Safe Kids Day - Farmington, Utah

Are You Ready to Sell?? NOW IS THE TIME!!

ARE YOU READY TO SELL?? NOW IS THE TIME!!

Midwest, West Lead Pending Home Sales

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS                            TUESDAY, MARCH, 21, 2015

Pending homes sales in February surged to the highest level since June 2013, led by significant gains in contract signings in the Midwest and West, according to the latest reading from the National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings.

Pending home sales last month increased 3.1 percent month-over-month, and contracts are up 12 percent over last year's totals. Sizable sales gains in the Midwest and West helped to offset smaller declines in teh Northeast and South, according to NAR.

"Pending sales showed solid gains last month, driven by a steadily-improving labor market, mortgage rates hovering around 4% and the likelihood of more renters looking to hedge against increasing rents," says Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "These factors bode well for the prospect of an uptick in sales in coming months. However, the underlying obstacle - especially for first-time buyers - continues to be the depressed level of homes available for sale."

The share of first-time home buyers did inch up slightly in February - the first increase since November 2014. First-time home buyers made up 29% of buyers in February, up from 28% in January.

"Several markets remain highly-competitive due to supply pressures, and REALTORS are reporting severe shortages of move-in ready and available properties in lower price ranges," said Yun. "The return of first-time buyers this year will depend on how quickly inventory shows up in the market."

Call today & let us help you analyze your home's value to determine if NOW is your time to sell!!

Garden Basics: Vegetable Gardening in Small Spaces

All this nice spring weather makes me want to get outside & plant something...maybe I should take a class first :) 

Here's one -

Garden Basics: Vegetable Gardening in Small Spaces

Date(s): 04/09/2015
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Location: Davis County Courthouse 28 East State Street Room 107, Farmington
Learn simple ways to eat fresh from your garden using containers and small garden spaces. Pre-registration is required – space is limited.

Five cool tech ideas for your home

Five cool tech ideas for your home

Looking for some cool upgrades for your home? Here are a few suggestions for tech devices that would make an awesome addition to your place.

1. Laser Robot Vaccuum: This awesome little robot by Neato Robotics does the dirty work for you. Not only will it clean the house after you go to sleep, but it has a special laser that maps the home. This little guy knows where it’s been and where it hasn’t, and when it’s done it drives itself back in the closet!
2. Heated driveway: If you live in a cold weather state, shoveling snow is a dreaded fact of life. What if you could throw the shovel away? Heated driveway technology, utilizing mats and cables within the driveway, can eliminate strenuous snow removal from your life.
3. Thermal Imaging Gun: High energy bills taking their toll? Try the Black and Decker thermal leak detector. With this little device you can check your home for energy leaks. The infrared thermometer will detect leaks and let you know where the hot and cold spots are.
4. Sun Tunnel: Looking to add natural light but a sky light may not be viable? Try the Velux Sun Tunnel. This cool flexible tube can find its way around obstructions and deliver a perfect amount of light into your room.
5. Wireless Can Light Speaker: The Klipsch LightSpeaker system gives you the best of both worlds. This wireless speaker screws right into your can lighting. It even comes with an efficient LED light. This would be awesome!

The 6 Most Essential Homebuyer Tips

National Tortilla Chip Day!

Today is National Tortilla Chip Day!! To celebrate National Tortilla Chip Day, buy a bag of your favorite tortilla chips (or try making your own) and enjoy them with your favorite dip! And to help you with this - here is an idea or two!

Recipe ideas here

The 5 Latest ‘Must-Have’ Amenities of Home Shoppers

The 5 Latest ‘Must-Have’ Amenities of Home Shoppers

Posted in Home Trends, by Melissa Tracey on February 9, 2015

Besides an upscale kitchen and plenty of space, what are new-home buyers’ looking for when house hunting? Surveys by the National Association of Home Builders and homebuilder PulteGroup shed some light on a few of the latest in-demand amenities.

1. Walk-in closets: Large closets, particularly in the master bedroom, is among one of home shoppers’ top priorities, according to the NAHB survey of builders and remodelers. Indeed, 31 percent of 1,000 home owners recently surveyed by PulteGroup said they’d sacrifice another household feature in order to have his-and-hers closets in the master bedroom.

2. Luxurious laundry rooms: Buyers are looking for more than just a place to stick their washer and dryer. They want upgraded laundry rooms – complete with skylights, built-in ironing boards, space for folding clothes, extra storage, and upgraded appliances, according to the NAHB survey.

