Hope you had a wonderful holiday season. We are on the brink of a New Year. Here's hoping all your dreams come true in 2015!
Whoa, doggies! This is a really short column due to my holiday plans, but I didn't want not check in briefly and update you with some important information.
REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY
The past two weeks brought the San Benito County inventory to 101 listings, down about 20 percent from a few months ago. In the past two weeks only six homes have come on the market, while 21 closed escrow. I expect to see an upswing as the new year comes around. We are seeing the days get longer. As the increased activity of the holiday celebrations fade into wonderful memories, potential buyers will begin to get prequalified for mortgages, and potential sellers will have time to focus on readying their homes for market.
Make sure you talk to your trusted real estate professional early on — the advice and expertise they have will save you time and effort whether you are buying or selling.
Advice for searching for homes online
Whether you are buying or selling, most people get information from the Internet. Are all websites created equal? No, of course not. When looking for accurate, up-to-date listings, the actual multiple listing site is your best bet. If using a mobile device, click here. This is the direct mirror of the service used by the agents. All the other sites such as Realtor.com or Trulia or Zillow farm the information from this site. Oftentimes it is incorrect or outdated. After all, you don't want to fall in love with a home someone else has already purchased, do you?
Tax relief continues for short sales
Homeowners who with short sales in 2014 are breathing a ginormous sigh of relief. The Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act extension was just voted by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. Under the act, any mortgage forgiveness created by a short sale is not counted as income for homeowners whom banks allowed to sell their homes for less than the full amount of their mortgage. Good news for many.
On that happy note, I remind you it's a good life! See you in 2015.
Nants Foley is a broker associate (CalBRE 01222234) at Flora Real Estate. She may be reached at [email protected] or 831-801-5110.
