There is nothing quite like building a custom home. When you build a home from scratch with the help of one of the top builders in the Greensboro area, you get to pick out every last detail and make sure the finished product is something your family can love for years to come. This article will take a closer look at some of the many advantages of going with a custom build.

Looking for a Realtor to help with your next Greensboro real estate transaction? Smith Marketing is ready to serve you. Whether you are planning a custom build or you want to purchase one of the great existing Greensboro NC homes for sale, the Smith Marketing team will make a great partner. 

Two Good Options

When you get ready to move from your current home into a new one in the Greensboro area, you have two fundamental options at your disposal – buy an existing home or work with one of Greensboro’s premier builders and build a custom home. Each of these two paths has plenty of advantages, but it’s hard not to be tempted by the idea of planning a custom home that will serve your needs down to even the smallest details. As long as the timeline of such a project is not a problem for your family, a custom home created by one of the top builders in the area is something you can be proud of for a lifetime.

The Many Custom Benefits

If you have been considering a custom build for your next home, the following benefits might be all you need to decide that this is the right path for you.

• Full floor plan control. As you walk through homes that are currently on the market, you might find plenty that you like – but none that you truly love. With an existing home, you’ll almost certainly need to compromise in one way or another, but a custom home requires no such compromises since you have total control over the layout.

• Unique touches. A custom home can play to your own particular sense of style and design in a way that an existing home can’t match. You’ll get to work directly with the builder throughout the process and explain your tastes for things like kitchen finishes, window placements, and much more. Sure, you could renovate an existing home to get it closer to your vision, but it will never quite be perfect.
• Get the right lot. Part of the custom home building process is picking out a lot, so you’ll be free to explore available land in the Greensboro area until you find exactly the right spot for your family to live. If you’d like several acres so you have some room to spread out and explore, that won’t be a problem.

Put the Wheels in Motion

Perhaps the only thing you could point to as a downside for building a custom home is the timeline – it will be longer until you can move in as compared to buying an existing home. So, if you are going to take the custom route, put the wheels in motion as soon as possible by reaching out to Smith Marketing today.

Appraisals are a big part of the process of buying and selling homes. Through the use of a professional appraisal, it can be determined where the value of the house currently is given market conditions and other factors. While appraisals are always important, they take on additional value for luxury properties given the significant price tag of such homes. This article will take a closer look at how luxury property appraisals work and what you should know about the process.

As a leading Allen Tate Realty team, Smith Marketing is the right partner for your next real estate transaction in the Greensboro area. If you have been browsing the MLS listings and want to start to get out and see some homes, or if you are ready to list your own property, call Smith Marketing today to get started.

How Appraisals Work

To have a home appraised in the process of buying or selling, it will be necessary to bring in the services of a professional appraiser. This is a neutral party who is charged with the task of determining a fair value for the home based on a number of variables. Anytime there is going to be a mortgage taken out as part of the purchase and sale of a house, it’s a safe bet that there will be an appraisal completed along the way.

The primary purpose of an appraisal is to satisfy the terms of taking out a mortgage for the purchase of the house. The lender is going to want to see that the appraisal comes in near the offer that has been made to the seller – that means they will be lending an appropriate amount of money based on the market value of the property. If it should happen that the appraisal comes in significantly lower than what was offered and what is being borrowed, it’s possible that the deal won’t go through.

The Luxury Component

The fundamentals of a property appraisal don’t change between a standard home and a luxury home. However, there is more to appraise when it comes to a luxury home, as this kind of property is likely to have additional features and components that aren’t seen in most houses. For example, a luxury house might have a pool in the backyard, a separate home theater, a large piece of land to value, and much more. A professional appraiser with experience dealing with luxury homes will know how to work through these various components, consider how they all impact the property’s value, and come up with a number that is fair to all involved.

You Deserve the Best

Working with the leading Allen Tate Greensboro team is the best way to make sure your upcoming real estate deal goes off without a hitch. Whether you are ready to get started right away or you just have a couple of questions, Smith Marketing would love to hear from you. Take a moment now to get in touch!

Buying a home is a huge financial decision and one of the biggest transactions most people will ever make. Given the amount of money involved, it seems inevitable that this purchase will have some kind of an impact on your taxes. But what will that look like? This article will get into some of the details of what might happen to your tax picture when you purchase a home.

