Riverstone

A Fort Bend area master-planned community where luxurious homes, water features and resort-style amenities define the landscape, Riverstone is one of Fort Bend County’s most desirable addresses. Riverstone residents enjoy an enviable lifestyle with a superb selection of new homes with Sugar Land and Missouri City addresses. Plus, with varied highway access and an array […]

Sienna

Sienna is a comprehensive 7,000-acre master-planned community. Sienna is more than houses inside one of the top Fort Bend County subdivisions. Neatly tucked between the acclaimed cities of Missouri City and the City of Sugar Land, it is a community in the truest sense of the word. Every effort is made to maintain a sense […]

Bridgeland

Imagine a place with vast open spaces and spectacular sunsets. An 11,400 acre master-planned community in northwest Houston where flocks of waterfowl glide across natural lakes. A refuge from the chaos of your workday. A place where you can find true balance. The new home community of Bridgeland is such a place. Bridgeland attracts and […]

Towne Lake – Master Planned Community, Cypress

Towne Lake reflects its Texas-sized appeal in a 300-acre lake, with beautiful views. Lake coves allow neighbors easy access to the water and to the many amenities and destinations throughout, bonding the community together. Towne Lake Charm is all these things and more, reflected in a community steeped in Texas pride. Caldwell Companies has perfected […]

Cypress Creek Lakes

Cypress Creek Lakes is a beautiful master-planned new home community nestled in the charming Northwest Houston suburb of Cypress, Texas. Mischer Development has carefully designed the 1,600-acre community to respect the natural beauty of the land while developing approximately 2,000 new home sites. Its convenient location on Fry Rd. just off of Highway 290 also […]

Common Tax breaks for Homeowners & Buyers and their Misconceptions

Posted by houstonvijai on January 18th, 2012

You might wonder, why am I talking about Taxes in January? There are couple of reasons, one to get you thinking about future taxes and plan accordingly if you are planning to buy a home this year. Other one is to get you all ready to file last year returns properly by educating about tax breaks. We all know Taxes are inevitable evil for our country’s economy and we should pay it but we are given one time chance to file the explanation in a tax return and allowed to get refunds if we are eligible for one. So by planning properly, you will not miss out that chance and at same time avoid any audits in future.

Let’s talk 5 important tax deductions/tax breaks that area relevant to home owners which you can avail if you do decide to itemize your taxes.

1. Mortgage interest deduction
If you own a home or planning to own one as personal primary residence, 100% of the mortgage interest paid before Dec. is deductible on that year taxes. For example, interest paid till Dec 2011 will be deducted in 2011 tax year return. In January, your mortgage lender will send you a form documenting the precise amount of interest you paid, although most lenders provide them online within few days after the year starts.

One item that normally appears on a settlement or closing statement is home mortgage interest. You can deduct the interest that you pay at settlement. This amount should be included in the mortgage interest statement provided by your lender or you can find it on the HUD-1 settlement statement you received from your escrow agent at closing. Misconception:Down payments can be deducted or can take write off. Earnest Money, Down payment, Insurance (other than mortgage insurance premiums), including fire and comprehensive coverage, and title insurance are not deductible.

2. Property tax deductions
If it’s your primary residence(living most part of the year), you should be able to deduct 100% of the property taxes you’ve paid to your state and/or local taxing agency this year. Many monthly house payments include an amount placed in escrow (put in the care of a third party) for real estate taxes. You may not be able to deduct the total you pay into the escrow account. You can deduct only the real estate taxes that the lender actually paid from escrow to the taxing authority. Your real estate tax bill will show this amount. Misconception: You cannot deduct HOA fees because homeowners association, rather than a state or local government, imposes them.

3. Closing/Settlement cost deductions
Misconception: New home or refinancing closing cost can be deducted. Most of the settlement cost or closing cost are not deductible. But Discount points and origination fees paid to your mortgage lender and/or broker at closing are frequently deductible, but there are rules around this, which tax software and/or professionals can help you make sure you meet. Specially, You cannot deduct transfer taxes and similar taxes and charges on the sale of a personal home..

4. Mortgage Insurance Premiums
You may be able to take an itemized deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 13, for premiums you pay or accrue during 2011 for qualified mortgage insurance in connection with home acquisition debt on your qualified home. Mortgage insurance premiums you paid or accrued on any mortgage insurance contract issued before January 1, 2007, are not deductible as an itemized deduction. Misconception: Any insurance premiums are deductible. Not really, only PMI’s are deductible.

