Home - Surprise AZ Real Estate - Mike Horton, Century 21 Arizona Foothills

Surprise Az Real Estate By Mike Horton

Homing In On Your Dream

Tax credit for new home buyer

You have heard about the $8000 you can get back on taxes if you buy a new home and qualify. Here are some details as I best understand it. Remember to verify all details with your tax professional.

Is it a Tax Credit or a Tax Deduction

A tax credit reduces your taxes owed. If you owe $8,500 in taxes and apply the $8,000 tax credit, your tax bill is reduced to $500. If you have already paid $9,000 through payroll deductions or estimated tax payments, you will get a refund of $8,500. If you have a refund coming then you add the $8000 to your refund!

A tax deduction is a reduction against earned income. If you made $100,000, an 8,000 tax deduction would simply reduce taxable income to $92,000, and you would pay taxes on that lower income. If you are paying taxes at a rate of 20% that would reduce your tax bill by $1600. That's a big difference!

How Does the $8,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit Work?

If qualified you can receive a tax credit of 10% of the purchase price, with a maximum credit amount of $8,000. This means if you buy a home for $80,000 or more, you can deduct the full $8,000 tax credit from your total taxes. You can also amend your 2008 return and take the deduction in 2008, if you so desire.

The $8,000 tax credit is not a loan and does not need to be repaid. You still qualify if you financed your home purchase with state or local bond funding. if you sell that home within the first 3 years of ownership, the entire amount of the tax credit is recaptured by the IRS. That means it must be paid back.

Qualifications for the $8,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit

1. Only first time home buyers (you have not owned a home in the last 3 years) are eligible.

2. The home must be your principal residence.

3. Only homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009 qualify for the tax credit.

4. Limited to individuals with adjusted gross incomes of $75,000 as a single person or $150,000 filing jointly. There is a phase-out for single incomes between $75,000 and $95,000, and for couples filing jointly with incomes between $150,000 and $170,000.

Be sure to talk to your tax professsional for upto date details and see if you qualify.

Taxes on your foreclosure? Maybe not!

Need to short sale because of a bad mortgage?

Did you have a foreclosure or are you trying to short sale your home? Be sure to take advantage of the 2007/2008 rulings by IRS on foreclosure and short sale for information on possible exemption from income taxes. Review information on the IRS tax advisory and be sure to talk to your tax professional. CALL ME if you are short selling your home. I have experience in short sales and can help you with this tough problem.

2008 Surprise Real Estate Buying

Are you waiting for the bottom in home prices? Have you been considering a new home? First time home buyer? There are many real estate analyst that believe we are either at bottom or near that magical point in the residential home market.

Short Sale home in Surprise In Surprise, El Mirage, Waddell and Wittmann and the surrounding area in the under $200,000 home value market, there is plenty of selection. Overall the number of home sales have stablized and the number of homes for sale have decreased slightly. Are we at bottom? Have we passed bottom? We really won't know until after its over. But look at this example of my recent sales, 1884 sf home for $115,000 and 3889 sf for $259,000. These are move-in ready homes, not beatup and in great places to live!

So why buy now? 3 very good reasons. First, prices are way down. Secondly, there are a lot of houses on market, so you can select just the right house to meet your specific needs or for some of us the dream home we have always wanted.

The third reason, are interest rates and financing. I work with vendors who have interest rates well below 6% and FHA loans that significantly reduce the downpayments need. The caveat is that your credit scores has to be pretty good and you need a fairly clean report. There are programs that are funded by state and local government that can help, if you know about them!

If you are waiting for some analyst to tell you the bottom of the market is here, your too late and buying on the upswing. Can you time the stock market? If you buy now you are going to get a great deal. Look for what you want, selection will never be better and interest rates are great. Why wait? Surprise and the West Valley has your new home.

Welcome from Mike Horton: Your Surprise Real Estate Agent

Welcome to my web site. This site is all about providing you with the information you need to better buy or sell real estate in the Phoenix Arizona West Valley. My area of expertise includes the cities of Surprise, Wittmann, Waddell, Avondale, Goodyear and Buckeye. You can search for real estate to purchase or get information to sell with the MLS listings tool under the Search MLS Listings tab.

