If you’re like most owners, you think your home is perfect and you can’t understand why it wouldn’t sell exactly like it is. This is a common problem. It’s called “You can’t see what’s right in front of your face because you’re enamored with your house-itis.”

This is often the reason homes go unsold while others fly off the market. Symptoms include too much clutter and personalization, outdated décor, and a general unwillingness to see the things that other people – like buyers and agents – are seeing.

There is a cure. It starts with taking a good, honest look at your home and making some small changes to turn what could be an unsellable house into a sold house. These 17 tips will have you eyeing that sold sign in no time.

1. Look at your home with fresh eyes. The reality is you may not even know what your house really looks like, because you’re not looking at it like someone who’s never seen it before. You overlook the pile of shoes at the front door, the lint on the ceiling fan, and the overflowing pile of mail on the counter.

Go outside, ring your doorbell, allow yourself to be let in, and scan the house, like you would an open house. What do you see? Clutter? Personalized items everywhere? Outdated décor? Dirty walls or floors? Broken appliances? Noticeable cracks in walls and wear and tear on floors? These are all things that will be noticed by buyers and can keep you from getting a good sales price or selling at all.

2. Organize bookshelves neatly, or, better yet if you’re a book hoarder, take half of the books and put them in boxes stacked neatly in the garage. You’ll have to box them up soon anyway, right? Get a head start now and de-clutter at the same time!

3. Apply that same principle to your picture frames and your knick-knacks. Creating some airiness will allow buyers to see the space, not your stuff.

4. And apply that same principle to your closets. Closets that are overfilled will be a turnoff for buyers. You want the house to look like it has ample space for everything, not that there is so little storage you have to cram everything in.

5. Clean your sinks and your toilets and keep them clean. Sound obvious? You’d be surprised.

6. Make sure the insides of your drawers and cabinets are tidy. Yes, people will open them. Wouldn’t you?

7. Have a dog? Clean up the poop in the backyard. Poop on a potential buyer’s shoe is a sure way to kill a sale.

8. Have a cat, bird, leopard, gecko, or any other type of animal? Tidy up their cage, take care of any visible waste, and make sure there are no prevailing odors. Stinky doesn’t sell.

9. And speaking of stinky… selling is about sensory. People will look, touch, and smell. Steal an idea from model home communities and bake chocolate chip cookies right before an open house or a showing if you have time.

10. At the very least, have fresh flowers in the entry to set an inviting tone. Also make sure you have a clean welcome mat out front and there are no advanced weeds, excessive leaves, or a dirty walkway. First impression, you know.

11. Look up, down, side to side. Let yourself see everything. Dirty light fixtures or missing or inoperable light bulbs, and filthy air conditioning registers or baseboards can put a bad taste in a buyer’s mouth, and all are simple fixes. Cleaning and painting baseboards is one of the quickest, easiest, and most impactful changes you can make to a space because it brightens up the space instantly and gives it a fresh look.

12. Check all the windows and doors, doorknobs, locks and any other little things that can be easily fixed by with a DIY moment.

13. Get dirty clothes off the floor. Even in the laundry room. If your laundry basket is overflowing and it’s time for a showing, put all the clothes in a trash bag and stow it in the garage. Just remember to bring the bag back in before trash day!

14. No dirty dishes in the sink. No time to wash them? Stow them in the dishwasher, even if they’re not scrubbed and ready to be loaded. And do it neatly. Buyers may open the dishwasher.

15. Same goes for your oven and your microwave. A quick fix for a dirty microwave: fill a microwavable bowl with water and zap it for two minutes. When it’s done, the steam will have loosened up anything caked or baked on, and you can simply wipe clean

16. Open the blinds or drapes and let the light in – and while you’re at it, clean the windows! Natural light is one of the top features homebuyers are looking for.

17. Make your bed. Seriously. No one wants to see your crumpled sheets or your jammie pants on the floor next to bed, for that matter.

Now, you’re ready to sell! 

- From realtytimes.com

The post 17 Ways to Get Your House Sold appeared first on Atlantic City Homes | Margate Homes For Sale | Galloway Homes.