As leading Realtors in the Greensboro real estate market, Smith Marketing is ready to help you find precisely the right home for your family. Start your Guilford County property search today and take a big step closer to securing your dream home. 

A Complex Matter

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that the tax implications of buying a home are a little bit complicated. Of course, that tends to be how it is with taxes in general, and that’s especially true with major purchases like a home. So, it’s not as simple as just saying that buying a house is “good” or “bad” for your taxes because the reality you experience will depend on your situation and the details of the deal. But in general, most professionals say that buying a home has an overall tax advantage.

Standard vs. Itemized Deduction

The big variable here when talking about the purchase of a home and subsequent tax filings is whether or not you will itemize your tax return moving forward. The standard deduction is available to everyone, requires no documentation, and might be your best bet in many tax years. However, it could be possible to save money with an itemized deduction in some cases, such as in the years after you purchase a home.

There are a few different homeowner tax deductions offered by the IRS, but those will only come into play if you choose to itemize. So, will definitely want to get the help of a tax professional to review your options and determine which is the right way to proceed with your tax filing. 

Some of the Possibilities

If you do wind up itemizing your return, some of the options available to you as a homeowner may include the following –

• Property tax. Most likely, the largest deduction you will have available to you as a homeowner is the property tax deduction. When you make your monthly mortgage payment, you’ll be paying property tax along with it – and that tax is deductible at the end of the year. Depending on the size of your property and where you live, that deduction could prove to be quite significant.

• Mortgage interest. The interest that you pay on your mortgage is another deduction option and another one that could be rather meaningful if you have a large mortgage and a relatively high rate.

• Home office. With so many people now working from home, you might also be able to claim a deduction if you have established a home office. Be sure that your office complies with all of the relevant rules to claim this deduction legally.

Seeing the Big Picture

Taxes are just one part of the equation when getting ready to purchase a home, but you don’t need to let this process overwhelm you. Instead, put the experience of Smith Marketing on your side and know that you are in good hands. 

Buying a home is an interesting process because it throws people right into the middle of a high-dollar real estate transaction for many, for one of the only times in their lives. Suddenly, you are dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table. With so much on the line, understanding the basics of the process is critical.

This article will look at what mortgage rates and interest rates are, and whether or not they mean the same thing to you as a buyer. That way, when you look at Greensboro homes for sale, you have a better understanding of what will happen next if you decide to make an offer.

The Answer is Yes – Sort-of

When speaking in the context of home buying, the answer to the title question for this article is yes, mortgage rates and interest rates are the same things. Mortgage rate is simply another way to refer to the interest rates that will be imposed on your mortgage if you choose to take one out in order to purchase a home.

So, if an agent says something to you like “the mortgage rates are really good right now”, you can assume that they are referring to the going interest rates that the market is currently offering on a mortgage. There are countless factors that influence how the rates move over time but knowing these two terms refer to the same thing, you can have important financial conversations with confidence.

The reason the answer is not “absolutely YES!” is because some people use the term “interest rate” to refer to the federal funds rate, which refers to the target interest rate set by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).  The federal funds rate is the rate that banks lend money to each other and is related to the mortgage rates is not the same thing.

The Market Never Rests

It is tempting to try and time the market to make sure you are getting the best possible interest rates on the purchase of your house. After all, you’ll be locked into this rate for a while, so it’s tempting to sit around and wait for just the right moment. Unfortunately, that line of thinking can wind up costing you a lot of good opportunities in the end. More likely, the better plan is simply to figure out what you can afford based on the current rate level and make an appropriate decision accordingly.

The issue at the heart of the matter here is that no one truly knows what is going to happen to the market. In fact, you can’t be sure what will happen tomorrow with rates, let alone a year or two from now. So, if you sit around waiting on those great rates to arrive, you could be waiting a long time – or forever. Work with a qualified lender to determine what kind of house you can buy with the rates as they are today, rather than thinking about some hypothetical future. That way, you’ll be dealing with concrete numbers, and you can be confident in the choices you make.

A Winning Team

As Greensboro Realtors, Smith Marketing knows what it takes to submit a winning bid in this market. Don’t let home buying stress you out when the process can be made easier through the help of the Smith Marketing team. Get started today!

Closing day is the culmination of a lot of hard work throughout the process of buying or selling a home. No matter which side of the equation you are on, plenty of effort has gone into reaching this point, and the finish line is now at hand. So, what actually happens on the day a house closes? This article will present you with the basics, so you can know what to expect.

