Lots going on globally, nationally, locally, etc.

Well, we're quite aware here of how long it's been since our last post... Perhaps this is due, at least in part, to what's been on our plate lately. It's pretty substantial.

On the local level, what we've seen of the Augusta/CSRA real estate market is, in some respects, a microcosm of the national real estate market - new construction as well as existing home sales are both on a long but steady (and encouraging) road to recovery, but banks are still making it ridiculously difficult for the average man to contribute to this recovery. The "For Sale" signs are still out there, especially the ones that are in front of homes that refuse to adjust their prices to market demands. But seeing less congestion of these signs where only a few months back it seemed there were as many as there are mailboxes is a sure sign that we're headed back toward a stabilization of home prices. In short, it seems that the faith in real estate as the best investment a person can make - even if it's the one that that person lives in - is being restored, but the lending institutions have yet to buy into that same faith.

Auben Homes, as a company, is still churning out rentals and homes for sale. A steady demand of both adds some credence to the old adage that "people will always need a place to live." Check out some of our newest available homes for sale, or if you're in the market for a rental, check here.

Perhaps the most exciting news to hit the national front is that of the extension of the first-time homebuyer federal tax credit. We had believed this to be coming for months now. However, like Area 51, George H.W. Bush's "No New Taxes" and stating that Bin Laden is hiding in Iraq, our venerable government doesn't always say what it means. Seeing it in writing was especially exciting.

Here are the specifics:

• Homes purchased under the "first-time homebuyer" qualification (again, if you haven't purchased a home ever, or, for at least three years) from January 1, 2009 all the way to April 30, 2010, you're still down for the $8,000 tax credit.
• The rule of "10 percent of total home price up to $80,000 still applies.
• The big difference is, if you buy the house after November 6 of this year (which has already passed), the income limitations are expanded to include those earning less that $125,000 single or $225,000 jointly, an allowance of an extra $50,000 for single taxpayers, or $75,000 for married couples.
• Also, if you have a house under contract by April 30, 2010, you have until the end of June 2010 to buy a house and still qualify.
• On top of all of this, we also have the "Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act" (that's a long title) which has established a tax credit of $6,500 to those who are buying a house as their principle residence, within the same time period and by the same percentage-of-home-price-up-to-$65,000 measure as above. It applies to any homebuyer that purchases a home, whether it's his/her first or fifteenth or hundredth, as long as it's their principle residence. In other words, if you're buying a third house in Aspen, you don't qualify. Nor do you need to qualify.

This is huge. Not only does it mean that a very large percentage of individuals that would've missed the deadline on their first home purchase tax credit now have an extra six months to find that perfect home and still get the credit, but the income requirements have gone more lenient and it doesn't have to be your first home.

I see this as a open admittance that the government realizes how important to our nation's infrastructure homeownership is. Having people who own a physical stake in the country does wonders for that country - for more reasons than I can count, but consider this reason:

People who own are less likely than renters to pick up and move to another if the economy of that area slows. They tough it out; there's no exodus. People who own homes take better care of their communities. It's a fact. Government knows this, and it knows that the homebuyer tax credits it has enacted are going to be the blocks upon which our country's economy is soon rebuilt.

--Auben Homes

Seven steps to improving your credit score, and why you should

These days, just about any purchase you make depends on your credit score, and this doesn't mean just houses, boats or cars. Even how much you'll pay over time on a living room set down at Ashley Furniture depends on how good (or bad) your FICO score is. Picture it as a grade score of how trustworthy society deems you to be, based on your previous actions as a consumer. Or picture the three credit rating agencies that compose this score (that is, Experian, Equifax and Transunion) as the three mystical gatekeepers that stand between you and every major material posession you desire in life. Either analogy works.

What follows is a guest post by Jim Wang, editor and contributor to Barganeering.

1. Review Your Credit Report

The easiest way to improve your score is to ensure your credit score is accurately calculated. Each year you can request your credit report for free via AnnualCreditReport.com, a website setup by the government to help you get your reports. By reviewing your report, you can get anything incorrect, positive or negative, removed from your report. Since your report and score affect more than your ability to get loans, it’s always important to keep it correct.

2. Dispute “Errors & Inaccuracies”

This is a secret tactic of many “credit card repair” services – they dispute everything negative on your account. The credit report industry works on voluntary reporting by creditors. Credit card companies don’t always report every late payment because it’s simply too much work for very little return. They usually only report it if it’s 30 or 60 days late.

