Oliver Homes Builder Blog

Buy a New Home?

Taylor Oliver — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:37:13 +0000

In looking at today’s real estate market we see a lot of homes actually on the market. Is now a good time to buy or not? We’ll look at that question and let you make that decision. Obviously, with a lot of properties on the market prices are clearly low or at worst reasonable compared to a few years ago. Many people are even willing to look at the short sales and foreclosure sales to try to arrange a “better deal”. It is imperative in those situations to be aware that you may fact many projects to bring you home up to the appearance and need you will want. It’s more than one buyer who brought a short sale or foreclosure that had to spend a lot more money to fix certain items.

Another consideration is what type of interest rate you will get. Recently, I saw a review that today’s rates are the lowest they have been in decades. We have even seen a 3.75 fixed for 30 year rate. That’s truly a great rate. If someone has a credit score over 620 he can get a FHA rate that is very reasonable with a small downpayment.

The big thing in today’s market is looking a your own job stability. To be blunt, if you don’t know for sure you are going to have a job you shouldn’t buy a new or existing home anyway. However, if you do feel confident in your job stability and comfortable with your present financial situation then today may be a terrific time to get started in you real estate ownership experience. Good luck in making these decisions and happy house hunting.

Lots for Building a New Home

Taylor Oliver — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:10:25 +0000

In looking at sites to build a new home you have to consider many factors. First, consider the type of home you will be building and will it fit on the lot. Oliver Homes has a community in Greencastle, Pa called Pleasant Walk Estates that has 2 acre homesites that would accomodate most any size home. They have two other communities near Mercersburg, Pa called Deerwood Mountain Estates and Mountain Brook Estates. Deerwood Mountain Estates has only 1/2 acre lot sizes and a new home buyer would have to be careful as to what type of home and how large of a home that could be built on that site. Mountain Brook Estates has 3 acre lots that would not really be any issue for size of a home. Those lots would have to be looked at individually as some allow for walk out basement exits and some do not. These are just some basic things to look for in the purchase of a lot in building a new home. In addition to size one must also consider what particular convenants are for each community- i.e. is there a minimum square footage requirement, is brick or another cladding material required, are any special roof pitches needed, and many more. Finding the right site to put your new home is something that needs to be looked at and analyzed to find what works not only for you but for the also new home you want to build. Good luck in your search.

Time for a New Home ?

Taylor Oliver — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:20:48 +0000

As we get out of the winter and move into spring and summer it’s a time people think about buying a home. A time for families to have a place all their own. In reading many articles on the economy and whether it is a good time to buy or not there are mixed signals. One article says the market is picking up and prices are starting to rise. Another says that prices may still be able to come down ever so slightly. I have two comments regarding those divergent points of view- first, we will never know when the real estate market hits the bottom until after we missed it, and secondly, you need to buy a home for your value, your personal use, and your desires and wants. You do not need to look at what others are saying or doing but you need to do what works for you. The questions you must ask - Is this something that will work for me? , Will I be overextended financially?, Can I make the monthly payment?. One thing I always remember in the buying of a home is that you are not really paying $ 200,000 or so for a home -you are paying whatever the monthly payment is and is that within your budget. That’s the question to ask in your purchase decision. Can I afford this purchase on a monthly basis? Good luck with your search.

Excise Tax Wavier

Taylor Oliver — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:21:46 +0000

Washington County, Maryland has instituted a wavier of excise tax until April 1, 2010. It is a great opportunity for buyers in the market for new homes to take advantage of up to an $ 8,500 credit on their new home. Building permits need to be issued by the April 1st date. Early on in the program the public was not aware of how it worked but have now become more informed and are taking advantage of this offer from the county. It is great that Washington County Commissioners have made this offer to the homebuying community as they have felt some resistence from those that may not see the need of this offer for new construction. As an group numbers run around 25% unemployment in the construction industry. Anything that can be done to keep this industry employeed will do wonders for the economy in this community. Thanks to the Washington County Building Department and the Washington County Commissioners.

April 30th will come quickly

Taylor Oliver — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:04:58 +0000

Some people may still not know about the $ 8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers and the $ 6,500 credit for the second time buyers but it’s still here until April 30, 2010. We are happy to have the new year upon us but the deadline to sign a contract to buy a home is still April 30 and will get here sooner than we think. Give us a couple weekends of bad weather and it’ll be March before we know it and then we’ll be busy with spring type things and soon it will be April 15th and we’ll need to do our taxes and next thing you know we’re scrambing to find a home to buy the last couple weeks of April. I encourage you, that if you’re in the market for a home under the tax credit don’t wait. I know you read about the availability of homes on the market but a lot of them are not in excatly “live-in” condition. If you think you’re going to buy a short sale or foreclosure between now and the end of April unless you’ve had it under contract for about 6 months right now it will not happen. Note- I did not say it probably will not happen - I said it will not happen. You cannot at this stage get a contract on a bank owned or short sale and get it ratified by April 30, 2010. You can talk to anybody that has tried to do it and you’ll find I’m telling you the truth.