National existing home sales volume fell 5.1 percent in January from the year before, but not for the reason you may think. Buyers want to buy, but there aren’t enough hassle-free (non-short sale or foreclosure) homes on the market.

In Atlantic County, 38% of all homes for sale in the first time homebuyer range (up to $150,000) are short sales or foreclosures.

In the next category, between $150,000 and $200,000, there are fewer distressed homes but still a significant amount of total inventory at 27% of homes for sale.

Home prices are slightly declining in Atlantic County due to more distressed home sales. Low & distressed inventories weren’t the only reason for slower sales. Explained Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, “Disruptive and prolonged winter weather patterns across the country are impacting a wide range of economic activity, and housing is no exception.”

Mortgage interest rates are also higher, making it more difficult for some buyers. Mortgage commitment rates eased slightly according to Freddie Mac, to 4.43 percent for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, from 4.46 percent in December. That’s up a full point from January 2013 when rates were 3.43 percent.

These factors could mean some weakening in the housing market and in the overall economy for the first quarter of 2014. However, as more homeowners decide to sell through traditional sales, home prices will begin to rise again and buyer activity will increase as well.

If you are thinking of putting your home on the market, I would be happy to meet with you for a comparative market analysis to determine what your home is worth. Contact me at 609-204-1344.

The post In Atlantic County, Not Enough Non-Distressed Homes on the Market appeared first on Atlantic City Homes | Margate Homes For Sale | Galloway Homes.

Getting ready for summer may be the last thing on your mind when you are trying to dig your way out from under three feet of snow, but it’s never too soon to start making backyard plans – especially if you are envisioning big changes.

Here we give you a few tips for some of the most popular backyard additions and changes, with planning you can start right now.

Adding a pool

If you’re a fan of having a pool in your backyard, you undoubtedly know that building one can be an expensive and time-intensive proposition. Experts say a pool can be built within six to eight weeks, but keep in mind that’s for a very simple pool with no weather delays or other issues popping up. More complex pools can take three to six months. And that’s just for the build itself.

Pool planning can drive anyone nuts – how big should it be? What style? What shape? Should it get full sun or should it go partway under a tree, which will create shade but also a leaves-in-the-pool situation? Do you want a spa? What materials should you use? And which company?

This is all part of the fun of building a pool. Heed a few tips from Pool Spa Outdoor.

“Think you might be ready to take the plunge? If you’re planning to buy your first backyard swimming pool, you probably need a few tips to get started,” said Pool Spa Outdoor. “Learn how to establish a budget, find a pool builder, and always remember to put fun on the list.

Outdoor Kitchens

No one addition to your backyard is hotter right now than adding an outdoor kitchen. But, the planning is critical to making sure you get a kitchen that functions well, looks great, and makes the best use of your space.

“Before you do anything else, spend some time thinking about what you really want and need in an outdoor kitchen,” said HGTV. “Ask yourself how you’ll actually use the new space and what makes the most sense in terms of your home’s architecture and its existing landscaping.”

See HGTV or Houzz for some design ideas or learn a few key tips from Better Homes and Gardens, and make sure before you get started, you ask yourself a few key questions from Red Beacon:

1. Will you be using the kitchen year-round? If so, there is weather-proofing to consider.
2. Where will you locate the kitchen? The closer to the house, “the lower expense for electrical and plumbing work.”
3. What do you plan to cook in the outdoor kitchen? Is a barbecue enough or do you need a range, a refrigerator, maybe even a pizza oven?
4. Do you need a sink? The plumbing costs will increase (but so will the convenience).
5. Where do you envision seating? “Decide on the seating area keeping in mind that the seating has to be comfortable and appropriate for outdoor use.”

For more planning tips, see Red Beacon. And if you need a new barbecue grill, Lifehacker says the best time to buy is January through March, before the weather starts to heat up, so keep your eyes open for sales.

Your Lawn

Everyone knows spring is the best time to plant flowers. But do you know when the best time to perk up your lawn is?