What this also means is that sometimes they won’t respond whenever the bureau requests more information. If you dispute an error, the bureau has to go to the creditor to have them confirm the information. Sometimes they confirm it, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they no longer exist. If they can’t confirm it, it must be removed from your report.

3. Focus on Making Timely Payments

35% of your credit score depends on your payment history, the largest factor of the five listed by Fair Isaac. Creditors don’t care if you have debt as long as you’re making timely payments! That’s why it’s so important to ensure that you make your payments early or on-time.

So many times we miss making an on-time payment for stupid reasons. We forget to put the check in the mail. We forget to hit confirm on the billpay screen. We forget because we’re on vacation. Set up a system so that you will never miss a payment because you forgot. I setup electronic billing so I am sent an email each month reminding me to check my statement. I also set a reminder in my phone to remind me when my bill is usually do, since the date itself drifts between a few days. Finally, once a month, when I do a financial check in, I poke my head into each of my accounts when I review the transactions for errors.

4. Pay Down Debt

The second largest factor for your credit score is how much you owe (30% of your score). The more you owe, the lower your score will be. You would do the same thing if you set up a credit score right? Someone who owes $10,000 in debt is riskier than someone who owes only $100, all else being equal. So a great way to increase your credit score is to pay down as much debt as you can.

Credit utilization is often mentioned in any discussion of debt because that’s the metric most understood. Credit utilization is simply the percentage of your credit limit you are currently using. If you have $1,000 in debt but a total credit limit of $10,000, then you’re utilizing 10% of your debt. The lower this number is the better.

5. Stop Opening Credit Card Accounts

Want a free t-shirt? How about a frisbee? Or a blender? You’re dinging your credit score each time you apply for a new credit card. Lenders see it as a big red flag is someone is applying for a lot of credit cards, they think the applicant must really need all of this money otherwise they wouldn’t be applying for the cards!

In addition to credit cards, remember that any request for a loan will fall in this category. The application will result in a “hard inquiry,” which is an inquiry made by a creditor looking to make a decision. On the other side is a “soft inquiry,” which is an inquiry made by a creditor looking for information. If you request your own score, that’s a soft inquiry. When Citi requests it after you apply for a card, it’s a hard inquiry.

6. Don’t Close Credit Card Accounts

If you don’t use a card, stick it in your desk drawer. Don’t cancel it. A lot of times we feel tempted to cancel and cut up a credit card we don’t use because we don’t want to forget we have it. We don’t want it stolen or we simply want to be rid of it because we paid down the debt. Resist the temptation because when you close the credit card, you are hurt by the credit utilization number. Since the credit limit it taken from your total, the percentage of your total credit immediately goes up. It’s a bit of a moral hazard but that’s how the system works.

7. Don’t Pay For Credit Score Monitoring

A lot of people use services like MyFICO or other similar services that offer free FICO credit scores to monitor their credit score. I think it’s a mistake, if you are in debt, to continue to pay for the services after the free credit score. You should be taking that money and paying down your debt. Looking at your score won’t improve it, paying down debt will.

If you want to monitor your score, it’s best to use a free service like Credit Karma. They give you your TransUnion credit score, which isn’t technically your FICO score, but it’s still a credit score and you don’t have to pay.

Wholesaling real estate - why buying now makes sense

Wholesaling real estate - it's a term that's been bounced around a lot lately in real estate professional circles. It's a practice that's been hot in bigger markets for decades, and is now catching on in smaller cities, like Augusta.

Perhaps you've heard of the term but are a little shaky on what it means exactly. Let's clarify: Buying or selling real estate in the wholesale market parallels wholesaling in other markets, like groceries. If you buy wholesale, you might forego some of the finish-end amenities of a product in order to cut out a middleman and make a huge saving on the purchase. In the grocery world, a store like Sam's Club or Costco would wholesale products to you - you'd buy in bulk and shop in a barebones warehouse instead of a dressed-up supermarket, and thus, you'd save a ton.

In real estate, wholesaling is similar to this process; however, the wholesale vendors are not as prevalent as city block-occupying warehouse conglomerates. They are out there, though. The properties they market may have some due maintenance. And if you can establish a working relationship with a wholesaler, the benefits are quite bountiful, whether you look to purchase investment properties (now is the best time ever) or live in the home as your primary residence (now is also the best time ever).

