Chester County Chronicles

Life in Chester County Pennsylvania

Posts Tagged homes

There’s Still Time to Qualify for the Tax Credit

Mar 28

Posted by Joe Sheehan in Real Estate, Tax Credit | View Comments

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I had a conversation yesterday with one of my seller clients. He was concerned. The home he is selling is a perfect opportunity for a first time home buyer but he was worried that he and his yet unknown buyer would be unable to settle the transaction before the April 30th deadline for the home buyer tax credit.

Well, to qualify for the home buyer tax credit the deadline is under contract by April 30, 2010 with a settlement date by June 30, 2010.

If you are a home buyer who thinks that you have missed the opportunity, I have good news. Time is getting short, but there is still time to get under contract by April 30th, 2010. Call your real estate professional today!

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There is Something for Everyone

Mar 17

Posted by Joe Sheehan in Happiness, Real Estate | View Comments

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I think back to some of the places I have lived. Strange and scary places indeed! I shared my first apartment with five other beer guzzling, pizza eating, college students. We could barely scrape the rent and utilities together each month. There was nothing left to pay the cleaning lady to come in. You can imagine what that place looked like. On the other hand, maybe you can’t.
My first wife and I lived in an apartment above a pharmacy in the downtown area of a NYC suburb. This place defined the term “deferred maintenance”. One day, one of the windows over the street actually fell out of the window frame and crashed to the sidewalk below. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
In the past 35 years, I have probably moved 10 times. I have purchased a few homes in my life and I think I have become a little more conventional in my taste.
I love my job as a REALTOR® and have shown a few homes in my career. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to believe what I am seeing. What the heck were the homeowner’s thinking?!? When I turn around and look, the first-time home buyers I am guiding through the process are walking around this house, hand-in-hand, with a starry look in their eyes. They are not even seeing the same house I am looking at. There is nothing they don’t like about this place. They turn to me and say “We love it, we’ll take it”.
It’s very important for real estate professionals to keep an objective eye open for issues and problems that may make the difference between a nice house and a disaster waiting to happen. It’s equally important that we hold our tongue because we don’t like the mauve carpet or the lime green kitchen fixtures. That beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Everyone defines their own happiness.
The guy who conducted my pre-license courses when I got into the business told me that if he only sold houses he likes, he wouldn’t sell many houses. I know what he means.

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