Many experts say that laying sod is best in “spring and early autumn… because cool temperatures combined with occasional rain help sod quickly root,” said Better Homes and Gardens. But, “you can lay sod anytime during the growing season,” if you care for it properly. “If you lay sod in summer, water at least once a day for several weeks.”

For DIY sod tips, see Better Homes and Gardens.

If you don’t want the expense of sod – it costs “about $400 to cover a 1,000-square-foot backyard (double that installed) – said This Old House, you can seed.

Best results for seeding are often achieved in the fall in cold-weather climates, because “fall’s cooler temperatures prevent the seeds from drying out, but there’s still enough sun and rain to help them germinate before going into hibernation for the winter, without the competition of crabgrass and other weeds that die off this time of year,” said This Old House.

But grass seed can be planted in the spring with good results, said Greenview, if you heed a few tips, mainly: “Do not apply weed control products to the grass. Delay the weed control application until the grass seed has germinated and you have mowed the grass at least three times.”

- From realtytimes.com

The post Start Planning Now For a Gorgeous Backyard This Summer appeared first on Atlantic City Homes | Margate Homes For Sale | Galloway Homes.

After 2008, many would-be home sellers couldn’t get the price they needed to sell. Or worse, their homes were underwater. And so, some homeowners were forced to become “accidental landlords.”

This year, as the real estate market continues to rebound in many parts of the country, millions of homeowners will consider getting back in the market. But this time, they’re trying to sell a tenant-occupied home.

A tenant can make or break your sale. You have to plan well in advance and communicate openly with your tenant to have a successful sale. In some cases, you may even have to postpone it. If you’re the owner of a tenant-occupied property that you want to sell, you’ve essentially got two options. Here’s what you need to know about each.

Option 1: Wait for the lease to expire

Most real estate agents would argue that a seller should wait for the rental agreement to expire. Tenants can sometimes be a bit of a wild card in the high-stakes real estate game, so some agents feel it’s best to proceed after the tenant leaves. After that, make some cosmetic fixes to clean up the home and sell it vacant.

This may be especially important if you have a difficult tenant or one who is unhappy that their home is “being sold out from under them.” The last thing you want, is to make showing the home more difficult — and a disgruntled tenant could easily do that by mucking up paint or leaving his place a mess. The result is that your property looks less appealing to potential buyers, which can have a dramatic effect on your bottom line.

On the other hand, selling a vacant rental unit isn’t always ideal for the seller’s finances. It can take months from the time the home goes on the market until it’s sold; that’s time during which the landlord receives no rent. This can be especially trying for sellers whose homes have been a long-term financial burden.

Option 2: Sell while the tenant is still there

It can be beneficial to keep your tenants in your home during the marketing and sales process, provided you have a good relationship with them. Homes show better with furniture, giving buyers a better feeling for what it would be like to live there.

Ready to sell but have a tenant in place? Do your best to work with them. Most tenants, upon hearing that the landlord would like to sell, immediately start looking for a new place to live. They’d rather just move on and not have to deal with keeping their home clean all the time, showings and phone calls from agents.

If your home is in a desirable neighborhood, you plan to price it right, and you believe it could sell quickly, use your tenant to your advantage. Lower their rent for a month or two leading up to the showing and/or selling. If you can get them to stay and cooperate through open houses and showings, tell them that you’ll guarantee them enough time to find another place and move. Also, if they’re helping you to get the home sold quickly, offer to help pay their moving costs.

Give thought to the message, delivery

Most tenants really don’t want to hold up your sale. Others will protest, and those are the ones who make the headlines or get talked about in real estate war stories.

If you have difficult tenants and suspect they won’t be cooperative, simply let the lease run out. Or find a way to legally take the home back and sell it vacant. But if you have a good relationship with your tenant, try to work with them. No tenant wants to be surprised with little (or no) notice that they must vacate.

Ultimately, the success of dealing with a tenant during a sale is less about the message itself, but in how the message is delivered.

- From Zillow.com

The post How to Sell a House With Tenants appeared first on Atlantic City Homes | Margate Homes For Sale | Galloway Homes.