So how might one find a wholesaler? Well, Auben Homes is always acquiring new properties with the intent of wholesaling them. In addition, wholesaling is exactly what the people behind all those "I Buy Houses Cash" signs are all about. They find motivated sellers through those signs, get the property under contract, and sell the contract to an interested buyer. Everyone wins. The seller finds a solution, the wholesaler earns an amount for his or her time spent finding the property and getting it under contract at an attractive purchase price, and the buyer - again, whether they are looking for a residence or an investment - finds a sweet deal from the wholesaler.

If all this sounds confusing, it's really not, if you can visualize the process in other terms. Imagine an empty grain silo. This silo represents the amount of money the house will be worth on the retail market. Let's imagine for illustrative purposes that the house will be worth $100,000 on the retail market. (Remember that we are dealing in the wholesale market, though. We're below the radar of the general populous. It's kind of cool like that.)

If a wholesaler gets the property under contract for $50,000, that grain silo is half full. There is also room for another $50,000 before the silo fills up. If he or she sells that contract (it's called assignment) to the end buyer for $60,000, then the wholesaler has made is profit and the property still has $40,000 worth of breathing room that can be spent on any necessary repairs, or it could be sold outright if no repairs are needed. See how it starts to come together? The seller has gotten $50,000 to solve any of their problems, the wholesaler has made $10,000, and there's still room for the buyer to play around with this property before the "silo" is full. Equity is a very cool thing.

Be sure to visit the Auben Homes website for a complete listing of our investment properties.

--Auben Homes

August 7 week in review and more...

Yet another week comes to a close here at Auben Homes, as we reflect on all of the little "adventures" we undertook - or, in some cases, the ones that undertook us - over the last five days.

Early in the week we put the brass tacks into 3913 Creekwood, a contemporary home in the Clairmont subdivision. A 3/2 with high-end frise carpet, tile and hardwoods underfoot everywhere in the home (not to mention tile countertops in the kitchen, wood paneling on the ceiling of the dining room, an absurdly large backyard with a massive deck and a sick great room with a fireplace) it's the kind of house you really cringe at putting on the market. Because soon it will be gone, and out of our lives forever. And we all wanted to move into it.

We spent a large portion of the week servicing our rental homes - putting carpet in this one, taking care of a leaky faucet (on the double) in that one.

Then, it was on to 808 Lake. This is the kind they don't make anymore, but should. It's a solid little bungalow just on the fringe of downtown North Augusta. I love that area. You can see half the state of Georgia from just about any standpoint, and there's always a breeze. Yet, there you are, walking distance from an ice cream parlor (The Pink Dipper) and a great wine shop (Wine World), not to mention North Augusta's Greenway, a 10-mile foot and bike trail that winds through some of the most serenely beautiful riverfront land anywhere.

And the house itself sits snugly in the Hammond Hill area, where apparently the city had a stern law that no houses could be built unless they adhered to a quality code. Some are six bedroom palaces, some are bed and breakfast-style mansions, and interspersed are lots of smaller cottages with great yards. I could go on all day. The house itself is an all-hardwood (though we're putting in lots of tile in the kitchen and bath) 3/1 with tons of potential, which we plan to maximize over the next week as we put the finishing touches. Check our website in a week to catch the snapshots of the finished product.

Beyond that, we've got lots of great rentals, wholesale deals and retail houses coming up. Check back often, we get new houses everyday, almost. Have a great weekend, all.

--Auben Homes

Seven actions you can take to ensure you'll get your rental deposit back

Moving into a new place costs money. Usually, it's a lot of little drops in the bucket that add up to a tidal wave when you balance your checkbook at the end of that month. Moving fees. Utility set-up fees. The money you spend on beer in order to coerce friends into helping you move furniture up three flights of stairs.

Perhaps one of the scariest and most underestimated expenses when you start a new lease is the prospect of having to fork up a first and last month's rent somewhere in that first-of-many checks you write to your new, beloved landlord. But it doesn't have to be so scary. In fact, that deposit money you pay isn't even an expense, if you want to get technical about it. It's an amount of money your landlord requires to protect his or her asset - the place you're moving into. Protection from what? Essentially from you being a knucklehead and punching holes in the drywall, breaking a window or otherwise having a party that goes wrong and ends up as footage shot from a helicopter on the CNN morning news.

