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San Antonio Real Estate

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Open House Listings

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Come In, We're Open

Thinking about getting out this weekend and checking out an open house or two? You can now find open houses to view in San Antonio and surrounding areas. Our list of open houses come direct from the listing agent’s information and the listings are updated regularly throughout the day and are sourced directly From the MLS information for the property (so you can preview before you even attend the open house). Plan your weekend house hunting trip during the week using our open house website and as always, please let us know if you’d like any assistance in finding your next home. Happy house hunting!

You can also click the “Open Houses” link in the menu under the “Listings” menu item.

image courtesy of Alex Ermolin

FIRPTA – The Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980

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FIRPTA - The Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980

The first time you hear someone say FIRPTA out loud (sound it out as if it was a word and not an acronym), you’re more than likely to think that person is making words up. Like many acts of the US government, FIRPTA has a much lengthier and descriptive name: The Foreign investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980. The act allows for tax withholding and reporting when a “foreign person” (see below) sells real estate in the United States. FIRPTA puts the obligations for withholding and reporting onto the buyer, which can make it a little frightening if you’ve never dealt with it as a buyer. As with most things in real estate, it’s all a matter of asking the right questions and talking to qualified people who understand FIRPTA and know how best to advise you when you find yourself in this situation.

First, let’s define “foreign person.” According to FIRPTA, a foreign person is 1) an individual that is not a US citizen or a resident alien, 2) a foreign corporation that is not being treated as a domestic corporation, or 3) a foreign partnership, trust, or estate.

Under FIRPTA, a buyer must withhold a percentage of the “amount realized” (purchase price) and within 20 days of closing report and pay the tax to the IRS. The percentage is determined by several conditions. If the buyer is acquiring property that is not intended to be their residence, FIRPTA requires the buyer to withhold 15%. If the property being acquired is going to be the buyer’s residence, then the percentage of withholding ranges from 0-15% and depends on the sales price. Up to $300,000 it is 0%, over $300,000 and up to $1,000,000 it is 10%, and over $1,000,000 it is 15%. Like many IRS regulations, there are exemptions.

If you are notified that your transaction has triggered FIRPTA, you should call an attorney, CPA, or other tax professional, preferably one familiar with The Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980. As there are exemptions, these professionals can guide you through your situation and recommend what your next steps will be. In many cases, a consultation with a tax professional will allow you to know the seller may be exempt and you as a buyer can move to closing without any further action. Exemptions include a sales price of less than $300,000, a seller able to provide an Affidavit of Non-Foreign Status, a seller providing a FIRPTA Withholding Certificate from IRS, and when sellers are participating in a 1031 exchange and can provide the appropriate information about the sale in writing. As with anything of this nature, the laws and how they work can change over time and we are not tax professionals, so it is best to ask your CPA for tax advice.

In our experience, many of the title companies will provide access and a free consultation with a tax professional who can advise you on your next steps and whether or not you will need to withhold. Further time may be required if it is decided that withholding is necessary as there are rules and as you well know with the IRS, there will be forms to be filled out.

As it is tax related, there are penalties for not withholding the appropriate amount, not reporting it, and not reporting it within the allowed amount of time. And the IRS can tag on interest as well – so you really want to make sure you follow the letter of the law on this one (which is why we highly recommend a tax professional, particularly one with experience with FIRPTA).

While FIRPTA can seem scary at first, with a little patience and consultation with the right people, you can get through the regulations and successfully close on your new home or other property.

image courtesy of cafecredit

Organize Your Move: Moving Checklist

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Image of a pen and paper, with a moving day checklist

Whether you’re buying a home or selling your home, once you’ve left the closing table and everything is signed off on and the loan is funded, you’re going to have to move. Moving can be a bit of a crazy time for anyone – boxes everywhere, the fear of packing that one thing you know you’re going to need on the last day, the decisions of which boxes go where, the physical stress of the move – it’s a lot. Some people go it alone, some people hire the professionals, but no matter which way you decide to go, you can always benefit from a moving checklist. A simple list of what to do and when to do it. While everyone may have different items they want to add to the list, we thought a simple, basic list would help get you started. You can download a PDF of our moving checklist by clicking on the image below.

Moving Checklist – Download

image courtesy of myguys.nova

Beneficios de ser dueño de su propia casa.

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Beneficios de ser dueño de su propia casa.

Felicidad: No hay nada que se compare a la sensación de tener su propio hogar. Puede arreglarlo, darle su propio estilo, tener un perro o un gato, e incluso plantar un árbol si lo desea. ¡Solo imaginarlo causa alegría!