To work with some of the leading Realtors in Guilford County on your next real estate search, turn to Smith Marketing.  Get in touch today to get started.

The Official Transfer

Although there are plenty of legal steps involved, a real estate transaction is nothing more than a trade. The buyer of the home is trading an agreed-upon amount of money for the rights to the house (and the property it sits on, in the case of a single-family home). So, you can think about the closing day as the point when this transaction becomes official and everything is wrapped up. That means the seller of the property receives the money from the buyer, and the buyer receives the keys from the seller and has the legal right to start moving in.

A Pile of Paperwork

Perhaps the most notable thing that happens on closing day is the signing of paperwork on behalf of the buyer. If you are the buyer, this will probably be the biggest stack of papers you sign in your life, and it can take a while. You’ll have an appointment at which the closing agent will help walk you through the paperwork, make sure everything is in order, and show you all of the blanks that require your signature. Assuming there are no hang-ups with the paperwork along the way, you’ll receive the keys – often from your real estate agent – and you can start to turn the house into your home.

The End of a Long Road

In many ways, closing day can feel like the end of a long and rewarding journey toward buying a home (or selling a home and receiving a nice sum of money). The period from having an offer accepted to reaching closing and finishing the deal can vary in duration, but it’s often several weeks. There are possible issues along the way that can hold up the closing, including lending problems, issues with the inspection or appraisal, or even developments outside of the scope of the deal (like major weather events or natural disasters). To navigate this path and end up at the destination you hoped to reach, it’s best to lean on the advice and guidance of a trusted agent.

Here to Help

Whether you are just starting to look at houses for sale, or you are thinking about what you need to do to your own home to put it on the market, you don’t have to be alone. Contact Smith Marketing today to learn more and to put their expertise to work for you.

While there is a lot of work to be done when getting ready to sell a home, and the process can be stressful, there is a big carrot waiting as a reward at the end – the money that will land in your bank account when all is said and done. This might be the biggest sum of money you ever secure in your life at one time, so it’s an exciting opportunity. But is the IRS going to come in and take a portion of that sale in the form of taxes? This article will take a closer look.

If you are getting ready to sell one of the top custom homes Greensboro has to offer, or you want to explore some homes for sale to make your own purchase, Smith Marketing is the right partner for the job. Get in touch today to learn more.

A Complicated Answer

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that the answer to the question of whether or not you have to pay taxes when you sell your house comes down to two words – it depends. As seems to be the case with everything related to paying taxes, there are plenty of complicating factors here that can determine your tax liability.

First, the good news – it’s quite possible, and maybe even likely, that you won’t have to pay taxes on the money you make from the sale of your house. If you file as a single taxpayer, you’ll be able to make up to $250,000 on the sale without owing federal taxes on the transaction. If you are married and filing jointly, that number doubles to $500,000. The amount you are considered to have made on the transaction – your “capital gains” – is determined by comparing the original purchase price to the sale price. As an example, if you purchased the property for $200,000 and then sold it for $350,000, you would have capital gains of $150,000.

Some Exclusions Apply

For the “average” home seller, the rules above will apply in terms of not having to pay taxes on up to $500,000 of capital gains on a home sale. With that said, there are some exceptions that would expose you to tax liability on this transaction. A partial list of those exceptions includes the following –

• If you didn’t live in the house as your principal residence, you will need to pay taxes
• Taxes are also due on real estate capital gains if you already claimed the relevant exclusion for your tax status (either 250k or 500k) within the last five years
• If you haven’t owned the property for at least two years within the last five, taxes will be due

The Best Advice

While you can use the information above as a good starting point to understand the tax situation around your home, the best thing to do is simply to retain the services of an accountant who can point you in the right direction. Spending the modest amount of money required to work directly with an accountant on this matter will be worth it in the end when you are sure that you’ve done everything correctly.

Buying a house is one of the biggest investments that most people will make in their lifetime. It is not a decision that should be taken lightly, as it involves a significant amount of money and time. Finding your dream home in Greensboro can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. A real estate agent can help you simplify the process and make it less stressful. In this article, we will discuss the role of a Greensboro real estate agent in finding your dream home in Guilford County.

1. Knowledge of the Market

A real estate agent has a deep understanding of the local market. They have access to information about the latest trends, prices, and inventory. They can help you identify the areas that meet your criteria and suggest suitable properties that you may have missed. Agents know the local neighborhoods and can provide you with insights about the schools, shopping, entertainment, and other amenities in the areas you are considering. This information can help you make informed decisions about where to buy your dream home in Greensboro.

