BOLD Homes has two homes ready for immediate occupancy and will match your Federal or State tax credit dollars. Contact Mike Kegley for more details at 859-657-6700. Click the icon for more tax credit details.
Special Offer on the Purchase of our Model Homes
January 30th, 2010HOMESTAR: Cash for Caulkers
March 4th, 2010
WASHINGTON–In his State of the Union address, the President called on Congress to pass a program of incentives for homeowners who make energy efficiency investments in their homes. Today, while touring a training facility at Savannah Technical College, the President outlined more details of a new “HOMESTAR” program that would help create jobs by encouraging American families to invest in energy saving home improvements. Consistent with the President’s call for a HOMESTAR program, the Senate Democratic leadership included a proposal of this kind as part of their Jobs Agenda released on February 4, 2010. The President looks forward to continuing to work with Members of Congress, business, environmental and labor leaders to enact a HOMESTAR program into law. (more)
Storing Paint Advise
March 3rd, 2010Good advise from my friend, Tim Carter of www.askthebuilder.com
I discovered many years ago it’s a mistake to save the paint in the cans from the paint store. Not only do you have to deal with lots of air in the cans, but you also have an issue with rust at the lid lip. The excess air in a paint usually causes a nasty skin to form on top of the paint.
What I’ve discovered that works best for me, and you may have an even better idea, is to use the inexpensive food-storage containers you can buy in the grocery store. They come in different sizes and the trick is to fill one nearly to the top with the leftover paint.
If the paint is water-based, I always add an ounce or two of water at the top of the paint before sealing the lid. This prevents the skinning effect. Using a permanent marker, and I do this before, filling the container, I write on the side of the container the room the paint was used in, the mfr., paint type, paint name, formula if available, etc.
Yesterday I had to touch up many spots in my living room. I painted this room about ten years ago. If you were here with me today, I’d bet you $100 you couldn’t find one spot where I touched up the walls. The paint matched perfectly and it’s consistency was just like the day I opened the original can. Suffice it to say I store this leftover paint indoors at about 65 F.
Buyers Who Wait May Lose a Lot
March 2nd, 2010Potential home buyers who delay have a lot to lose.
First-time home buyer and move-up tax credits worth $8,000 and $6,500, respectively, expire April 30. Buyers who qualify get a dollar-for-dollar reduction in taxes or a cash payment if they don’t pay enough taxes to cover the credit.
Other factors that should spur buyers:
Low mortgage rates. If the Federal Reserve stops buying mortgage-backed securities at the end of March, 30-year rates will almost certainly rise to more than 6 percent.
Rising prices. About 30 percent of markets are already experiencing price increases. Prices are falling in 12 percent of markets, says Fiserv (but that only helps if you want to live there).
Source: Money Magazine, Beth Braverman (03/02/2010
March Model Home Center Hours
March 2nd, 2010Check out our Model Homes during the hours listed or contact Mike Kegley in the office at (859) 657-6700 and on his mobile, (859) 393-9928 or James Kegley on his mobile, (859) 393-2900 for your private showing.
|
Day |
Date |
Antebellum |
War Admiral |
Doe Run |
|
Monday |
1 | 12-6 | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday | 2 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Wednesday | 3 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Thursday | 4 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Friday | 5 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Saturday | 6 | 12-6 | 12-6 | 1-5 |
| Sunday | 7 | 12-6 | 12-6 | 1-5 |
| Monday | 8 | 12-6 | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday | 9 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Wednesday | 10 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Thursday | 11 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Friday | 12 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Saturday | 13 | 12-6 | 12-6 | 1-5 |
| Sunday | 14 | 12-6 | 12-6 | 1-5 |
| Monday | 15 | 12-6 | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday | 16 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Wednesday | 17 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Thursday | 18 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Friday | 19 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Saturday | 20 | 12-6 | 12-6 | 1-5 |
| Sunday | 21 | 12-6 | 12-6 | 1-5 |
| Monday | 22 | 12-6 | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday | 23 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Wednesday | 24 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Thursday | 25 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Friday | 26 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Saturday | 27 | 12-6 | 12-6 | 1-5 |
| Sunday | 28 | 12-6 | 12-6 | 1-5 |
| Monday | 29 | 12-6 | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday | 30 | 12-6 | 1-6 | Closed |
| Wednesday | 31 | 12-6 | 1-6 |
Closed |
IRS Clarifies What’s Needed to Claim Tax Credit
February 28th, 2010The Internal Revenue Service has clarified which documentation taxpayers need to submit to claim the first-time and move-up homebuyer tax credit.
