Comments on: What Sells a House – Important Tips for Effective Home Selling

By: Hoosier Mom

Hoosier Mom — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 08:22:23 +0000

Do you have family or friends who can take your children to their homes for a while, while your husband & you are doing the necessary improvements? Your thirteen year old is old enough to help you with some of the work. Perhaps he can do some of the lawn work.

By: Brad

Brad — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 11:21:47 +0000

You major fee is the commission which is negotiable. 6% is typical in PA, but 5% is also very common. Your selling broker will split this fee with the buyer's broker.

Other fees are transfer tax of 1% of the sales price. ($3000)…

There are a few other incidentals that may run a couple hundred.

These costs are taken out of the "net" proceeds at closing. (sales price – loan balance – seller assist).

By: Me Me

Me Me — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:21:50 +0000

Will buyers need to only do cosmetic work or are other significant repairs needed? Is your home in a highly desirable area?

If it's in an average neighborhood, your best chance of selling a property "as is" is to set the selling price low, probably lower than you would want…

Set up a meeting with a real estate agent and get their input.

If you are really motivated to sell and get as much as you can out of your place, you probably will need spend some money as the other answers have suggested.

By: TT01

TT01 — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:11:51 +0000

If your permanent residence will be in the US, you will be leaving (emigrating from) Canada. Upon leaving Canada you will trigger a "deemed disposition" of all your assets in Canada. This may cause you to owe capital gains taxes.

See the CRA website below for more info.

By: Blogger

Blogger — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:02:53 +0000

Great Video Presentation,now I have more ideas how to start my business.Thanks

By: sunshinelover7567

sunshinelover7567 — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:56:41 +0000

You could always try to offer your assistance to people who are selling their house without an agent. The newspaper has tons of FSBO ads. Try calling some and see if anyone is interested.

You could also try calling some of the larger real estate companies and work as a stager and also maybe do some other assistant work.

By: Cookie On My Mind

Cookie On My Mind — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:16:48 +0000

Have you lived in it for at least 2 of the last 5 years? If so, there's no capital gains tax from the IRS, and the money is yours to spend as you wish.

Glenn is correct – This all depends upon what you'll do with these newly cleaned up credit cards….. It's a falacy that people can get out of debt by placing all their credit card debt onto their house. They usually run up their cards again in a few years and are then worse off than before.

Put the money to the house. Start paying EXTRA to your credit cards. Start cutting up your credit cards. Then start sending extra to your house.

FREEDOM!!!!!!

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:25:49 +0000

Loss on sale of personal residence is not deductible on tax return. You have a good idea about turning the house into a rental property, but should probably have it be a rental for around 1 to 2 years before selling it in order to make a good case if the IRS ever decided to audit you.

By: Cupid

Cupid — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:06:32 +0000

All great answers! No one mentioned if you short sale your house yo also get a 1099 from your bank for the difference. They make you claim tax on it as if it were income.
There is a revision on this law currently being voted on or something.

By: gerel

gerel — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:57:11 +0000

Declutter, depersonalize and clean. Have the place in market ready condition as much as possible, price appropriate for the market and implement the suggestions that his Realtor gives him.