Homes for all dreams Working with a Realtor who is a marketing and technology expert can maximize the exposure of your home to prospective buyers and reduce the time it takes to sell or buy your home. As your Surprise Real Estate agent, I can help you with your home for sale in Surprise or anywhere in the West Valley. Using tools like the National Listing Service as well as the local mls listing will help sell your in Surprise and other West Valley home locations.

As a buyer, I can help you find the right Surprise home for sale and possibly take advantage of the current number of Surprise short sale homes. Short sale home sales and purchases require experience. The processors are so overwhelmed that if part of the paper work or communications have even a small error, your paperwork can be thrown out!

If you are considering selling, buying or rent a home I want to be your Real Estate agent and help you to "home in on your dream". Call me at 623.606.8861 or send an email (see my Contact page) with your questions.

Sincerely

Mike Horton

What information can I find on this site?

Throughout my web site I hope you will find the information you need to help you in making home buying and selling decisions for Surprise real estate as well as Phoenix real estate.

Buyers (Pre-owned homes)

When you begin thinking of buying a home you might want to search the Neighborhood tab and if you are not familiar with our state the About Arizona tab. If you are looking at pre-owned homes be sure to look at the MY Listings tab and the Search MLS Listings. The My Listings tab really focuses on Phoenix West Valley, Surprise and Phoenix North. There is also some great general information about buying a home under the Buying Tab. As you begin to narrow down your choices work in the Mortgages tab to get pre-qualified and begin deciding who will give you the best service for your mortgage. You may also find some very helpful information in the Money Taxes and Finance tab as well as the Resources tab.

Buyers (New Subdivision and Custom homes)

When thinking about a home within a subdivision, be aware of all the latest incentives that are available. Each builder is different and they change weekly. Send me an email to info@mikehortonrealty.com with your specific needs and I will keep you updated as the incentives change. If you are considering a custom built or semi-custom built home, look at the Custom Homes tab and the Land and Lots tab for information on builders and some excellent building locations in the West Valley.

Sellers

Before you put your home on the market doing some homework on what buyers are looking for in real estate for sale in Surprise will help me in marketing your home successfully. Selling a home is a partnership between myself as your Surprise Real Estate Agent and you. We both have to do our part. The information under the Selling Tab, Home Evaluation Tab and Resources Tabs are all designed to help you better understand how to sell in a buyers market. Also look at the new section on Staging and Energy below.

If you are considering a Short Sell in Surprise or anywhere in the West Valley, there are tax and legal implications you need to consider. The Money, Tax and Finance tab has information that will prepare you to talk to your legal and tax consultants when working with your financial institution.

I live in Surprise which is in the NW part of the West Valley and I want to be your Surprise Real Estate Agent. You can learn more about me in the About Mike Horton tab and in My Blog. I am happy to answer any questions on real estate in Surprise or the West Valley and how I can help you with your real estate needs. Please give me a call at 623-606-8861 or email at info@mikehortonrealty.com with your questions. Let’s work together in getting your real estate goals accomplished.

Home Staging and Energy Tips

Want to know more information about how to better sell your home or about energy efficency. Check out these new videos for some great ideas.

Smart Home Tour - Energy efficient home for Urban environments

Inside an Energy Audit

Staging Tips

Stage This Room

Home Office Makeover

Master Bedroom Makeover

Living Room Maker

Announcements

Preliminary Home Evaluation
Maricopa County has just released home evaluations for 2010. See how yoru city fared in the home market. read more...

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El Mirage Renters and Buyers

Renting in EL Mirage? Would you want help in buying a home? There is financing available now to help with down payments, especially if you are a first time home buyer. There is a great program available that will enable you to do a $0 down, and its not some funny loan. This is a down payment program run by the city. CALL NOW. 623-606-8861 and I can help you. Even if you are renting in other areas and you want to buy a great home, you may qualify. LETS TALK, there are only a very few select lenders that can make this program happen. I can help you now. This is limited to just a few buyers so lets get going!