01085 413-575-3611.