Let's face it: No one is deliberately a bad tenant. No one signs a lease thinking of all the destruction they can wreak on an apartment or house. But things happen. Messes and damage occur, and that deposit is a necessary instrument. But with that acceptance in mind, you can get that money back when the lease is up. And if you're like me, you'll look upon a returned deposit not only as found money, but a monetary confirmation that you respected someone else's property in a courteous manner. A check for being a good person.

Here are seven key steps to take to ensure that you'll get refunded your full deposit:

1. Read your lease/ask the landlord questions before you sign. Don't simply flip to the back page of the lease and sign without thoroughly reading through it. If some language is murky or suspicious, ask the landlord or property manager questions. There is no stupid question here. We aren't all lawyers. The bottom line to this point is to make sure there are no clauses that can unfairly bite you when it is time to move out. Take it a step further: If you can ask some of the landlord's previous or current tenants about his reputation on this, all the better. If you can't get clarification on some language in the lease contract, send it to a friend who's a lawyer. Also, have a friend who's a lawyer.

2. Do the walkthrough and document everything. And I mean everything. It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of moving into a property and not doing what is essentially a renter's due diligence first. Don't move a stick of furniture into that place before you've done a walkthrough and had the landlord or his/her agent sign off on everything you've noted. And there is no such thing as too specific. Rips in carpet, scuffs on linoleum, leaky faucets or toilets, holes in walls - anything that you could foresee being held responsible for later that was already that way before you got there - you have to write all this stuff down. Take it a step further: Got a video camera, or the means to borrow one? Landlords sometimes can be a little too scrupulous (not Auben Homes, but others) and a videotaped walkthrough will take all of the wind out of their less-than-honest sails.

3. Always pay rent on time. Even strict landlords have a several-day grace period after the day your rent check is due (which is usually on the first of every month, just to keep it simple). This one pretty much goes without saying - if you don't pay your rent and end up getting evicted or, at the very least, pay later than allowed, you're costing the property owner money. And things that cost the property owner money will eat into your ability to get your deposit back when you move out. Take it a step further: Pretend that the grace period doesn't even exist, so you won't allow yourself to be even a day late. Pay a few days early or even months at a time if you can. Trust me, it leaves you with a pretty good feeling inside.

4. Don't live like you're a 6th Century viking. No offense to vikings if any still exist outside of the guys who like to crash Renaissance fairs, but it's a good idea to keep a mindfulness of what deliberate damage to your rental home can do. Swinging from a chandelier, holding hot dog eating contests, reenacting scenes from Fight Club - all bad ideas. Keeping a damage-free lifestyle can not only do wonders for the odds of getting a deposit refund, but it's also just good practice. This is what a bad tenant can do to a place. Take it a step further: If you know how to fix a leaky sink or can handle problems as they arise without calling in repair requests, that's a plus. Just beware of making minor issues into major ones by not correctly repairing things. And by all means don't rewire the place if you aren't an electrician.

5. Get your landlord's definition of "normal wear and tear." Landlords are notorious dictionary writers. That is, they love to have their own proprietary definitions of some words or terms. "Normal wear and tear" may be the most commonly redefined term in the property-owning lexicon. Some landlords define this term as worn carpet and nail holes in the wall where your family pictures hung. I once had a landlord that replaced carpet every time someone moved out, even if they'd only been there one month and walked through the apartment on stilts. Find out early on what they'll do to the place once you leave, and you'll know in which areas you need to tread lightly and in which you can rest assured that you won't tarnish the refund of your deposit. Take it a step further: Get to know the handyman or property manager that your landlord uses regularly. He'll let you know exactly what the landlord does after every tenant moves out. (He's the one doing the work!)

6. Don't ride the midnight express. That's not a literal train. It's the name commonly given to the inexpicable force that drives a tenant to pack up and move in the middle of the night. Oddly enough (or perhaps not) the midnight express only runs at the end of every month, or when rents are coming due or have gone overdue. But if you are prone to this type of behavior, first of all, congratulations on being able to still sign a lease with any landlord who runs any kind of decent background check. More importantly, however, don't even expect that you'll ever see your deposit again. And for that matter, expect a skip trace service to find you wherever you turn up, where you'll be turned over to a collection agency for any past due rents. Take it a step further: If you're in a multi-unit complex and you hear someone else suspiciously moving out in the middle of the night, call it in to your landlord immediately. Otherwise it could be weeks before they find out, and your landlord will trust that you're on his/her side and wouldn't do the same thing in a few months.

