by Erin Romanski | Dec 6, 2019 | Market Updates, Selling a Home, The Romanski Group Team, Tippecanoe County Real Estate
3D rendering of modern kitchen in a loft. While the thought of selling your Lafayette Indiana home during the winter months may dampen your holiday spirit, the season does have its advantages: winter buyers tend to be more serious and competition is less fierce with fewer homes being actively marketed. If you are debating listing your home for sale within the next 6 months, keep in mind that the spring is when most other homeowners will decide to list their homes as well and listing your home this winter will ensure that you have the best exposure. Here are the reasons to sell your Lafayette Indiana home this winter and what’s predicted for the housing market in 2020… 1. Demand Due To Low Housing Supply Inventory is still under the 6-month supply needed for a normal housing market. This means in the majority of the country, there are not enough homes for sale to satisfy the number of buyers in the market. Historically, a homeowner would stay an average of six years in his or her home. Since 2011, that number has hovered between nine and ten years. There is a pent-up desire for many homeowners to move as they were unable to sell over the last few years due to a negative equity situation. As home values continue to appreciate, more and more homeowners will be given the freedom to move. Many homeowners were reluctant to list their homes over the last couple of years, for fear they would not find a home to move into. That is all changing now as more homes come to market at the higher end. The...
by Erin Romanski | Nov 7, 2019 | Buying a Home, Homeowner Tips, Market Updates, Selling a Home
The Property Tax Exemption Deadline in Indiana is Approaching! Are You Entitled to a Property Tax Exemption? If you purchased a house, changed the deed, or refinanced on your mortgage, you should make sure the correct exemptions are filed on your home. The Romanski Group of Keller Williams Realty wants to remind you to file your property tax exemptions by the end of the year! If exemptions aren’t filed or confirmed by December 31 your taxes could go up substantially. Below is a summary of common exemptions along with contact information for each county below. Homestead Deduction – If you own a home or are buying on a recorded contract, and use it as your primary place of residence, your home could qualify for a homeowner’s deduction. A taxpayer cannot receive the Homestead Deduction in multiple states as the homestead is considered the “principle place of residence”. The deduction is either 60% of your assessed valuation or a maximum of $45,000. Mortgage Deduction – If you are buying property on a recorded mortgage or a recorded contract, and you are a resident of the State of Indiana, you could qualify for a mortgage deduction. The value of the deduction may not exceed the amount of the indebtedness. The deduction is either one half of your assessed valuation or $3,000, whichever is less. A person owning more than one property may not receive mortgage deductions totaling more than $3,000. There are several other property tax exemptions that may be available to you as well which you may want to inquire about. Please find your county below and file your homestead...
by Erin Romanski | Nov 5, 2019 | Market Updates, Selling a Home, The Romanski Group Team
A home purchase brings together so many things under one roof: dreams, shelter, status, maybe a passport to better schools and neighborhoods. And one more thing: It gives you a forced savings account. It does that by letting you build home equity, which is the difference between your home’s market value and what you owe on it. Your equity increases with each house payment you make. When home prices rise, your equity grows faster as your home’s value increases. Here are some ways to increase your home equity… 1. Pay more on your mortgage Paying more can be a good option. If you decide to do this, make sure the extra money is applied to your mortgage principal. Ask your mortgage servicer (you can find the phone number on your monthly statement) how to do it and watch your monthly statements to be sure the money is credited correctly. Here are a few ways to pay more regularly: • Add an extra sum to your monthly payment. Pick an amount big enough to make a difference but not so big that it crimps your budget. For example, if your payment is $983, round up to $1,100, and then increase the amount when you’re able.• Another version of adding to your monthly payment: Boost the payment by an amount equal to a twelfth of a payment. By the year’s end, you’ll have made an extra payment.• Switch to biweekly mortgage payments. Paying every two weeks instead of monthly adds one extra monthly payment to your mortgage annually.• Schedule extra payments automatically from your bank to your mortgage account at regular intervals The...