3. Energy efficiency: Home buyers are looking to cut utility costs, and energy efficiency appliances and products can be one way to do that. Low e-windows, Energy Star appliances, and programmable thermostats are more in demand among home shoppers.

4. Great rooms: These large open spaces that often merge dining rooms, living rooms, and kitchens continue to be in high-demand among home shoppers, according to NAHB’s poll of builders. “Great rooms are wonderful places where everyone in the family can sit around, or where the kids can do their homework while you get dinner ready,” Stephen Melman of NAHB told MainStreet. “Today’s great rooms are large, bright and just make you feel good being there.”

5. Taller first-floor ceilings: More home buyers want the first floor to stretch beyond the typical eight-foot ceiling. They’re asking builders for nine-foot ceiling heights. The taller ceilings can open up living rooms, dining rooms, and other spaces on the first floor. But home shoppers say they can do without the cathedral ceiling in the family room, which can be too costly to heat and cool. Also, they aren’t preferring the higher ceilings on the second floor, which many home buyers say they want to feel more cozy, Melman says.

http://styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org/2015/02/09/the-5-latest-must-have-amenities-of-home-shoppers/#sf7428535

Sell your home fast!! Tis the season!

National Tortellini Day!

It's National Tortellini Day! 

And to celebrate, here is one of my favorite recipes! We loved it at our house!


http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/cheesy-sausage-tortellini.html#Bw4ej3bciVAP9CFT.32

Looking at Homes - Online vs In Person

This is so true!! We always say ya got to walk through the home, to see it, to smell it, to touch it. Then you'll know if it's the right one for you!
Let us know how The Tiger Ladies at Golden Spike Realty can help you in finding your next adventure in home ownership!! It's what we do :)

The tax man cometh...here are some tips to get ready for him!

6 things to do in January to prepare for tax time

The good news, bad news and worse news about your 2014 taxes

You will be facing a lot more documentation challenges this tax season, so it’s time to get started on your January to-do list.

Make a list of all the places from which you are expecting to receive documents.

Employers (W-2), customers (1099-MISC), merchant banking and PayPal (1099-K), investments (1099-INT and 1099-DIV), pension and IRA accounts (1099-R), sales or dispositions of real estate (1099S, 1099-A, 1099-COD, etc.), mortgage lenders (1098), state payments and refunds (1099-G), and so forth. Using last year’s tax file will give you a starting point. Make note of sources that you have closed out during the year. Though they may still issue reports for the few months’ worth of activities. Add the new income and expense sources to your list.

Note: If you had taxable gambling winnings, you would have received the W-2G form from the establishment on the spot. It will not be coming in the mail.

Did you move?

If you moved at any time last year, your employers, banks, etc. might have the wrong address for you. Send them updates this week — call them and fax or email the information so they get your correct address as soon as possible. One of the most common complaints TaxMama.com gets is that people didn’t receive their W-2s and 1099s — because they moved and forgot to notify the relevant issuers.

As a business, do you need to issue a Form 1099-MISC to anyone?

If you don’t already have each vendor’s name, address and tax ID number (especially via a Form W-9), get on the ball and start collecting that information immediately. Beware: vendors and freelancers who were not planning to pay taxes on their earnings may get hostile when you ask for their tax ID numbers.

You need to send the 1099s to recipients by Jan. 31 — even though you may not have to file the forms with the IRS until March 31. The penalty starts at $100 for each late 1099-MISC you issue. You know how antsy your vendors, affiliates, and freelancers get when the forms arrive late.

In fact, establish a policy for 2015. Before issuing a check to any freelancer or service provider, have them provide you with a signed Form W-9. It will save you a lot of trouble — and fights — next January.

Get proof of your health insurance coverage.

And that of your family members. Along with this, you will need to know the income of all members of the household in order to compute the health care credit or penalty. You’ll find new lines on your Form 1040. Line 61 deals with the tax/penalty for not having health care coverage. Line 69 is for the additional tax credit from Form 8962. Wow! You must see this form. In addition to household income, it asks about your monthly health insurance payment, your monthly premium tax credits…and so much more. (You will want to read the instructions.) This is the most complicated form that the IRS has ever issued for individuals to fill out. And it’s still in draft form.

Note: Administration of this new program will overtask the IRS, which is understaffed and will thus be hard-pressed to verify the information you provide this year. Since there may be refunds involved, this is ripe for fraud. Expect the IRS to be slow in issuing these refunds, while they try to insure the filings are valid.

What’s your name?