Smart sellers spend a whole lot of time and energy strategizing about how to sell their homes for top dollar. They factor in buyer demand, the competition, the job market, the mortgage market and their agent’s track record. And that doesn’t even account for all the time spent understand recent home sales in the area as an indicator of how local buyers will react to this listing.

Many a smart seller will also try to time their listing just right, too. And most often this looks like waiting until they feel buyers are sufficiently ready, willing, and able to pay a good price for the property. One timing consideration that sometimes gets short shrift is this: the calendar.

There’s a season for everything, as you might have heard. There are also a number of calendar-based factors you should just be thoughtful about as you put your plan for selling together. Here are a handful of calendars that should be – and stay – on every home seller’s radar screen:

1. The Academic Calendar. Families with school-aged children often find it less disruptive to house hunt in the late Spring/early Summer with the aim of moving in before school starts. Of course, we all know what they say about the best laid plans, so by no means should you let this stop you from listing your home at another time of year. Just know that demand for homes with convenient proximity to strong schools can uptick during the summer school break and around other times of year when kids are not in school.

2. The Tax Calendar. I cannot count the number of relatively unmotivated, looky-loo type buyers I’ve worked with over the years who got sudden, intense motivation from a massive, looming tax bill. For instance, many new professionals will seek to close escrow on homes between the time they graduate and the end of that same year, in an effort to deduct their closing costs and mortgage interest from their newly large incomes and avoid a big tax bill the following April. Similarly, just after tax time in April, a flood of newly motivated buyers come into the market, advised by their CPAs that the mortgage interest deduction is their best bet for not having to write as big a check to the IRS next year.

Fortunately for sellers, more buyers and more motivation means more demand and – all other things being equal – can translate into a faster sale at a higher price than at other times of the year.

3. The Weather Calendar. Many sellers who live in cold-weather climates are aware that wintry weather conditions can dramatically cut down on the numbers of buyers who are out viewing properties. This is why buyer searches for homes on Trulia peak earliest, in January, in warm-weather states like Hawaii and Florida – and not until after the Spring thaws in the Midwest, the South, the northeast and most of the West.

But what’s not as obvious is that the combination of what’s happening on the weather calendar and the specific features of your home can interact to impact your home’s prospects for sale – and its ultimate sale price. Behavioral economics researchers have found that homes with swimming pools sell for more in the summertime than they do in the winter. “When it is sweltering outside, a swimming pool just looks attractive. There’s an emotional connection because it reminds us of fun times we have in the summer,” said Jaren Pope, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor of economics at Brigham Young University.

If you’re selling a pool house in the winter, consider making sure it is steamy and heated, if it has those features. Stage it with lounges, towels, lights – anything that showcases the pool to offset cold-weather buyer’s psychological tendency to discount the appeal of a pool in the winter.

4. The Holiday Calendar. During the holidays, many buyers simply prefer to spend their downtime celebrating with family and friends vs. house hunting, especially in locales where the winters are wet or cold. Our listing search data backs this up: nationwide, December is the slowest month of the year for home searches, and November is the second-slowest.

Does this mean the holidays are a bad time to have your house on the market? Not necessarily: some homes just show beautifully when all lit up and tastefully dressed up for the holidays. And the truth is that there is a hardy contingent of buyers motivated to close by year’s end for tax purposes, every year in every market. While buyers might be fewer in number, those who will brave rain, sleet and snow and forego holiday parties to house hunt can be some of the most motivated buyers of all.

5. The Gregorian Calendar (the regular old January through December calendar). A survey just released by Fidelity Investments revealed that 54% of Americans said they typically consider setting New Year’s Resolutions related to their personal finances. This year, 26 percent of respondents said they are in a better financial situation today than last year (only 19 percent said so in 2012) and 28 percent say they are less in debt (vs. 25 percent in 2012).

