Real News March 2015


IN THIS ISSUE

Real Views
Relocation Tax Breaks
Flooring Trends
Ways to Sell in Spring
New Listings
Houston Happenings

  NEW LISTINGS 

14719 River Forest Dr.
Listing Price: $719,500
Subdivision: Westchester
Bedrooms: 5 Bedroom(s)
Baths: 3 Full & 1 Half Bath(s)
Garage: 2 Car Attached, Detached
Stories: 2 Story

3214 Vinca Ranch Dr.
Listing Price: $235,000
Subdivision: Katy Creek Ranch
Bedrooms: 3 Bedroom(s)
Baths: 2 Full & 1 Half Bath(s)
Garage: 2 Car Attached

Stories: 2 Story

758 Windbreak Trail
Listing Price: $669,900
Subdivision: Memorial Thicket
Bedrooms: 5 Bedroom(s)
Baths: 4 Full Bath(s)
Garage: 2 Car Attached
Stories: 2 Story
Houston Happenings

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
(March 3 - 22, 2015)
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the world's largest live entertainment and livestock exhibition. 
Controlling the Costs of Home Ownership Seminar
(March 25, 2015)
This informative annual seminar, hosted by Energy Realty's own Sherry Campbell, will include a discussion on how to control the costs associated with home ownership. Come join us on March 25th at the Lakes of Parkway Clubhouse at 7 p.m.
Top Residential Real Estate Awards
(March 25, 2015)
Join the Houston Business Journal and the Houston Association of Realtors for the Top Residential Real Estate Professional Awards. Over 400 businessmen and women including the who's who of Houston real estate will be on hand to honor the 2015 winners.

2015 Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park
(March 27 - 29, 2015)
More than 300 artists in 19 mediums encompassing fine arts and crafts are showcased in this popular outdoor festival.
Real Views by: Sherry Campbell
Broker and Owner of Energy Realty
Last year, the majority of home owners were hit with drastic increases in property taxes. While most of us were happy to see the values of our homes soar over the last few years, the downside was when our tax values also went up. I have a rule that every homeowner should protest their tax values every year.

There is a misconception that the tax appraisal should match your home’s real value, but the reality is that the Market Value (price that you should be able to sell your home for) should always be higher than the tax appraisal value. In fact, my personal tax appraisal is about $100k less than what I would sell by home for because I protest every year. Read More
3 Tax Breaks that Provide Relief to Relocating Employees
Great news for American taxpayers: many tax deductions, credits and incentives from 2013 have been extended to cover 2014! On December 19, President Obama signed the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, which includes a one-year retroactive extension for many of the temporary tax provisions that had expired December 31, 2013. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates this package will cost $41.6 billion over 10 years.

There are dozens of renewed provisions, but these three items are particularly relevant to mobility and relocating employees:

1. Exclusion of certain discharged mortgage debt from gross income
This exclusion protects homeowners from being taxed on the forgiveness of mortgage debt incurred when acquiring their homes (up to $2 million or $1 million if married and filing separately). 
Read More
Flooring Trends to Sell Your Listing
CSC Floors

A few weeks ago, we attended the annual international flooring market, Surfaces. We make time to go every year to see the latest in new products, flooring trends, and to get important updates about the industry. Flooring plays an important role in selling a listing – knowing what flooring styles and trends buyers are seeing in the media and looking for in the homes they’re buying will help you sell your listings even faster. Here are some of the trends CSC Floors feels will be most important to you, your sellers and your buyers in 2015:

Carpet – It’s Back, and Patterns are in Demand
• Over the last few years, buyers preferred hard surfaces, such as wood and tile, over carpet; however in 2015, expect more of a balance between preferences for hard surfaces and the warmer, softer look and feel of carpet.  Read More

Ways to Sell Your Home in the Spring
Spring is the optimum time to sell a home. Regardless of whether it's a buyer's market or a seller's market, inventory almost always rises in the spring. Why? Because the largest number of buyers are actively searching for a new home during the months of April, May and June.

Tip: If your home has been languishing on the market since the holidays, take it off the market. Give it a chance to "cool down" for a few weeks before putting it back on the market. Nobody is going to look at your home in the spring if the DOM show it's been on the market for several months. Buyers gravitate toward fresh, new listings!  Read More

Best Wishes,

Your Energy Realty Team