Ahorro de impuestos: el gobierno recompensa a los propietarios de viviendas proporcionándoles excelentes beneficios en los impuestos. El interés pagado por su hipoteca y otros gastos relacionados con el hogar generalmente se pueden deducir de sus ingresos.

Apreciación: Hay un crecimiento de valor en las viviendas con el paso del tiempo; este aumento se convierte en ganancia cuando sea el momento de re-financiar o vender la propiedad.

Renta variable: tanto rentar como alquilar se puede comparar a pagar 100% de interés, pero cuando usted es dueño de una casa y cuenta con una hipoteca, una parte del pago se destina al saldo principal de su préstamo. Esto construye su capital y actúa como una cuenta de ahorros.

Vida en comunidad: quienes son dueños de sus casas son más propensos a permanecer en sus hogares 4 veces más que quienes rentan propiedades. Esto brinda la oportunidad de conocer a sus vecinos y conectarse con su comunidad.

Educación: las investigaciones muestran que los hijos de los propietarios de viviendas obtienen puntajes más altos en exámenes y se gradúan en un porcentaje más alto que los hijos de inquilinos.

¿Necesita un agente de bienes raíces que hable español?

A Bird’s Eye View of 650 Winding Ravine

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650 Winding Ravine - Stadler Custom Homes

As 650 Winding Ravine continues to take shape, Stadler Custom Homes has provided us with some new drone footage to share with you. The home, which is being built to benefit the Military Warriors Support Foundation and the San Antonio Food Bank, will be sold with all net proceeds going to these two terrific charities. Kimberly Howell Properties is thrilled to be a part of this project and we’re excited to see the home take shape. The home will be a 4,814 square foot, four bedroom, 3.5 bath contemporary luxury home right in the heart of Stone Oak. There aren’t many opportunities like this left in Stone Oak and with all of the proceeds being donated to worthy causes, this home will be something you can be proud of for many reasons. If you’d like to schedule a tour, please contact Kimberly Howell.

 

Downpayments: How Much Should You Pay Up Front?

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Pondering Downpayment

If you’re going to be buying a home any time soon, you’re going to need to start thinking about your downpayment. Typically expressed as a percentage of the sales price, the downpayment is often one of the more difficult obstacles for people to overcome on their way to home ownership. You’ll need to budget your money and save up enough to make your downpayment, but how much will you need? You’ve probably heard the rule – you’ll need to save for a 20% downpayment before you buy a home. The logic behind saving 20% is solid, as it shows that you have the financial discipline and stability to save for a long term goal and it can also help you get favorable interest rates from your lender. Additionally, the bigger your downpayment, the less you need to borrow, so the less you’ll pay in interest in the long run.

But there can actually be financial benefits to putting down a smaller downpayment — as low as three percent – rather than parting with so much cash up front, even if you have the money available.

The Downside of a Small Downpayment

The downsides of a smaller downpayment are pretty well known. You’ll have to pay private mortgage insurance (often referred to as just PMI) for years, and the lower your downpayment, the more you’ll pay. You’ll also be offered a lesser loan amount than borrowers who have a 20% downpayment, which will put some higher priced homes out of reach for you when searching.

THe Upside of a Small Downpayment

The national average for home appreciation is about five percent. The appreciation is independent from your home payment, so whether you put down 20% or three percent, the increase in equity is going to be the same. If you’re looking at your home as an investment, putting down a smaller amount can lead to a higher return on investment, while also leaving more of your savings free for home repairs, upgrades, or other investment opportunities.

The Happy Medium

Of course, your home payment options aren’t binary. Most borrowers can find some common ground between the security of a traditional 20% and an investment focused, small downpayment. It’s always a good idea to talk with your Realtor and your lender to discuss the potential paths for you and to see what strategy works best for you and your personal needs.

image courtesy of AleXander Agopian

Credit Healthy – Credit Scores, Lenders, and Pre-Approval Letters

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Loans

Agent Joyce Marie Jackson returns for another installment in her “Credit Healthy” series with information about the all important pre-approval. A very important step in the process of buying a home, a lender’s pre-approval relies on several factors, including your credit score. Let’s hear from Joyce…

Too often, people are more interested in their credit score than what’s in their credit report. The truth is a person can have a good credit score and still not qualify for a loan or credit card for a number of reasons. This concern opens the door for one of the most important questions a Realtor will ask a potential buyer, “are you pre-approved?” This important question may cause a buyer to stop communicating with the Realtor…for some misunderstood reason, for some buyers, the question seems offensive and invasive.