Home buying tends to be a popular resolution among those with money on their minds at this time of year – and also among people looking forward to career promotions, developing their love and family relationships or relocating to a new home town. Make sure your home is well-represented on sites like Trulia at the beginning of the year (i.e., now!), when these life and financial change visionaries start searching the web for their next nest.

- From Trulia.com

The post 5 Ways to Pick the Perfect Time to Sell appeared first on Atlantic City Homes | Margate Homes For Sale | Galloway Homes.

While in college, most students aren’t paying on their student loans. But once they’re out, those loan payments must begin and the housing situation they were in may no longer work for them.

So now they face a dilemma. Some may want to move out and no longer have roommates or they may want to live with a romantic interest. Renting is an option but some feel ready for a more significant commitment – they want a place of their own – they want it to be their own home.

The problem is that their student debt is consuming a good portion of their earnings, which makes it difficult to save for a downpayment. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, of the 20 percent of first-time buyers who found it difficult to save money for a downpayment, 54 percent blamed it on their student loan debt.

Sometimes the amount of the monthly payment to repay the student loan can disqualify a buyer. The massive student loan debt is causing college graduates to remain renters because they can’t stash away enough cash for a downpayment.

These first-time buyers are vital to the housing industry. They accounted for nearly a third of the homes purchased in the past year. Housing prices and mortgage rates have crept up some, so it is practically impossible for these college grads to get into a home while prices and rates are still good.

The student loan debt is huge (roughly between $902 billion and $1 trillion in total outstanding student loan debt in the United States). That alarming figure is creating concern that the housing recovery will be impacted due to the lack of borrowing power by this group. Nearly 20 million Americans attend college and about 60 percent of them borrow annually to cover some or all of their costs. According to the Federal Reserve Board of New York, there are approximately 37 million student loan borrowers with outstanding student loans.

Part of the problem is that students aren’t educated about buying a home when they’re being offered student loans. They rack up a lot of debt to complete college but then get out of college and realize that debt is compromising other opportunities.

Some college grads are frustrated that they didn’t receive more education about things such as learning about the qualifications needed to buy a home. While a college education is important and, in some cases, highly critical to a particular career, gaining an education about finances, investing, saving, balancing a checkbook, and buying a home, arguably can be equally vital not only to the individual but the core economics of society.

As we saw with the housing crisis, the less people know and understand about the housing market and the way mortgages work, the greater risk for them and the overall economy.

Educated and informed Americans can lead to Americans making wiser financial choices and ultimately a stronger economy.

- From realtytimes.com

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So you bought a home, poured your savings into a new kitchen, wood floors, and a great big fantastic walk-in shower with these great glass tiles up the wall and this amazing rain shower head that makes you feel like you’re in a spa and.. oops, you may have gone a little overboard.

And now you want to sell, and you’ve got to recoup the money you spent. But that shouldn’t be a problem. After all, who wouldn’t love your kitchen and your floors and your bathroom with that clawfoot tub you had custom powder-coated to match your eyes. I mean, you have excellent taste (and beautiful eyes), right?

Certainly, your taste level is a factor in determining the return on investment of your updates and the overall value of the home. But it’s a teeny-tiny factor among all the other factors that determine your market value. Sadly, the color of your tub isn’t going to account for much, especially if you have over-improved for your neighborhood, spent more than your home is worth, or ignored other more important updates that need to be made.

Because the reality is this: your home isn’t worth what you paid for it or what you owe on it. And expecting to set a price based on the amount of money you want instead of market value will only bring you frustration. If you’re about to list your home, make sure you find out what it can sell for first. Listing for $350,000 when the home is only worth $275,000 simply because you need $75,000 for a down payment on the bigger house you have your eye on probably won’t end well.

Before you list, “talk to a REALTOR,” said HGTV. “Aside from listing your home, they can show you ‘comps’ – comparable homes in your area and what materials and features they contain. This will help you see where your home fits into the buyers’ puzzle that is your real estate market today.”

Getting neighborhood comps is also a good idea if you are looking to make updates or improvements to your home and want to make sure you are not overdoing it.

