It's HOT HOT HOT out there! Hot weather, hot market...hot all around!

Heaven help us, it's HOT HOT HOT out there!  Hot weather, hot market...hot all around!

 

Hot weather......   Just a reminder to pay close attention to the signals that your body may be giving you about the temperature outside.  It's important to drink more fluids, wear sunscreen, dress in light weight and light colored clothing, wear a hat and sunglasses....  all the things your parents always told you to do!  Some people are more susceptible to heat-related illness than others, but in particular infants, those over 65, and those with certain conditions such as high blood pressure can succumb to the effects of the higher temperatures very quickly.  Many of you may know that I am a volunteer for the Girl Scouts and have been a leader for many years.  These types of safety tips are exactly what I try to impress upon the adolescents that I work with in order to help them live healthier lives.  There was an unfortunate (and avoidable) incident last week involving one of our local scout troops that went hiking in the Lake Mead area - the troop leader who was chaperoning the hike suffered a heat stroke and passed away before help could reach them.  My heart aches for the children who witnessed this and their families, whose lives will undoubtedly be forever changed.  Please take the proper precautions to protect yourself and those around you from falling victim to our extreme temperature conditions!  We live in the desert, and it's a beautiful place to be as long as we respect Mother Nature and take the precautions necessary to stay safe and healthy.

 

Hot market....  I'm sure you have all noticed the rising prices in our area!   The low inventory of available homes continues to drive prices upward, which is good news for those interested in selling.  We aren't experiencing the "crazy" market of years past, but it is still the most positive movement that we have seen in a long time.  We can expect higher inventory numbers toward the end of the year that will likely stall the upward pressure on pricing, but I don't think it will be a "flood".  We may have a small spike lasting a few months when various banks initially start releasing more properties for sale in our area, but overall we are going to be looking at a steady influx of properties being placed on the market over a period of years, which will hopefully contribute to stabilizing our real estate market while we finish turning over the remainder of the "bad debt" in this area - after which we should see a normal rate of appreciation again.  That's good news for everyone, buyers and sellers alike!

 

Please call or email me anytime if you would like more information.   You will notice that included with this letter is information about a free seminar that I am co-hosting with Chase Bank and other real estate related professionals dedicated to educating the public regarding the current market and what options are available for both sellers and buyers.  Please RSVP if you would like to attend, as space is limited to 50 attendees.  If you are unable to attend but would like a copy of the materials that will be provided at the seminar, please let me know.  My office is open 7 days a week for your convenience, and we are looking forward to hearing from you!

Laura's Maximum Exposure Marketing Plan

Happy New Year

Dear  Friends,

 

Happy New Year!  I hope that you have all had a wonderful holiday season!   May all of your New Year's resolutions be a success....

 

As the New Year begins, many consumers appear to be in a holding pattern, waiting to see how the economy reacts to the different demands both here and abroad. Yet with steadily increasing sales and record-breaking affordability, now is the time to take advantage of these opportunities to buy or sell a home.

 

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to sell your home, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Although the traditional home-buying season starts in the Spring, there are some reasons why starting to market your home now, rather than waiting, could prove to be a smart decision:

• On average, the number of home sales in January drops almost by half from the previous year’s peak.  A house that is priced right and staged well will stand out even more with less competition.
• Lenders, home inspectors, movers, and other vendors also see a seasonal dip in transactions. This could mean a quicker, easier, and possibly cheaper time to sell and move.

Even if you’re not ready quite yet, now is a great time to start the conversation with me about setting up a personalized marketing plan that will help you achieve your goals.  I can give you pointers on which repairs and preparations to tackle first, and which ones may not be necessary, saving you time and money.  Starting now can help you capture qualified buyers before the busy season.

 

My office is open 7 days a week for your convenience, and we are standing by to assist you with all of your real estate needs.  Whether you wish to sell, buy, or lease a property, my qualified staff and I will assist you with all of the details.  Please call me to discuss your options - I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Thank you for your donations to A Touch of Home!

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful donations to A Touch of Home! The children really appreciate the clothing and supplies that they have received. Unfortunately there are still over 1000 children that haven't received much needed jackets and sweatshirts, so we are still in desperate need of donations as the days & nights just keep getting colder. It's hard to imagine how many children that are attending our public schools do not have adequate warm clothing, shoes, or other basic needs being met. Please help if you can. Thank you!!!!

Opportunity to work with a Dynamic Team and Earn Six Figure Income!

Opportunity to work with a Dynamic Team and Earn Six Figure Income!

Passionate about selling Real Estate?  Work with Laura!

 Laura Harbison is now interviewing Real Estate Agents to join her team.  This is an amazing opportunity to work with a real estate agent with more than $1 billion dollars sold.

Laura is looking for professional Real Estate Agents who represent buyers in Las Vegas and Henderson neighborhoods.

REQUIREMENTS

To join our highly successful team, you must:

Ø  Have an ACTIVE Nevada Real Estate License and GLVAR Membership

Ø  Be familiar with Las Vegas and Henderson areas and neighborhoods

Ø  Have knowledge of MLS

Ø  Sit weekend Open Houses    

Ø  Be an enthusiastic team player

Ø  Be a motivated self-starter

With more than 25 years of experience in the Greater Las Vegas Valley area real estate market and career sales totaling over $1 billion, Laura has the skills and experience necessary to ensure the success of her team.  Laura has unrivaled familiarity with the current and recent inventories of available homes, area trends in valuation, and time on market – key information for both buyers and sellers.