If it was asked incorrectly, I understand. However, it is one of the most necessary questions a Realtor will ask a buyer in addition to asking if you are already signed with another Realtor. Too often a person pulls their credit history and gets their credit scores through a number of sources for free or a small fee. The scores that come with this type of report may show credit scores at a higher number than what a lender will pull. It is frustrating trying to understand why the scores are so different. More to the point, why are the Lender scores usually much lower than what the buyer can pull independently?

There are a few reasons why. Most lenders will pull the FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) score and there are several types of FICO scores: FICO Auto Score (250-900), FICO Bank Card Score (250-900), and FICO Mortgage Score (300-850). Other types of FICO scores vary: FICO 5, FICO 2, FICO 4, FICO 8, and FICO 9 all exist. They are similar and different. In addition, all lenders may not use the same FICO score algorithm. The FICO score will consider more of your debt than other types of credit scoring systems.

Once a lender receives your three credit scores, lenders have a formula that they use to determine your final score. One example could be, from three credit bureau, your scores were 730, 685, and 710. The highest and lowest score is knocked out. The middle score will stand as the winning number, 710.

With other types of scoring systems such as Vantage, all debt may not be included therefore resulting in a higher credit score.

These are just a few reasons why your free credit scores may be higher than the one the lender will pull. So, what should you do? You can still get the credit report and use it to clean up anything that is not yours or should not be there. Once you’ve done the credit clean up, then allow a lender to pull your report and provided you with the scores that will be used to qualify you to purchase your home. The Lender will go over the report with you and provide tips if needed to help boost your score. After the lender receives requested documentation, verifies employment, and the credit score is right, you will receive a pre-approval letter naming the amount you can purchase at. Sounds like a plan. So, the next time a Realtor asks if you are pre-approved, don’t let that question scare or stop you from moving forward. Knowing the answer to that question will open the door for a successful home buying adventure.

image courtesy of karmadude

How To Create Real Estate FOMO

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FOMO

This week, we turn the keys over to agent Tatiana Delaserna and let her take over the blog. In this post, Tatiana discusses “FOMO” – we don’t want to spoil her article, but we have to say, it’s a very real thing and we love that she’s teaching her clients about it (and now, we benefit from it, because she’s sharing the knowledge with all of us).

FOMO – “Fear Of Missing Out” is real. It is especially real in real estate – it is the very reason we see multiple offers on a freshly listed home. The ability to leverage this emotional response from buyers has never been so powerful as it is today thanks to our integrated world of social media, websites like zillow.com, and instant satisfaction consumers crave on all aspects of life. Because buyers can see in real time when a home hits the market, the idea of “you only get one time to make a great first impression” is more impactful than ever. If a buyer sees a home that looks great on pictures, in an area they have been looking for, and for the right price, they start wondering who else saw it too and the race begins.

Unfortunately, the opposite has also never been more damaging to sellers. When a buyer disqualifies your property, they will never revisit it online (they can block that home permanently!). If they feel it is overpriced, they will save it, and wait on the sidelines to see when seller will drop the price.

The three components of creating the perfect FOMO are visual appeal, being at the right place at the right time, and price.

  • Visual appeal – Over 96% of all buyers start shopping online…and they will move on if you do not catch their attention within the first 3 seconds. If they cannot see how great your home is from the pictures, then you may have lost the “perfect buyer.” Taking the time to prepare your home before it hits the market is not a luxury, it’s a must if you want to ignite the desire of buyers. At Kimberly Howell Properties, many of our agents work closely with stagers for this exact reason.
  • Being at the right place at the right time – Your property has to be seen by the right people at the right time (when they are in the market to buy!). If a buyer sees your property popping up in all the places she has been looking, the reality that other buyers are seeing it too hits home quickly. Unlike at our favorite clothing store, there is no way the buyer can hide your home behind the out of season sweaters – the only way of hiding it from other buyers is to submit a competitive offer and take it off the market!
  • Price – There is that saying, “everything sells…at the right price.” The thing is, many times that “right price” is very different from what a seller has in mind and what the market will bear (what a buyer will ultimately be willing to pay for it). There are several pricing strategies for each seller situation but if we want to create that fear of missing out, there are some time tested principles successful listing agents utilize.