“The agent will provide the all-important maximum sales price of similar homes on your block,” said MSN. “If that figure would force you to sell at a loss, it’s time to put a halt to any new construction projects you’ve got planned. A Realtor can also tell you what additional value would be added to your home in whatever type of remodeling you’re thinking of doing.”

Here are a few more tips for smart updates to keep your budget in check and keep you from overdoing it:

1. Stick to a budget. It’s easy to get carried away by pretty, shiny things (see kitchen, floors, bathroom above). But unless your budget was completely arbitrary, you chose that number for a reason. You can do it. We believe in you. If you need some inspiration, check out this video about how to improve your kitchen for $200.

2. Shop around! The corner big box store might be convenient, but that doesn’t mean they always have the best prices (just last week we did a price comparison on granite countertops and found a small shop in our local area with a comparable slab to the big box store for $17 less per square foot – a difference that can save us over $1,000!).

3. Make smart changes. Yes, kitchens and baths have the greatest potential positive impact on your home value if you make smart updates. But if you’re toeing that over-improvement line and/or if you’re on a micro budget, it’s best not to go big. Or too bold “The best updates before you sell are those that fix a problem. Painting your eccentric color schemes back to neutrals solves a problem,” said HGTV. “Replacing cracked and worn kitchen countertops solves a problem.”

4. Swap out. Use the principal of high-low to save money and create the impression of a more luxurious space. If you fall in love with a $3,000 gas range that busts your budget by $1,000, figure out where else you can shave off a few dollars. Many large stores that sell appliances have as-is options that can save you big bucks. That refrigerator with the big scratch down the side? It’s a steal, and the scratch is going to be hidden behind a cabinet panel anyway! A new vanity and some DIY-dream peel-and-stick tile could completely make over a small bathroom for under $500, Or, check IKEA, Target, or HomeGoods for light fixtures or colorful accents that could add some vibrancy to an area that desperately needs some.

- From realtytimes.com

The post Your Home Isn’t Worth What You Paid For It, Or What You Owe On It appeared first on Atlantic City Homes | Margate Homes For Sale | Galloway Homes.

Over the past year, I’ve been learning the timeline along which most of our real-estate-related thought processes play out vis-a-vis the actual calendar. January dawns with thoughts of getting geared up to buy a home, move up or downsize, or simply clean, spruce and upgrade the home we have. The month winds down with a dribble of those large-sized envelopes in the mail, containing an assortment of tax forms, documenting everything from what we earned last year to what we paid out for mortgage interest.

As soon as we slice those statements open, our thinking starts to shift to tax time and tax issues: Will we owe? If not, what will we get back? What does our tax picture look like now – and how can we improve it for next year?

Lots of people make lots of moves – real estate and otherwise – to minimize what they owe and maximize what they get back on their taxes. The first step is to make sure you’re not actually missing any tax deductions and breaks you already qualify for. The tax code is 4 million words and over 70,000 pages long, but most Americans tap into fewer than 15 pages of it when filing their returns. To make sure we’re not missing anything we’re due, here are a few of the real estate-related tax breaks that are often missed, overlooked and underused.

1. State and Local Tax Breaks For Green Home Improvements

Most of us focus on federal income tax deductions, because federal taxes seem like the biggest bank account drain. In fact, in some state tax rates can reach as much as 15 percent of annual income!

As the recession recovery made it’s way into full swing in 2013, many homeowners began embarking down a path of improving their home’s energy efficiency for a variety of reasons, including cash savings on their utility bills. Many of those improvements are eligible for state, county and/or city tax credits or tax breaks. If you installed dual-paned windows, insulation, low-flow plumbing appliances, tankless water heaters or solar panels in 2013, dig up your receipts and talk with your tax preparer or visit your state, county and city government websites to research tax advantages you might already be eligible for.

2. Mortgage Interest Tax Break

Many home buyers expressly call out the mortgage interest tax deduction as a major motivation behind their desire to own a home. Proof: in a survey conducted by the California Association of Realtors(R), 79 percent of people who bought a home in 2012 said the mortgage interest and property tax deductions were “extremely important” to their decision to buy. The ability to write-off interest on up to $1 million of mortgage debt shifts the affordability equation and makes buying more financially compelling than renting for thousands of home owners every year.