7. Take an active role in the final walkthrough. This is the walkthrough that landlords or their agents and tenants who are moving out once the furniture and all belongings are gone, and the landlord can see their property as it will be turned back over to them. This is the time when you want to either do some hardcore cleaning or pay to have it done, repair or have repaired any damages you caused (if any), and essentially leave the place in better condition than it was when you moved in. That way your former landlord will have no cause to hang on to your deposit, especially since they will be distracted by how happy they are that all they have to do now is sign a lease with the next tenant that will move into the place and begin collecting rent again. Take it a step further: Bake your landlord cookies. Just kidding. Unless we are your landlord. We like chocolate chip.

July 10 week in review and more

Our first full week in July 2009 was one of the busiest in recent memory. In addition to my first full week back from a recent injury (that first week back is always a tough one) we have purchased several properties. The office is abuzz with excitement about the possibilities that these homes can offer the community.

First is 3913 Creekwood Dr., a beautiful three-bedroom, two-bath, two-story, modern-design house in the Clairmont subdivision in Martinez. When complete in approximately a week, this home will be complete with a beautifully landscaped lawn, brand new hardwood, tile and carpeted floors, new paint, and new roof. That's not to mention the unbelievable rear deck and fenced backyard with a property line adjacent to a nearby creek. As close as this home is to West Augusta, Fort Gordon, downtown Augusta and I-20 (but without traffic noise), I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone who it wouldn't be a perfect fit for. Pictures will follow at our official website as the project nears completion.

Next is 2412 Apricot, a lovely 3/1, brick ranch-style home in the National Hills subdivision off Washington Rd. For as long as I can remember (and that's saying something) this neighborhood has been rock-solid in terms of steady appreciation, neighborhood security and pride of homeownership. On top of that, these are the '50s brick ranches. These are from the era when they knew how to build a house. This project will likely be completed by mid-August - it requires just a little more TLC. When complete, however, it will have new everything - roof, exterior paint, interior paint, electrical, plumbing, flooring and landscaping. I'm very excited to see the progress as it unfolds. Also look for it on the website when it nears completion.

In terms of rentals, we have the Harrisburg market covered. It looks like the area is making positive changes and the community is really starting to band together down there. It's about time. Several of our rentals - 219 Eve St., 413 Greens Ln., and 1845 Warren St. - lie directly in the path of progress, so it's news to our ears. On that note, both Eve and Greens have recently come available, so if you're looking to relocate closer to downtown, now couldn't be a better time. Aside from the community stabilizing itself, the upcoming Salvation Army Kroc Center is going to make the area even more desirable.

--Auben Homes

How a lease option (aka rent-to-own) works

If you've driven your car over one mile in the last month or so, you've undoubtedly seen the signs in front of houses and other properties, roughly the size of the standard real estate sale sign, but instead of "for sale" they state "rent-to-own" or "lease option."

While rent-to-own immediately makes me think of furniture stores that specialize in this method of sale, they conjure many random thoughts for those not familiar with this process. The least of which is likely "for sale," given that the signs use terms like "lease" and "rent," two terms that aren't often associated with a property that is for sale.

However, in terms of property, that is EXACTLY what terms like rent-to-own and lease option are meant to denote. Quite simply, lease options exist as a way to more creatively get buyers into homes, especially when banks aren't ready to lend to a certain buyer because of barriers like credit score and traditional down payment terms. So, if you've ever been denied home ownership because of a bank's requirements, this may be the option for you.

Let's explore the process. It's actually quite simple when you break it down.

1. Binding Fee. Much like a home sale, which generally requires a down payment, a lease option requires a binding fee, a very similar security instrument. However, this down payment is negotiable with the seller, but at least 5% of the purchase price of the house is generally expected. Some sellers have set down payment prices or percentages. You make this binding fee when you are signing the lease option agreement. This binding fee gets you in the house, but it will also go toward the purchase price when you buy. One caveat here to note here is that while a binding fee secures your future option to purchase a property, it is non-refundable should a buyer opt out of the eventual purchase. Also key in that option agreement (which very much resembles a standard purchase and sale contract) is going to be the amount of time between the day you move in and the day you buy the house outright, and the purchase price of the house. We'll get into that more in a second.