Remember, the biggest enemy of creating FOMO is days on market. The longer you property sits on the market, the less buyers worry someone will come and snag it from them. They have less and less desire to submit a strong offer and start to wonder why no one has bought it yet. It becomes a vicious cycle – they wonder what is wrong with it. Do not let your home become victim of “nobody wants what nobody wants,” let’s work together to create the perfect FOMO storm!

image courtesy of Jesper Sehested and PlusLexia.com

You Passed Your Real Estate Exam – Now What?

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Congratualtions

Once upon a time, we all started at the beginning, with a fresh new real estate license in our hands and a ton of things to learn in front of us…being licensed is one thing, but becoming an incredible agent takes time. Jessica Flores remembers her days at the beginning and in this post, she speaks to those that are just wrapping up their licensing process and entering the world of real estate for the first time. We’ll step aside and let her do the rest…

Congratulations! You just passed your state and national real estate exam and you are ready to go sell houses. But where do you start?

Well, first off, you are now an independent contractor, but you are required to be sponsored by a broker. So how do you choose your brokerage?

This may seem like an easy answer, but in reality your choice can be the difference between making it or giving up.

There are many brokerages that you can choose to interview with. You should take the time to find out which is the right fit for you. Some questions you may want to ask include: Will training and education be offered? What are office fees, if any? What type of support system is included? What are the commission splits? The answers you receive can help you decide where you will thrive.

Once you have decided where you will hang your license it is time to get to work. This is the hardest part. What you learned in real estate school does not fully prepare you for what you will be doing. What you have seen on the cable TV network shows is even further from the reality of the amount of hard work, hours, and dedication that is needed to become a producing agent.
But don’t let that scare you. If it is something that you really want to achieve then it will require work and often anything of worth requires hard work.

Now, don’t fret, get to work. Go help people to sell their homes and help others make new memories by getting them into their dream home.

image courtesy of j.o.h.n. walker

Credit Healthy – Build It Right From Ground Zero

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Credit Healthy

When it comes to buying a home, few things are more important than your credit. The better it is, the more buying power you have. In this article the first is a series of posts entitled “Credit Healthy,” agent Joyce Marie Jackson breaks down your credit score and takes a look at what it takes to build your credit health from the bottom up. Whether you’re a first time homebuyer or this is one of many purchases you’ve made in your lifetime, it pays to understand what goes into your credit score so you can be prepared when it comes time to buy. Enough from us…we’ll let Joyce take it from here…

Too often a buyer is so excited about buying a home, the basics are forgotten.

You’ve saved some money, that’s good, and maybe paid down some of you debt. Your lease is coming to an end soon, so I guess it’s time to shop for a home. Is that it or are there other steps?

Here’s an option:

  1. Contact your financial institution and inquire if they offer a credit score and/or monitoring plan for free or for a small fee. You may ask yourself, “Why do I need to do this?”
    The reason is because before you can start a plan, you must know where you stand. Knowing what’s in your credit report is the first step in identifying the health of your credit worthiness.
    Your credit worthiness is what a lender will use to approve or disapprove you for a mortgage loan. It’s all in the report, but it’s up to you to make sure it’s accurate.
  2. Know how your FICO score is determined.
    • 35% – Payment History – Always make your payments on time.
    • 30% – Amounts Owed – Knowing your credit limit is key. The amount you owe and the amount your have available will determine your utilization ratio and debt ratio.
    • 15% – Length of Credit History – The age of an account is important. The longer you have a particular credit card, the better. If you decide to pay it off, that’s great! Just don’t close it out. Closing out a credit card that you’ve had for a long time can lower your credit score.
    • 10% – Type of Credit Used – Similar to building your retirement portfolio, your credit should also contain a mixture of different types of credit, such as credit cards which are usually revolving credit, fixed loans, and other mixtures of credit.
    • 10% – New Credit – New credit and the available amount. Don’t max it out.
    • So, 35+30+15+10+10 = 100% of your FICO score.
  3. List your expenses, make a budget and track your spending.

You’ve identified what’s in your credit report and taken steps to make the report accurate. You know what makes up a credit score and what parts you may need to work on in order to increase it. Saving is also key and must be part of the budget. In addition to having a great credit score and low to no debt, there is still a need to have available funds for various buyer expense such as inspections, appraisal, earnest money, option money, closing costs, and down payment. Sounds scary and it can be, but if you are prepared it will be less stressful. Does this mean buyers have to have perfect credit and be debt free before they should purchase a home? No, it just means that the more you know and the better prepared you are, the better your home buying experience will be. So, “Build It Right from Ground Zero.”

image courtesy of zeevveez