5. First time Home buyer Credit
In general, you may be able to claim the credit for a home purchased in 2011 if you are a first-time home buyer. You are considered a first-time homebuyer if you meet all of the following requirements,

  • You purchased your main home located in the United States: After December 31, 2010, and before May 1, 2011, or After April 30, 2011, and before July 1, 2011, if you entered into a binding contract before May 1, 2011, to purchase the home before July 1, 2011.
  • You (and your spouse if married) did not own any other main home during the 3-year period ending on the date of purchase.

Generally, the credit is the smaller of: $8,000 ($4,000 if married filing separately), or
10% of the purchase price of the home. Misconception: Anyone who bought the house in 2011 can get first time home buyers credit. See above for specific time period to qualify.

I strongly recommend either to get help from Tax preparer or CPA or use a good Tax preparation software like TaxAct or TurboTax which will take you through the life events to cover these items automatically. Also check out IRS Publication 530 for more info on Home owner tax breaks as well.

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Buyer & Sellers – Beware of Zestimate from Zillow

Posted by houstonvijai on January 13th, 2012

Country club Lifestyle Realty(CCLR) from Sugarland has published a report about their recent analysis/survey on the accuracy of Zillow’s Zestimate for Houston area homes. The results was really an eyeopener to many of us as it underestimates the property value most of the time to 10-25%. The report also concurs closely with Wallstreet Journals findings published in 2007. Let me share some more important things about this report so buyer/sellers can better understand the numbers from Zillow.

What is Zestimate?

Zestimate is zillow.com websites patented estimation of the home’s value all across the nation. If you go the Zillow.com and type in your home address, it will pull almost all data about your home and provide an estimated today’s value for your home. Many buyers and sellers use this estimate value nowadays as a benchmark to negotiate their real estate transaction instead of using the comparative analysis provided by their local realtors. They think that Zillow does a better job in getting the properly value by pulling all data together. But the truth of the matter is, this Zestimate never provides an accurate or closest value. The reason being the methodology used to determine the value.

What is wrong with Zestimate?

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Zillow’s estimates utilize sales prices, past sales history, tax assessment data, and general home size. In addition they seek to obtain a value through similar comparable homes. Based on this information, why then is Zestimate wrong and why so much random variation when compared to actual sales?

The approach as stated by zillow appears sound; however, after reviewing this statement the error becomes apparent. First, tax assessments can vary significantly from home to home. Some homes may be homestead while others may not have been re-assessed for several years. Second, past sales history (as most real estate agencies and banks will attest) provide no indication of current or future performance. The housing economy can change quickly as evidenced in 2008. Third, the general home size leaves out the amenities associated with homes and communities. For example, gated communities generally increase the home value. Upgraded kitchens and bathrooms on a 1970’s home can impact the overall value. The overall condition of the building and lawn clearly influences the sale value. Even the energy rating of a home can have a significant impact.

What is the impact?
As they proved in their report using some 90 homes around Houston, Zestimate is not a reliable number. But unfortunately many home owners and buyers use this inaccurate number without knowing they are using an inappropriate number that can really impact their transactions.

For Sellers:
For a given home owner there is only a 1 in 5 chance their Zestimate is within 2% of the actual value and a 1 in 3 chance the value is within 4%. The same 1 in 3 chance also exists for a Zestimate above 10%. Overall these results are not impressive. So Sellers might lose lots of dollars if they sell their home just taking Zestimate into account.

For Buyers:
They can convince sellers that Zillow is an accurate representation of their home’s value and get great deal out of it. In other scenarios they may lose out on the house of their dreams by insulting the home owner with a low ball offer. They might miss out on good deal as well.

Conclusion
I wouldn’t recommended a buyer/seller to use Zillow’s Zestimate to negotiate any offer. Zestimate should be used with discretion that it can never predicate the property value property due to lot of unknown factors. Zestimate should be take with grain of salt and always use the realtor Comparative Market Analysis(CMA) to base or negotiate your transaction. Realtor’s can provide CMA without any agreement so don’t hesitate to call me or any realtor in your area. Internet is loaded with data which is good but knowledge from data only comes from experts who can decipher it properly.

You can read the full published report at CCLR website.

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New year and New Hopes

Posted by houstonvijai on January 5th, 2012

New year brings lots of hope among people, analysts, industry leaders and many others about the future growth of their industry or overall country. It is especially true for this year after seeing a anemic growth episode last year. It is rather a bitter sweet experience where there was little bit of economic growth in the first part and the curve starts to decline later on. No one is expecting for miracle to happen and but expect the scenario not to get worse and probably see some growth and sustain till the year end.