So it shocks and surprises me every time I read the numbers of home owners who simply don’t take the mortgage interest deduction every year. According to the American Institute for Economics Research, only about 63 percent of home owners itemize deductions – a pre-requisite to taking the mortgage interest deduction and its cousin, the property tax deduction.

Now, there are a number of home owners whose income tax liability is simply so low that itemizing their tax deductions doesn’t pencil. That just means that some people’s holistic financial picture, including the income they earn and the mortgage interest they deduct, renders the standard deduction larger than the tax break they would receive by virtue of the mortgage interest and other itemized deductions. However, my personal experience has been that many home owners who could be eligible for great benefits from itemizing don’t fully appreciate or simply don’t feel up to the task of determining whether they have sufficient non-mortgage related deductions to itemize, so they do their own taxes and just take the standard interest deduction to minimize the work.

If you have a high mortgage or property tax bill, it might be obvious that itemizing makes sense. But if not, you owe it to yourself – and your bank account – to at least try working with a tax preparer or committing to spend the time and energy it takes to explore the question of whether itemizing makes sense. Even an extra thousand dollars or two in tax savings can make a big difference to your savings and your financial future, over time.

3. CODI Income Tax Exemptions

Again, 2013 was a year in which many home owners – or former home owners – took pains to use their newly stable incomes to heal the financial wounds of the recession. For many, this involved settling debts with former lenders on homes that were foreclosed, short sold or even retained with defaulted second loans or home equity lines of credit.

Normally, defaulted mortgage debt that is forgiven through a foreclosure, short sale, deed in lieu of foreclosure or settlement via partial payment is actually charged to a taxpayer as income. It’s called Cancellation of Debt Income, or CODI. Under the 2007 Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Relief Act (“the Act”), though, the IRS has temporarily exempted CODI from incurring income tax liability for as many as 100,000 home owners a year,to avoid penalizing home owners for these sorts of settlements and resolutions to upside-down home mortgages.

The Act expired on December 31, 2013 (though talks are ongoing about extending it into this year). If you were one of the hundreds of thousands of American home owners who was able to close a short sale or settle a defaulted home loan in 2013, chances are good that you are eligible to tax advantage of the CODI tax break when you file your 2013 return.

- from Trulia.com

The post 3 Often Overlooked Real Estate Tax Breaks appeared first on Atlantic City Homes | Margate Homes For Sale | Galloway Homes.

Instead of dining out, consider staying in this Valentine’s Day. Setting the mood for a special occasion can be as simple as changing a home’s decor or lighting. To cultivate a feeling of romance in your home, we’ve gathered 10 warm and whimsical spaces for inspiration.

Feeling a glow

A desert villa sets the stage for a romantic evening under the stars with a little mood lighting.

Bath time roses

No trail of roses is needed in this bathroom designed by Pelz Architecture. A tasteful bouquet signals it’s time for a relaxing soak in the tub.

Loveseats for lovebirds

Instead of traditional theater seats, Zillow Digs designer Jessica Lagrange added loveseats for an intimate date night at home.

Corner booth

It doesn’t get much more romantic than a candlelight dinner in your backyard. A wood pergola and chandelier create a private, secluded feel on this deck.

La chambre rouge

A warmly lit bedroom with red velvet sofas is a great way to end a day on the beach.

Skyline terrace

Chicago Specialty Gardens designed this outdoor space for a young family wanting a private place to gaze at the city lights.

Secret Garden

This Phoenix estate, known as “The Secret,” has several scenic spots for having a glass of wine or soaking in the afternoon sun.

Ocean bath

This Carpinteria bathroom - complete with ocean waves and a crackling fire – is a luxurious spot to take in the view and truly relax.

Breakfast for two

What better way to end a romantic evening than with breakfast for two on a private patio?

Breezy bedroom

A four-poster bed draped in white linens is elegant for everyday or a special occasion.

- From aol.com

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