While the IRS is still requiring the filing of Form 5405, it is not demanding that all parties’ signatures be on the HUD-1 settlement document in areas where requiring both the buyer and the seller to sign the document isn’t common.
The IRS clarification says: “In areas where signatures are not required on the settlement document, the IRS has clarified that it will accept a settlement statement if it is completed and valid according to local law. … The IRS encourages those buyers to sign the settlement statement prior to attaching it to the tax return.”
For repeat buyers, the IRS is seeking documentation that home buyers have lived in the previous property for a consecutive five of the past eight years. Proof can include property tax records, home owner insurance records, or mortgage interest statements.
Source: Washington Post (02/20/2010)
Kitchen Updates for Any Budget
February 15th, 2010Check out this link for a great article that has apperaed on HGTV.com. Updating your kitchen on a budget with some great ideas you can do yourself. If you think this is more than you can handle or wish to do more, let the professionals from The BOLD Company help.
Touch the future with Brizo SmartTouch Technology — see videos!
February 14th, 2010Click picture to see the latest in kitchen faucet technology.
Cash for Caulkers: Appealing to Home Shoppers
February 14th, 2010Congress is about to approve a program to put contractors back to work doing energy retrofits.
If “Cash for Caulkers” passes, home owners will be eligible for a tax credit worth up to $12,000 or half the cost of the retrofits, whichever is lower.
A home owner who spends $24,000 to cut his energy use in half will save an average of $100 per month, estimates Lane Burt, manager of building energy policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. With a $12,000 tax rebate from the government, the payback will take 10 years.
Some real estate practitioners pointed out that energy retrofits might be a hard sell because they don’t raise a home’s sale value. “It sounds good on paper, but it’s just not how the American consumer makes choices,” says Jeff Geoghan, a Coldwell Banker REALTOR® in Lancaster, Pa. “If you’re buying a house, and you see a furnace has a 95 percent efficiency rating, are you really going to make your decision based on that?”
Source: CNNMoney.com, Steve Hargreaves (02/04/2010
Current Office Offers
February 13th, 2010
Lets Make a Deal!
We want you to be successful in our offices. To help you get started we would like to offer these move in specials:
Purchase: Tenant allowance of up to $8,100 on an unfinished unit. This would accommodate the level of finish seen in our display model with interior wall, solid wood doors, stained woodwork and crown molding. Check with us as this deal is disappearing soon!
Lease: Get a $8,100 tenant allowance on unfinished units with a three year lease. This would accommodate the level of finish seen in our display model with interior wall, solid wood doors, stained woodwork and crown molding. Check with us as this deal is disappearing soon!
Links to updated pricing:
Plantation Pointe Office Centre (Florence) Leases only at this time
Grandview Drive Office Centre (Ft Mitchell) Purchase Lease
CLICK HERE TO CONTACT US
Important IRS Updates for Claiming the Homebuyer Tax Credits
February 7th, 2010Important IRS updates on claiming the home buyer tax credit have recently been announced, and you may want to 
alert your potential customers. The agency has published an updated version of Form 5405 as well as instructions for home buyers using it to claim the $8,000 first-time buyer credit as well as repeat buyers seeking to claim the $6,500 credit. Updates to the form include the extended purchase date window (tax credit-qualified homes must be under contract prior to May 1 and close before July 1). And yes, even though the revised Form 5405 still references the “First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit,” it is also intended to be used by repeat home buyers, who must have lived in a single principal residence for five of the last eight years prior to purchasing their new home for which they plan to claim the tax credit.
Beyond these updates, the IRS is also requiring additional documentation for home buyers who claim the credit for purchases after Nov. 6, 2009. Buyers must now provide a copy of the HUD-1 form or, in cases where that form is not used, a certificate of occupancy for a newly constructed home. For purchases taking place after April 30, a copy of the signed sales contract must also be supplied. Meanwhile, in order to claim the $6,500 repeat buyer tax credit, home buyers must attach one of the following for five consecutive years of the last eight to demonstrate that they meet the repeat buyer qualifications: a Form 1098 reporting mortgage interest; a property tax statement; or home insurance records.
Tax credit buyers should also know that, due to the new documentation requirements, those claiming either the $8,000 first-time home buyer credit or the $6,500 repeat-buyer credit cannot e-file. As a result, taxpayers should be prepared to wait at least 12 to 16 weeks to receive their refunds. On a final note, NAHB has recommended options to Treasury and IRS officials for homebuyers who do not use a HUD-1 form and whose local jurisdiction does not issue a certificate of occupancy. We are awaiting their response at this time. Get more information on NAHB’s consumer tax credit Web site at: www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com.