First reason being the Presidential election year. Adding to that, hung congress is going to continue with more obstacles on creating or passing any new laws or amending them. As per economy goes, corporate is hoping for better consumer spending to have production increase which should infuse job growth and decrease unemployment to some extend. In the housing front, NAR is expecting a continued growth in home sales market and decent decline in pre-owned and foreclosure homes inventory.

NAR released its latest pending home sales index figure few weeks ago and for the second month in a row the index is up. But more than that, the index has broken 100. This is significant because the only time since the housing boom collapsed that the index has broken 100 is when the home owner tax credit was in effect. The fact that the index has returned to that level a year since the credit has been in effect means the housing market is strengthening completely on its own, without any stimulus.

With that not so bright background, let’s talk some local real estate market. Houston Real estate does seem to be starting out with good past 5 months of continuous growth on sales from last year. As per the report from HAR, year over year results are seems to have improved a lot. Many master planned communities around Houston like Cinco Ranch, Bridgeland, Towne Lake have increased their sales last year and progressing on their path to expansion. Houston job market is good and thriving due the oil companies. Unemployment is not a problem and many people are moving to Houston which will certainly increase the home sales and rental market as well.

Being said that, it is better to be cautious as the economic is still struggling to put his strong foot hold. For investors, I would recommend to buy only deals which are really good and able to rent out quick. For home owners, new homes are all over the town and builders are sometimes giving good deals to attract but make sure you got what you want before signing the contract.

I hope this new year brings prosperous to our country and to our local housing market.

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Happy Holidays – Cherish & Celebrate

Posted by houstonvijai on December 22nd, 2011

Holiday mood is everywhere from work to business to home and all over the place. We are obviously just few days away from Christmas and a week away from New year. It is the time of the year when we really need to spend time with family and take a break to cherish and celebrate the things achieved and accomplished this year.

I started out as a Realtor apx Nine months ago as newbie but with a 5 years in real estate investment experience. I wasn’t sure about road ahead when I started but had a goal to close 10 deals by end of this year. I will be completing 11 deals by end of this year and I am really happy to have reached the goal. For a starter, thats an amazing performance considering economic situation. It’s all because of you friends and clients.

I was just keen on closing on deal a month and took one client at a time. It worked out very well. I am really happy and happy for all my clients who I am sure are satisfied with my service. Most of the clients came through word of mouth and as friends referral except few from online. It doesn’t matter, whether it’s a small deal or big one. I gave my full dedication to help and guide every one to get what they wanted.



I like to take this opportunity to Thank my clients who gave me the opportunity to help and guide them with their dream home or investment property. I really appreciate their trust on me and at the sametime helping me to shape as a good realtor. I also like to Thank my fellow realtors whom I worked on transactions and especially my broker and broker office staffs who supported me on every transaction.

Welcome 2012

2012 is going to be another interesting year. I am really looking forward for a great year. I want do even much better with the experience gained and lessons learned. I am hoping to exceed all clients expectation as well as mine to go further up in the ladder.

THANK YOU ALL AND WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND A HAPPY NEWYEAR!!

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Give the Gift of Referring your Realtor!!

Posted by houstonvijai on December 14th, 2011

It is giving season. It is merriment time. It is time to wish friends and families a Happy Holiday and Happy year. It is time to celebrate and say thank you to people and community which was part of your life in whatever means possible. It is time of the year to show gratitude towards someone for being their for you when you need it. It time of the year to share your appreciation to someone who helped you to get your dream come true. Yes, it is Showing Gratitude time.

Real estate is a service business. In the service business, the only way to acknowledge one’s effort is by giving kind feedback about their service to show your appreciation and gratitude. One another way is also by referring the service to someone you know and spreading the word around which will eventually bring more clients.

  • Did you finally sell your home with help of a Smart Realtor?
  • Is a Smart realtor helped you to get through the hurdles and found a dream home?
  • Does the Smart realtor educate you to save money on your new home and how to manage home expenses?
  • Is your favorite always a call away to shed light on your home needs?
  • Are you really happy with the Realtor who helped you?

If you said a Big YES to all the above, it is time to show some appreciation for his/her effort. Showing gratitude doesn’t have to be all about giving gifts. You don’t buy an expensive gift to give to your Realtor who helped you find a good home for great deal. It doesn’t have to be all about money.

You don’t have to mail him a Thank you card to say Thank you. You can simply send a eCard from Hallmark.com or to top it all off you can share your experience with a friend or relative and refer his service. That would be a biggest Thank you gift of all for a Realtor or any service based business person.

So at this time of year, don’t forget to refer a Realtor or Insurance agent or any service provider for that matter who deserves a Thank you!

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