Annapolis, Maryland – Passing along a property to a loved one as part of your estate planning is an invaluable gift. That said, in order to avoid being taxed unnecessarily, you want to consider what’s known as a “QPRT” or Qualified Personal Residence Trust. Real estate values in the Annapolis area have come way down since the real estate recession in 2010 and combined with this trust, lower property values could save you significant money on gift and estate taxes.

QPRTs offer the opportunity for people to move a home out of their estate, while still allowing them to live in it for a time. This arrangement is ideal for a parent gifting a property to their child, and timing could not be better to consider this, as you would be removing the home from your estate at a time when property values are low. You will not pay estate taxes on it, and down the road you and yours will enjoy the benefits when its value increases, instead of paying a giant estate tax bill on a home that has increased in value over the same time period. In other words, you are guaranteeing yourself a lower gift-tax amount.

Here’s what happens: You move the asset out of your estate and put it into a QPRT for say, ten years. Those ten years can be spent living in the home exactly as you always have. You will file a gift-tax return the first year, which through a very intricate IRS formula could even prove to be profitable from a discount. After ten years has passed, the home transfers to your children or beneficiaries, and they legally own the home, meaning it will not be subject to estate taxes! Do note however, that if your desire is to continue living in your Annapolis home after this period you must pay your beneficiaries fair-market rent, or risk trouble with the IRS. In the event of your death, your beneficiaries would not have to pay inheritance taxes on the home. This is a great option for many Maryland home owners. It may be something to consider for your Annapolis home!

I came across a good article on QPRTs from the Bank of New York website which can be read here: http://www.bnymellonwealthmanagement.com/Resources/documents/PerspectivesDocs/QPRT_Residence.pdf

 

With a broad background and strong record of success, Carlyn brings extraordinary skills and talents to her real estate clients in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County.  Having owned rental properties, Carlyn has the skills and experience to help her clients build and manage their own profitable and secure rental portfolios, and cash them out when the time is right. 

Carlyn comes from a tradition of service, is ready to serve, and she especially enjoys working with current and prior service members. Having spent over ten years building software companies, Carlyn enjoys working with successful business people, entrepreneurs, and the self-employed. She uses her high-tech expertise and financial knowledge to sell their houses effectively and for a higher price, and to find them the homes they want, while saving them time and money.

She has been awarded the prestigious Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Designation by the Council of Residential Specialists, the largest not-for-profit affiliate of the National Association of Realtors®. Carlyn has earned lifetime membership in the Distinguished Sales Achievement Club, membership in The Masters Club, and designation as a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and Million Dollar Guild Member.  For inquiries you can contact her direct at 443-569-3977 or by email at Carlyn@LoweryHomeTeam.com

Annapolis, Maryland – Even in this day and age of marketing your home on the Internet, there is occasionally some value remaining in holding a basic open house, but often not in the traditional manner you may think. There are many ways to make your open house a success, but first and foremost, let’s talk about some of the different types of open house events available in Annapolis.

First, you have the traditional open house, where, regardless of when a home came on the market, you announce that on a particular day, it will be “open” for tours without an appointment, during a particular time period.

Next, is what I call a “pseudo-open-house.” In this type, it is merely a virtual open house, meaning that it is available for agents to show to their Buyers, without a predefined appointment, during a particular time frame, but all Buyers need to make an appointment through their agent.

Lastly, is a Brokers open house, usually held on a weekday. For this, agents are invited to preview the property during a time frame, occasionally with the listing agent providing a luncheon, and without Buyers coming along.

Regardless of which type we do, I need to work hard, as your agent, to get the news of your open house out ahead of time. I have a host of different means for doing this, from inter-office emails, to social media, direct mail, and even the age-old method of getting on the phone and calling people to invite them personally.

Of course the most important aspect of your Open House lies in properly preparing the home, as this is an opportunity to make a first impression on prospective buyers. They may be indifferent to the properties they are viewing based on the online description, so take this opportunity to show them why they will love your home!