2. Monthly lease payments. You'll make these in the same manner you would if you were renting the property. Monthly payments between the move-in date and the purchase date do not typically help toward the purchase price the way that a down payment does. However, this period is what sets a lease option apart from a standard sale or a standard lease. What you are doing in this time period until you buy the home is getting all your financials in order, the ones that kept a bank or other lending institution from lending you the money to buy the property in the first place. If your credit is too low, you're working on paying down the amounts that are weighting your credit score down, or working with a credit counselor.

3. Purchase the property. Now, after however many months you specified in your lease option contract (or sooner if you can) you've built up a solid enough financial record or found a lender who will lend you the purchase price. It's vital to the success of this plan that, in the time between signing the agreement and purchasing the home, that you are working with a reputable mortgage broker and credit repair consultant to clean up your personal finances and make yourself a more attractive home loan recipient. That purchase price should have been agreed upon in writing way back when you put down that down payment money, and you set a specific amount of time in the lease option contract as well. And don't forget - your original down payment now counts to pay down your purchase price. For example, if you paid $3,000 down on the day you signed the lease option agreement, and the agreed upon purchase price was $78,000, that $3,000 goes against the $78,000 to make your new purchase price $75,000.

And that's really all there is to it. So if you are looking for alternate entries to home ownership, start looking into lease options. It's kind of like layaway: you lock in a price, pay it down a little, then pay it off when you can. For a look at the lease option properties we currently have, check out the Auben Homes lease option homes.

--Auben Homes

New rentals, recently available

Here are a few of our newly available rental properties. Be sure to follow the corresponding link to find out more about them.

1139 Sharpes Lane - Two bedroom, one bath, total electric, close to downtown Augusta, off of 12th Street. Perfect for the cost-conscious renter looking to get the most quality for their money. $400/month plus $25/month for water. Click here for more info.

219 Eve St. - A three bedroom, one bath house with plenty of space in the Harrisburg community. Very close to the MCG and ASU areas, perfect for students of either. Mix of natural gas and electric, 525/month. Click here for more info.

1927 Wrightsboro Rd. - A charming but solid brick bungalow, two bedrooms, one bath, all hardwoods with a covered front and back porch. Perfect for anyone looking for an affordable, quality rental in the Summerville hill area. $600/month. Click here for more info.

1133 Austin St. - Half of a duplex, but plenty of space at three bedrooms and one bath. In the North Augusta area, close to all businesses in that community. $550/month. Click here for more info.

4451 Deans Bridge Rd. - Just outside of city limits and in close proximity to both South Augusta and Blythe, this singlewide mobile home has plenty of private, peaceful land surrounding and plenty of space within at three bedrooms and two baths. Includes a new covered front porch that must be seen to be believed. $550/month. Click here for more info.

--Auben Homes

Yet another reason that this is the best time to buy...

So, the last post on this blog last week dealt with a HUGE reason that anyone who hasn't ever purchased a home (or at least, hasn't in three years) has more incentive to get on it. Here is another reason, if you live in or plan to purchase in the state of Georgia: Governor Sonny Perdue recently followed federal suit in enacting a smaller version of the $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers by pushing through a plan that gets Georgia homebuyers another $1,800 in tax credits. The criteria here are even looser than the nationwide plan:

• You don't have to be a virgin homebuyer. This credit applies to anyone buying a home anywhere in Georgia.
• The date range is, however, a little tighter. Eligible homebuyers must close on their home between June 1, 2009 and November 30, 2009. That's still plenty of time for shopping, loan approval and due diligence.
• The home must be in Georgia. (duh!)
• Since the federal and state tax credits are independent of each other, receiving one does not cancel out eligibility for the other.
• The house must be an older listing, that is, a listing that existed prior to May 11, 2009, since this bill is aimed at clearance of older house stock.
• This credit is $1,800 or 1.2% of the home's purchase price, whichever is the lesser amount.
• This credit must be claimed in one-third increments over a three-year period, not all at once on any given year. 2008 returns cannot be amended to include this credit.
• There are no income limits to homebuyer eligibility here, and there is no seasoning period (how long a buyer must own a house to keep the credit) required.