Did you get married or divorced last year and change your name? Or did you simply change your name, officially, because you didn’t like your old name? Update your name on your Social Security record. Until you change the name on your Social Security card, use your previous name on your tax return. Don’t worry about the name on the W-2 or 1099 not matching the tax return.

Do you own rental real estate or a business that depreciates its assets?

There is a raft of new rules about depreciating vs. capitalizing property that takes effect for the 2014 tax returns. They are called uniform capitalization rules. What does that mean to you?

The good news:

If you have not claimed depreciation on assets, but should have, you will be able to catch up on all the lost depreciation at once. That could mean a generous tax deduction on your business or rental. For rentals with suspended losses, don’t worry, you won’t lose this additional deduction. This will simply increase the losses you will be able to use when you finally sell the building.

The bad news:

Practically everyone who is now, or should have been, depreciating anything will have to attach a Form 3115 to make an election (a declaration) that they will be opting into the IRS’s new capitalization rules. It’s complicated. Tax professionals, researchers and writers have been discussing this for over two years and we still have many open questions. Don’t tackle this alone. Having a tax professional work with you on this improves your chances of getting it right. If you still get it wrong, you can avoid the penalties because you tried to get professional guidance.

Worse news:

You see, you just might get audited over this change. Or not. In March 2014, before the IRS was hit with the Congressional budget cuts, they updated their audit guide on Capitalizing vs. Expensing Repairs.

The Form 3115 will have to be filed with the relevant 2014 tax return and sent in to a special IRS unit as well. It will require the taxpayer’s signature.

Is there any good news in the tax world for the month of January? Well, we’re expecting to see a lot of funny and exasperating antics from taxpayers, celebrities, and tax professionals as we try to muddle through the new rules. So, stay tuned for humorous stories.

Eva Rosenberg is a tax columnist for MarketWatch. You can follow her on Twitter @TaxMama.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/6-things-january-prepare-tax-110136585.html?utm_content=buffer4e89c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=plus.google.com&utm_campaign=buffer

5 Things to Consider before tapping your home for cash!!

During the housing bust, many homeowners were cut off from a popular source of funds: their homes.
But as home prices recover, more people have been able to tap their home's equity to pay for renovations, consolidate debts or help pay for other big ticket items.


Home equity lines of credit were up 27% during the year ended June 30, according to financial services company Experian and consulting firm Oliver Wyman. And more people are expected to follow suit.
But does that mean a home equity loan (HEL) or home equity line of credit (HELOC) is right for you? Here are five things you need to consider.

1. Rates
In recent years, mortgage rates have hovered near historic lows -- with nearly 9 million borrowers getting 30-year fixed mortgages at or below 4%, according to CoreLogic.
Now rates are expected to rise.
"We may be in for a more volatile period," said Keith Gumbinger, of HSH.com, a mortgage information firm. Coming to an end next month are several of the Federal Reserve's efforts to keep rates low under its quantitative easing monetary policy, he noted.
So if you are one of the borrowers who locked in an ultra-low rate in the past few years, a home equity loan or HELOC could save you more money than refinancing the entire mortgage through a cash-out refinance.

If you refinance your loan now, you're likely to pay a rate that is as much as a percentage point higher than your original loan. And you will be paying that rate on the entire loan balance.
"Somebody who has a 3.5% first mortgage is not going to do a cash-out refinance at 5.5% unless they absolutely have to," said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst for BankRate.com.

While rates on home equity loans tend to be a couple of percentage points higher, you will only be paying that higher rate on a fraction of your total loan balance.
HELOCs tend to offer competitive rates, but they are often adjustable, meaning there is a risk they will rise. Again, you will only pay the higher rate on the amount of credit you've taken out.

2. Costs
The price you'll pay upfront to get a home equity loan or HELOC is far cheaper than refinancing.
That's because many lenders make you go through the full underwriting process when you refinance -- and they charge all the fees that go along with that process, too.

You can expect to pay inspection and attorney review fees, for example, and you will have to get a new title search and insurance, which can typically cost $1,000 or more, depending on the size of your mortgage. In total, all of those upfront costs of refinancing can put you back two to three grand depending on the size of your loan.
Meanwhile, some lenders issue home equity loans or lines of credit with no upfront costs; borrowers pay for their application, appraisal and other fees by paying a higher interest rate.

3. Time
When you take out a home equity loan or HELOC, you keep making your payments on the same payment schedule.
When you refinance a loan, however, the clock resets.

So even if you've paid 30 months on a 30-year loan and then refinance, when you make your first payment on the new loan it will be like starting at day one of the 30-year term.
However, if you opt to roll the 30-year loan into a 15-year one, that would then reduce the number of payments you make but increase the amount of your payments each month.