Some feel that by getting some immediate feedback from a wide array of Buyers and Agents, we will come up with a few ways to improve your listing, and make it more saleable. With many agents, that is most certainly the case. Personally, I feel that after having been through this process as many times as I have, I have a really great eye towards home staging and preparation – enough so that by the time that first Buyer crosses the threshold, we’ve already taken care of anything that they could have commented on.

Of course, I do tend to learn something new from time to time, and that’s why when it comes to the sale of your Annapolis home, we can’t leave a single stone unturned.

 

With a broad background and strong record of success, Carlyn brings extraordinary skills and talents to her real estate clients in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County.  Having owned rental properties, Carlyn has the skills and experience to help her clients build and manage their own profitable and secure rental portfolios, and cash them out when the time is right. 

Carlyn comes from a tradition of service, is ready to serve, and she especially enjoys working with current and prior service members. Having spent over ten years building software companies, Carlyn enjoys working with successful business people, entrepreneurs, and the self-employed. She uses her high-tech expertise and financial knowledge to sell their houses effectively and for a higher price, and to find them the homes they want, while saving them time and money.

She has been awarded the prestigious Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Designation by the Council of Residential Specialists, the largest not-for-profit affiliate of the National Association of Realtors®. Carlyn has earned lifetime membership in the Distinguished Sales Achievement Club, membership in The Masters Club, and designation as a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and Million Dollar Guild Member.  For inquiries you can contact her direct at 443-569-3977 or by email at Carlyn@LoweryHomeTeam.com

Annapolis, Maryland – As we are all too aware, obtaining a mortgage today is much harder than it was just a few years ago. Much of that is due to the obvious fall out from the real estate recession, which started in 2010. Many areas were faced with a true crisis of confidence in the marketplace, as banks rushed to give out money, often to people who probably should not have been granted mortgages to begin with. Unfortunately, the knee-jerk reaction to that was to tighten lending guidelines across the board, even to well qualified Buyers. The impact that has had on sellers here in the Annapolis area cannot be understated.

One old concept, which is seeing a bit of a revival these days, is Owner Financing. This concept can give home sellers an edge over competition as it fully eliminates a large obstacle many buyers face today, and in turn will help augment your number of buyers. Another benefit to consider is the steady income you will receive from the mortgage payments. Right now with all of the market volatility that we are experiencing, and deposit interest rates near 0%, this could be your one steady interest earner – in some cases up to 7% or more!

This could be a great monthly return if you don’t need the proceeds from the sale of your home immediately. You might also consider partial seller financing. Most buyers will have a cap on their loan allowance, and as the seller you can consider financing the rest at a higher interest rate than normal.

Keep in mind that as the seller you would not have to hold on to this mortgage forever, as it can be sold on a secondary market. With that all said, however, you also need to seriously consider the issues of a potential Buyer default, which could leave you facing the prospect of having to foreclose on the mortgage and reclaim the home through that process. Of course, you never know what the Annapolis real estate market will be like at that time, but fortunately this area has remained more stable than other regions of the country.

The other day I ran across this great article from Inc. Magazine that you may want to check out: http://www.inc.com/mike-handelsman/is-seller-financing-for-you.html. Before making a final decision on whether or not this is a realistic option for you, we should probably sit down and go over the specific situation, and see if it makes sense for you and your family.

 

With a broad background and strong record of success, Carlyn brings extraordinary skills and talents to her real estate clients in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County.  Having owned rental properties, Carlyn has the skills and experience to help her clients build and manage their own profitable and secure rental portfolios, and cash them out when the time is right. 

Carlyn comes from a tradition of service, is ready to serve, and she especially enjoys working with current and prior service members. Having spent over ten years building software companies, Carlyn enjoys working with successful business people, entrepreneurs, and the self-employed. She uses her high-tech expertise and financial knowledge to sell their houses effectively and for a higher price, and to find them the homes they want, while saving them time and money.

She has been awarded the prestigious Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Designation by the Council of Residential Specialists, the largest not-for-profit affiliate of the National Association of Realtors®. Carlyn has earned lifetime membership in the Distinguished Sales Achievement Club, membership in The Masters Club, and designation as a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and Million Dollar Guild Member.  For inquiries you can contact her direct at (443)569-3977 or by email at Carlyn@LoweryHomeTeam.com