Remember, you second time buyers also get a tax credit also but only for $ 6,500. Really, that’s a great deal. I didn’t get a tax credit when I bought my last home. This warning holds true for you in finding a home. You need to start ASAP. You also need to deal with selling you current home. Don’t think it can’t be done either. I know a guy who recently decided to put his home on the market and sold it in 10 days and then had to figure out where he was going to move because he heard all the things about the real estate market being slow so he didn’t really look- so get started and be persistent.

Good luck in you home searches.

Extension of Housing Tax Credit

Taylor Oliver — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:01:58 +0000

I don’t think most people realize how important it is to extend the tax credit for home buyers. Right now it is set to expire December 1, 2009. What most buyers do not understand, if they have not purchased a home recently, is that you cannot buy a home in November and expect to go to closing ( a requirement of the credit) before December 1, 2009. My daughter is now buying a home and has signed a contract and applied for a loan and it will be about a 45 day process from signing a contract to settlement. This is normally how long it takes to go from contract to closing. Assuming the Tax Credit is extended it will allow for many of the buyers who maybe haven’t even found a home to buy to conitnue in their purchasing efforts.

Our company, Oliver Homes, Inc. builds new homes and you can imagine how hard it is to move the time table backward. If it takes 4 months or more to build a new home you will need to to start construction within 120 days of the end of the tax credit or tax credit extension. Moving that back further it may take a few weeks or so at a minimum to decide what type new home they would want so it is imperative to almost start now in looking at a new home to be constructed.

As we move thru life it comes and goes too fast. For one buying an existing home or new home the six month extension that is really necessary for the real estate industry it will come and go too quickly. You need to start looking right now -not to take advantage of the current tax credit but to take advantage of the new extension of the next tax credit. Then hope it gets approved. Happy home buying!!

Building on your lot

Taylor Oliver — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:07:13 +0000

When it comes building on your lot many things need taken into consideration for the home buyer. I will in this post only talk about the value of the lot. In looking at the value of the lot in the build on your lot situation one needs to be aware that if a client is doing a construction loan he will probably need a 20 % downpayment of the total amount of the home purchase price and the lot value. If the lot is worth say $ 80,000 and the new home to be built would be $ 170,000 then the total cost of the new home (including the lot) would be $ 250,000. A 20% downpayment would require an investment of cash or more likely value of $ 50,000. We have stated that the land value was $ 80,000 which would then qualify for the 20% downpayment. This assumes that no loan remains on the land itself. If there is a loan on the land it cannot have a loan balance of greater than $ 30,000. Financing for a new home that is built on build on your lot situation can be tricky but very rewarding with a lender that specializes in this situation. The website www.oliverhomes.com has some good information on building on your lot as they build many homes on individual homeowner’s lots. Good luck with your building.

$ 1500 Energy Tax Credit

Taylor Oliver — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:01:00 +0000

As I write this I am surprised at the sometimes lack of interest in the $ 1500 tax credit for energy efficiency improvements to your home. Now I do realize that the credit is in some ways hard to understand but is anything the Federal Government easy to understand - i.e. read the tax code or a Medicare Benefit statement. This is, however, something to take advantage of this year and in 2010. Find a remodeling contractor who has an understanding of what is happening in this area, confirm that information with your accountant, and save 30% on a product for your home that qualifies. It really is a great deal. You get a 30% discount from your taxes, you get continuing energy savings on your elelctric, oil or other utlilty bill, and you enjoy a more comfortable home. It ’s a win all around. Good luck and go for those savings.

$ 8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit

Taylor Oliver — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:11:11 +0000

The current stimulus package including the $ 8,000 first time buyer tax credit which is set to expire November 30, 2009 needs to be extended. In the current state of the economy we are not seeing a tremendous influx of homebuyers who are taking advantage of the tax credit. They are obviously saying “I need to make sure I have a job before I can take advantage of the tax credit”. This is very true. If you don’t have employment you don’t need a tax credit. Extending the tax credit would at least help people as their confidence in employment increases they will feel more inclined to make a major purchase such as a new home. Let’s work on congress to extend this tax credit.

Energy Tax Credits

Taylor Oliver — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:16:56 +0000

In reviewing the documentation on the energy tax credits for home improvements I would agree with many who talk about the confusing nature of the explanations. We do need to be aware that despite the confusing nature of what products are available for the tax credit it is a 30% tac credit. This amount of credit is worthy of the research involved in figuring out what it is involved. On regular projects, i.e. replacement windows, doors, etc there is a cap of $ 1500 and you only get the credit on the material itself. Sounds pretty simple until you figure out that the windows you use in one location i.e. Florida that qualify there do not qualify in say Maryland where I live. The same is true the other way in that the windows that qualify in Maryland may not qualify in Florida. It is important to deal with a contractor who is knowledgeable about what products qualify and what documentation is needed when you get ready to fill out your 2009 taxes. From what I’ve seen I do not expect your accountant to figure it out as he’s not into home improvements. We have been working on giving people the documentation and saying take this to your accountant when you do your 2009 taxes and get the 30% tax credit. Best wishes in taking advantage of a great opportunity in improving your home and getting a 30% tax credit to boot !!