by Erin Romanski | Nov 5, 2019 | Homeowner Tips, Market Updates, Selling a Home
There’s a myth many home sellers believe, and that is you should wait until Spring to put your home on the market. In fact, you should do the opposite and list in the Winter. Selling in the Winter have a greater advantage in terms of the type of buyers they attract, marketing and more. Here are the top 10 reasons that debunk the myth to wait to list for warmer weather and why Winter is the time to sell in Lafayette Indiana! The #1 reason to list your house in the winter: Less competition. Housing supply traditionally shrinks at this time of year, so the choices buyers have will be limited. As you can see, the ‘sweet spot’ to list your house for the most exposure naturally occurs in the late fall and winter months (November – January). Here are the other 9 reasons to list your home in winter…. 2. Corporate transfers. Statistically, January & February are the highest months of the year for corporate employees transferring and relocating. This makes listing during the Winter months and opportune time. 3. Non-contingent buyer. If you’re looking to buy, then you’d want to be able to sell now because by the time Spring arrives you have the opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer. Which means that if you find the home you love, you’ve already sold your current home and you won’t have to wait until you find a Spring Buyer. In addition, because more homes are for sale during the Spring, this could drive down market prices meaning you have the ability to sell high and buy low. 4. Low interest rates. Interest rates...
by Erin Romanski | Nov 5, 2019 | Homeowner Tips, Market Updates, Selling a Home
If you really want to sell your Lafayette Indiana home fast, you should be ready for anything. There will be times when showings will happen at a moment’s notice. So, make sure to use the below advice and maintain your home in its staged appearance at all times. Apart from preparing your house for the open houses and showings by de-cluttering, cleaning, and home staging, there are various last-minute things you can do to make your property stand out from the rest. Here are 20 of The Romanski Group’s top recommendations that include getting rid of clutter, hiding family photos, cleaning out closets, removing excess or oversized furniture, and cleaning…. Clean, clean, clean. Dust on top of the fireplace mantle and fan blades, polish your appliances and faucets, and give the windows a thorough washing. Make all beds and have towels hung nicely in all bathrooms. If you’ve already moved out or if you’re too busy to stay on top of things, consider hiring a cleaning service.Pay attention to smells. Be cautious of what you are cooking in your home the day prior to a showing. Smells linger for a long time and can prevent a potential buyer from wanting to stay in your home. Clear out the clutter. You want buyers to focus on how awesome your space is, not how messy it looks. Banish that piles of shoes from the entry, get rid of nearly everything on kitchen and bathroom counters; that stack of mail from the kitchen table and anything else that detracts from your home’s features.Repaint the walls neutral colors. As much as you love your dramatic purple dining...
by Erin Romanski | Sep 27, 2019 | Buying a Home, Market Updates, Selling a Home, Tippecanoe County Real Estate
With a decline in interest rates as well as home price and wage appreciation, many are wondering what the predictions are for the remainder of 2019. Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and theMortgage Bankers Association are all projecting home sales will increase nicely in 2020. Below is a chart depicting the projections of each entity for 2019, as well as for 2020. If you’re a homeowner who has considered selling your house recently, now may be the best time to put it on the market. Here’s what some of the experts have to say: Ralph McLaughlin, Deputy Chief Economist for CoreLogic “We see the cooldown flattening or even reversing course in the coming months and expect the housing market to continue coming into balance. In the meantime, buyers are likely claiming some ground from what has been seller’s territory over the past few years. If mortgage rates stay low, wages continue to grow, and inventory picks up, we can expect the U.S. housing market to further stabilize throughout the remainder of the year.” Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at NAR “We expect the second half of year will be notably better than the first half in terms of home sales, mainly because of lower mortgage rates.” Freddie Mac “The drop in mortgage rates continues to stimulate the real estate market and the economy. Home purchase demand is up five percent from a year ago and has noticeably strengthened since the early summer months…The benefit of lower mortgage rates is not only shoring up home sales, but also providing support to homeowner balance sheets via higher monthly cash flow and steadily rising home equity.” In Summary The housing market will be...