Laura’s team was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the Top 100 Teams nationwide in 2010 and 2011, and she has earned recognition for the highest sales volume in Clark County for residential real estate.  

 Please submit your resume to Resume@LauraWorthington.com.  All information received will be kept confidential.

Back-to-School Backpack Drive

In 1996, I decided that I wanted to give something back to the community.  After checking with the Clark County School District, I discovered that no agency was addressing the needs of the Clark County School District’s Homeless Education Division, which has thousands of children enrolled in their program.  To help with this great need, I created “A Touch of Home”.  I collect new, unwrapped toys and various necessities and the Homeless Education Office, now “Title One” of Clark County School District, sees that they are delivered to the children most in need of a little cheer.

The Homeless Education Office of Clark County School District has a huge job on their hands.  They keep track of the children, and try to provide them with basic necessities so that they may attend school, even though they do not have a “residence”.  Many of these children live in shelters, or even a car or a tent.  

School can be stressful enough, but it is even harder when you don’t have the right supplies.  The school district has provided a list of some items that the children will need to get off to a great start this school year.  These items include:

 Backpacks, pencil boxes/bags, pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, colored pencils, markers, paper, notebooks, dividers, folders, binders, glue bottles/sticks, rulers, pencil sharpeners, highlighters, Sharpies, tissue boxes, scissors, calculators, lunch boxes, hand soap, hand sanitizer, index cards, flash drives, watercolors.

 HOW YOU CAN HELP!  Items can be donated, (the school district picks them up from my office), or donations to purchase these items can be made payable to “A Touch of Home”.  If you can help us, please contact one of my staff at 702-777-1234.  Speak to Kim, Karen or myself.   Supplies and monetary donations can be delivered to my office.  100% of your donation will be spent on the children!

It's amazing to me how quickly the year is flying by, so I thought I would revisit topics that are important to be addressed sooner than later.  Before you know it, it will be New Years Eve again (a funny statement to be making in July....), and the regrets of tasks that we procrastinated on will be upon us if we don't take action now.  This can apply to so many things, but since I am your Real Estate Consultant, I'll stick to some changes that are coming up that are applicable to real estate...

Now that the health care law has been declared constitutional, the remaining provisions will be going into effect. One little known provision is a new 3.8% investment income surtax, also called the health care surtax or the Medicare tax; it will go into effect on January 1, 2013.

This new surtax will be assessed on the lesser of a) net investment income or b) the excess of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) over the “threshold amount.” For married taxpayers filing jointly, the threshold amount is $250,000; married filing separately, $125,000; all other individual taxpayers, $200,000. For trusts and estates, it is the beginning of the top income tax bracket ($11,650 in 2012).   What this means is: 1) If your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is less than or equal to the threshold amount that applies to you, you will not pay this tax. 2) If your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is greater than the threshold amount that applies to you, you will pay the 3.8% tax on the lesser of a) your net investment income or b) the amount of your MAGI over the threshold amount.

Note that the surtax liability is determined on income before any tax deductions are considered. That means your deductions could put you in the lowest income tax bracket, yet you could still have investment income that is subject to the surtax.  Also, the capital gains rate is scheduled to increase for high-income taxpayers to 20% in 2013, so the total tax on capital gains (with the surtax) could be 23.8% in 2013 and beyond.

The good news is that there may be some steps you can take this year to help you avoid or reduce the amount of surtax beginning in 2013.   Also, 2012 is an exceptional year for estate planning in general. The federal estate tax exemption is $5.12 million, which allows a married couple to transfer as much as $10.24 million from their estate with no estate tax. Under current law, this exemption is scheduled to shrink to $1 million in 2013. Other tax cuts, including income and capital gains taxes, are set to expire at the end of 2012.  With the new 3.8% surtax becoming effective in January, 2013 is on track to have the highest tax rates we have seen in many years.

Another change in the tax laws regarding real estate that we have coming up is the expiration of the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Relief Act, which gives tax relief to homeowners that sell their primary residence through short sale.  The difference between selling your primary residence in 2012 via a short sale versus 2013 could be a considerable amount of tax.  Note that the transaction has to actually close escrow by December 31, 2012 to qualify, and that a short sale can take many months to close.  Please contact me if you have questions about short sales, or if you would like for us to mail or email you a free brochure about the process.  Even if you don't need or want to do a short sale, there may be some very legitimate reasons for not postponing the sale of a property, so it's worth investigating your options.  The consulation is free, and I will always give you an honest, direct answer.

Now, more than ever, you need the assistance of qualified professionals to advise you and help you implement the best plan for you and your family.  This is something that many people put off, and don't think about seriously until it's too late.  There are many aspects to estate planning other than the real estate aspect, so this advice is not just for investment property owners - everyone can benefit from proper estate planning, regardless of age or financial status.    Today is the first day of the rest of your life, what better time could there be to put your best foot forward?