2. Negotiation Skills

Negotiating the price of a property is an essential part of the home buying process. A real estate agent has the negotiation skills and experience required to help you get the best deal possible. They can use their knowledge of the market and the seller’s motivations to negotiate on your behalf. A good agent knows how to communicate your interests effectively and get the seller to agree to your terms. They can also help you navigate the complex paperwork involved in the negotiation process.

3. Access to Listings

A real estate agent has access to a wide range of listings that are not available to the general public. These listings include properties that are not yet on the market, as well as those that are being sold privately. Working with an agent can give you an advantage over other buyers who are searching for properties on their own. An agent can help you find properties that meet your specific criteria and schedule viewings at your convenience.

4. Professional Network

A real estate agent has a vast network of professionals that can help you throughout the home buying process. They can recommend reliable home inspectors, mortgage lenders, and attorneys who can guide you through the legal aspects of buying a home. Agents also have relationships with other agents, which can be beneficial when negotiating the sale of a property. They can work together to ensure that the transaction goes smoothly and that you get the best deal possible.

5. Assistance with Paperwork

The paperwork involved in buying a home can be overwhelming. A real estate agent can help you with the paperwork, ensuring that everything is in order and that there are no surprises. They can help you understand the legal documents involved, such as the purchase agreement, inspection report, and closing documents. An agent can also assist you in filling out the necessary forms and submitting them to the appropriate parties.

Conclusion

In conclusion, working with a real estate agent in Greensboro can make the process of finding your dream home much less stressful. Agents have the knowledge, skills, and resources required to help you find the perfect property and negotiate the best deal possible. They can provide you with access to listings that are not available to the general public and recommend professionals who can assist you throughout the process. If you are looking to buy a home in Greensboro, consider working with a real estate agent to help you achieve your goals.

If you are in the market for a high-end home, you likely have a couple of different priorities in mind. First, you want the home to be functional for you and your family. Once that box is checked, you’ll also want to think about the design of the home and how it fits with your tastes and style. It’s that second point that will be the focus of this article.

To work with a proven Allen Tate Realtor that has deep experience in the Greensboro market, turn to Smith Marketing today. Always up to date on the latest luxury homes for sale, and with countless connections in the industry, this is the right team to put on your side.

Bring Nature Inside

One of the most popular trends, and one that it’s easy to imagine will stick around for a while, is the concept of bringing the natural world indoors in your design. We spend more time indoors in our lives than at any point in history, so it only makes sense to at least bring in some of the visual elements of the natural world to make us feel more comfortable. Using creative ways to incorporate nature into interior designs is a great way to give a home an upscale yet approachable feel.

A Blend of Materials

There was a period in the history of interior design that favored a monotone feel in various spaces, but that trend has faded in favor of variety. These days, more and more homeowners seem to prevent a blend of materials that give their rooms a layered, cozy feel. For instance, this could involve using wood floors that are partially covered by a soft rug, and then finishing off the space with curtains that complement the flooring. However it plays out in your home, utilizing varied materials is a popular and typically successful approach to design.

Embracing Antiques

You’ll take a big step toward creating a sophisticated space if you bring in some older, antique pieces to finish off a room. Blending older elements with newer components does well to balance out your design, much in the same way that mixing materials can do the same thing. It doesn’t even take a lot of older elements to achieve this approach successfully – just one or two pieces in a room can take some of the shine off the new parts and even everything out nicely.

Advanced Lighting Options

The emergence of LED lighting as a mainstream standard has opened up possibilities that simply didn’t exist previously. Well-designed lighting schemes that use LEDs can be customized from day to day to suit the occasion and needs of the people in the room. For instance, standard bright white lighting can be used for practical purposes when you just need to see everything clearly, but those lights can be adjusted down and have the tone altered to develop a certain mood for an evening gathering. Lighting that opens up your options will be another step toward designing a high-end, versatile, impressive space.

Given the importance of a real estate transaction to your overall financial future, it’s understandable that you would want to look for every possible advantage. One area where some buyers and sellers look for an edge is timing – by buying or selling at the right time, is it possible to get a better deal? Specifically, summer seems to be the focus of many of these discussions, so this article will take a closer look at what happens to the real estate market when the temperatures rise.