4. What the loan or line of credit is for
The best reason to take out a home equity loan is when it has some positive impact on your finances. Using it to pay for a renovation that adds value to your property, for example, or to pay for an advanced degree that can increase your earning power.
Of course, there are times when borrowing against your home doesn't make sense.
It can be foolish to tap your home's equity for nonessential spending, for example. Using home equity to buy a Mercedes, pay for a luxury vacation or make some other discretionary purchase can be a foolish move. The money will be gone and you will be paying off the debt for years to come.
Draining your home of equity can also put you on the road to foreclosure. Run into unexpected expenses and there's one less source of funds to tap.

5.Tax benefits
Just like first mortgages, certain home equity loans and HELOCs are eligible for the home mortgage interest deduction. Borrowers can deduct up to $100,000 of interest paid on a mortgage's principal.
That's not always the case when you pursue a cash-out refinance.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/07/real_estate/home-equity-loans/index.html?section=money_realestate&utm_content=buffer9d2cb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=plus.google.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Organization?? What's that?!

January always feels like time for organization...what do you think about these ideas?? I'm not sure I have enough cabinet/drawer space for them.

Nice Spice
Most spice racks are corny — there, we said it. A better idea is to keep that jumble of little jars and tins off your counter and hidden away in a drawer. This clever spice rack insert ($60 for a 16-inch-wide rack) fits most standard drawers and easily can be trimmed to fit odd sizes. The angled shelves hold spice jars so it’s easy to read labels.


Check out the other ideas here!

How to Inspect Windows & Doors to Stop Air Leaks...let's hope we don't have any :)

How to Inspect Windows and Doors to Stop Air and Water Leaks

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Inspect windows and doors regularly to stop air and water leaks that mean costly energy and repair bills. We’ll show you how.

Take a close look at your windows, doors, and skylights to stop air leaks, foil water drips, and detect the gaps and rot that let the outside in. You can perform a quick check with a home air-pressure test, or a DIY energy audit.

Luckily, these inspections are easy to do. Here’s how to give your house a checkup:

How to Check for Air Leaks

A home air pressure test sucks outside air into the house to reveal air leaks that increase your energy bills. To inspect windows and other openings:

• Seal the house by locking all doors, windows, and skylights.

• Close all dampers and vents.

• Turn on all kitchen and bath exhaust fans.

• Pass a burning incense stick along all openings -- windows, doors, fireplaces, outlets -- to pinpoint air rushing in from the outside.

How to Pinpoint Window Problems

Air and water can seep into closed widows from gaps and rot in frames, deteriorating caulking, cracked glass, and closures that don’t fully close.

To stop air leaks, give your windows a thorough inspection:

• Give a little shake. If they rattle, frames are not secure, so heat and air conditioning can leak out and rain can seep in. Some caulk and a few nails into surrounding framing will fix this.

• Look deep. If you can see the outside from around -- not just through -- the window, you’ve got gaps. Seal air leaks by caulking and weather stripping around frames.

• Inspect window panes for cracks.

• Check locks. Make sure double-hung windows slide smoothly up and down. If not, run a knife around the frame and sash to loosen any dried paint. Tighten cranks on casement windows and check that top locks fully grab latches.

Some older windows can be repaired and save you money over new windows. However, if you think you'll automatically gain energy savings, think carefully -- there may be other, cheaper ways to cut utility bills, such as sealing air leaks.

Related: Should You Repair or Replace Your Windows?

Inspecting Doors for Leaks

• Check doors for cracks that weaken their ability to stop air leaks and water seeps.

• Inspect weather stripping for peels and gaps.

• Make sure hinges are tight and doors fit securely in their thresholds.

Related: Choosing an Exterior Door

Checking Out Skylights

Brown stains on walls under a skylight are telltale signs that water is invading and air is escaping. Cut a small hole in the stained drywall to check for wetness, which would indicate rot, or gaps in the skylight.

To investigate skylight leaks, carefully climb on the roof and look for the following:

• Open seams between flashing or shingles.

• Shingle debris that allows water to collect on roofs.

• Failed and/or cracked patches of roofing cement put down the last time the skylight leaked.

Related: 

Skylight Installation and Costs

Increase Daylight to Fend off Seasonal Affective Disorder

Read more: http://members.houselogic.com/articles/how-inspect-windows-doors-stop-air-and-water-leaks/preview/#ixzz3EjtyAeIj
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