Posts from March 2011
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31
Real Estate: GOLDen Opportunity of This Decade
Everyone wants to comment on the current real estate market. They want to talk about how now is not the time to buy a home. Some even argue owning a house has never been a great investment. Most say it will be a long time before real estate again begins to appreciate. It all sounds so familiar to me. It was just a decade ago that many made the same arguments about gold as an investment. Gold had dropped from over $400 an ounce to $250 an ounce (a 40% decline) from February 1996 to August 1999. People ran from gold as though it was a plague. Lord William Rees-Mogg, the current Chairman of The Zurich Club, in 1997 said: "No investment has been so thoroughly exploded as gold; most people think that there will no more be another gold boom than there will be another boom in tulip futures in The Netherlands." Two years late...
29
Iowa Farmland Increased 25.4% in Value
The value of cropland across the state of Iowa is dramatically on the rise, along with high demand. "Demand for cropland in our area is the strongest I've ever seen," said Tom Marcus, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtor in the Maquoketa area, who has been selling farmland since 1975. "In greatest demand is high quality cropland Corn Suitability Rating of 80 or higher, followed by average Corn Suitability Rating of 60+, which includes a lot of land in our area." The Land Trends and Value Survey, presented by the Iowa Farm and Land Chapter #2 REALTORS Land Institute, reported a statewide average increase of cropland values of 25.4% for the year from March 1, 2010 to March 1, 2011. The survey attributed the increase to several contributing factors, including strong commodity prices, favorable long-term interest rates, limited amount of land offered for sale, lack of alternative investments, higher livestock prices and...
24
Distressed Sales: State by State
21
Military Homebuyer Tax Credits Still Available!
Although the Homebuyer Tax Credit has expired for most of the population, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS would like to remind the public that there are still homebuyer tax incentives available for our service personnel. For the qualified members of the military who are ordered on a period of official extended duty, the Homebuyer Tax Credit was extended for one year. For these homebuyers, the tax credit applies to sales with a binding sales contract in place on or before April 30, 2011 and closed by June 30, 2011. First-time homebuyers may be eligible for a tax credit of up to $8,000 on the purchase of a home and move up or repeat homebuyers may be eligible for a tax credit of up to $6,500. A person that is forced to return to the U.S. for medical reasons before completing an assignment of at least 90 days of qualified official ex...
17
10 Reasons People Decide to Buy a Home
Renting is a very frustrating way of life. The money you pay every month disappears, leaving you with few benefits other than a roof over your head. Compared to owning a home, renting is a futile exercise that leaves you with nothing after your lease is up. It's no surprise that people want to get out of the rent race, and here are 10 reasons why people decide to buy a home versus renting. 1. They Want to Build Equity Homebuyers build equity as their property increases in value over time. This equity has many benefits, including the ability of a homebuyer to leverage equity in lines of credit to make repairs or additions to their home. Equity is a powerful thing and a natural consequence of home ownership. Renters never gain equity in their rental space, and at the end of their lease they are thrown out on the street with nothing to show for years of on time rental payments. 2. They Don't Want to Throw Their Money Away