As Greensboro Realtors, Smith Marketing has experience working with everyone in the market, from Greensboro custom home builders all the way to individual buyers and sellers. Wherever you find yourself on that spectrum, feel free to reach out to the Smith Marketing team right away to learn more about their services.

A Common Belief

Let’s start by talking about why this would be a question in the first place. It is a belief held by some that house prices are higher in the summer simply because more people are looking for homes when the weather is nice and it is more welcoming to think about moving. With more competition in the summer, as this theory goes, there are more offers placed on available houses, and the prices are driven up.

Is It True?

There does appear to be at least some truth to this idea. Data indicates that prices do tend to go up a bit in the summer before retreating slightly when the weather cools off once again. So, if you are thinking of selling your home, it might be a worthwhile strategy to consider putting your home up on the market in the warm weather to take advantage of the busyness of the market at that time.

Of course, you might not have the flexibility in your schedule to make this work – and that’s okay. For instance, if you need to move for work, you might have to put your home up for sale right away, no matter what time of year it happens to be. And that’s just fine. While prices do tend to perk up a bit in the summer, it’s not a dramatic change. You can secure a fair market price on the sale of your home any time of year.

What About Buyers?

The message for sellers is that it may be possible to get a little more for your property if you sell in the late spring or summer months. So, if possible, it makes sense to list during that time of year. But does that mean that buyers should only shop during the off-season when prices are suppressed?

Not necessarily. Sure, prices might be slightly lower in the winter months, but inventory will be significantly lower, as well. As a result, buyers will have fewer properties to pick from and might have a harder time finding something that suits their needs. Your best bet as a buyer is likely to just start looking for properties whenever you are ready to move. If one comes along that is the right fit for your needs and suits your budget, it doesn’t much matter what the calendar says – you can put in an offer and try to close the deal.

If you have started to think about selling your home, you might be wondering what you can do to make the property as valuable as possible for prospective buyers. While there isn’t anything you can do about the overall market conditions, you can take some inexpensive steps to position your home to be as attractive to buyers as possible. By using some or all of the ideas in this article, you can put up your listing with confidence.

The top team associated with Allen Tate Realty, Smith Marketing is the ideal partner for your upcoming sale. These are some of the leading Realtors Greensboro has to offer, so you’ll get accurate, reliable answers to all of the questions you have about selling your property. Get in touch right away to get started.

1 – New Fixtures

This is a great way to upgrade your home quickly because not only can fixtures be rather affordable, but they are easy enough for most people to install with just basic tools. For example, adding fresh handles and pulls to your kitchen drawers and cabinets is a task that requires little more than a screwdriver and some spare time. For an older home with worn fixtures, these kinds of updates can make a huge difference.

2 – Fresh Paint

You’ll probably see this piece of advice in plenty of places, and that’s because it’s such an easy step to take. Paint is pretty inexpensive in most cases, and unless you have extremely tall ceilings or spots in the house that are difficult to access, you might be able to do the work yourself, but the best results will come from a professional painting crew.  Your real estate agent will likely be able to help you with a recommendation for a quality painting company.  And remember If you are painting with the intention of selling the house in the near future, set aside your personal tastes and opt for simple, neutral shades that will appeal to a wide range of buyers.

3 – Move Out the Clutter

Okay – so this isn’t technically a home improvement project, but it can make your house much more attractive to potential buyers once it hits the market. It’s never too early to start getting rid of things that you don’t need anymore to free up space and make the house feel bigger. There is a good chance you’ll be able to find quite a few things around the house and garage that can simply be thrown out once you start looking closely, and you’ll probably find even more that can be sold or donated.

4 – Improve the Landscaping

This is another point that requires minimal financial investment, as long as you are willing to do some hard work. Making sure your landscaping is in good shape when the house hits the market will boost the curb appeal and offer buyers a great first impression. You don’t need to be a master gardener to make big improvements here – just clean up the yard, remove weeds, keep the lawn green, and consider adding a couple of flowers for color.

5 – Professional Carpet Cleaning

Another point on the list that calls for bringing in the professionals is this one, but you’ll likely find it to be well worth the investment. Professional carpet cleaners have access to tools and equipment that aren’t easily available to the consumer, so you can expect to get great results for only a modest investment. This step is worthwhile for all sellers, but it’s particularly valuable for pet owners, as those pets may have been hard on the carpets over the years.