--Auben Homes

Why now is the best time ever to buy your first home...

Unless you've been living under the preverbial rock for the last few months, there are substantial benefits to getting your first home under your feet by the end of 2009. The most important of these is inarguably going to be the Federal Tax Credit, which offers a tax credit of up to $8,000 or 10 percent of the cost of the residence, whichever is lower, to first-time homebuyers who are buying a house for their primary residence.

You've no doubt heard, at least, the gist of this program. It's an effort by Congress to stimulate our economy, and, more specifically, spur those who've never owned their own home into taking the plunge and joining the ranks of the mortgaged. That said, this post will aim to lay clear the guidelines and requirements of this program, Q&A style ...

Question: What if I've already bought a house in my lifetime?

Answer: As defined within the program, as long as you haven't purchased a residence in the three-year period prior to the date of the purchase, you're elligible. If you're married, that applies to both you and your spouse.

Q: Do I have to pay this back?

A: Only if you sell the house within three years will the government "recapture" the tax credit. Death and divorce, obviously, are exceptions to the rule.

Q: Does it matter if it's a new construction house or a resale that's 100 years old?

A: Nope. As long as it's new to you.

Q: Are there income limits?

A: Yes. $75,000 per single taxpayer or $150,000 per couple. But if you make that much and you don't already own a home (i.e. you rent or still live with mom and dad) I also know a guy who can sell you some land on a rapidly melting iceberg.

Q: What if I filed for the $7,500 tax credit last year?

A: Go talk to your CPA or tax preparer to amend your 2008 return.

--Auben Homes

Creating a watertight, bulletproof, ironclad or (insert repellent metaphor) agreement

In this day and age of contracts falling through on the day before closing and endless stipulations tacked on the end of purchase contracts, it's vital to know that you have done everything in your power to fortify the contract against a frivolous technicality that could bring the whole deal to a crashing halt. This goes for any contract, whether you are entering into an agreement to buy your first house or you're signing a work scope with a contractor who will be turning your basement into a fourth bedroom. The following 10 guidelines will save you untold amounts of stress, money, time, money, extra work, and most importantly, money.

1. Get it on paper - It doesn't have to look like F. Lee Bailey wrote the language in a contract. Just get it in plain language that both parties can understand, and number your paragraphs, so that in the off chance that the contract goes for 20 pages or more, you'll have reference points.

2. You can't be detailed enough - If you spell out the responsibilities of each party in clear but very focused detail, there'll be none of that, "Well, you didn't say I had to do all of that" B.S. that always seems to manifest when the time draws close to project completion.

3. Simplify the language - There is a thin line between being specific and detailed in each party's responsibilities and getting bogged down in murky language trying to spell out these duties. Keep the explanations conversational, as if you were speaking to someone about them. Sure, it's a contract, but it's still being read by other human beings.

4. Get the right signature - This should go without saying, but make sure the principle decision maker for each party adds their John Hancock to the contract. If it's an agreement between a contractor and a homeowner, those are the two that should sign, not the contractor's apprentice and the homeowner's wife. If it's a purchase contract for a property, the property owner and the buyer should ink the signatures. And each party will be clearly identified in the opening paragraph of the contract.

5. Identify the parties correctly - The last line of tip #4 is important enough to be its own tip. Make a point of clearly laying out the groups or individuals pertinent to the contract at hand. That is, identify each side of the thing, and then have a parenthetical following that identification that generalizes the party, like "(hereafter referred to as CUSTOMER), or (hereafter referred to as CONTRACTOR)." It'll save you a lot of confusion and printer ink.

6. Lay out the payment schedule - If you're buying or selling a house, the terms will be pretty cut and dry. This tip refers more to when you're contracting work, and a really good contractor won't need any draw, even for material costs. He or she will need payment, in full, after the final walkthrough, and you sign off on their work. But occasionally there'll be a contractor that needs a draw before project delivery, and if so, they should say so before signing into a contractual agreement. Then, you'll clearly lay out exactly what you'll pay them on that draw and which duties will have to be complete in order to remit that payment. And hold tight to it, through the seemingly identical sob stories and country songs some contractors will give you.

7. Agree on mediation - A contract is simply an official agreement, nothing more. And agreements often go wrong. Don't think that because everyone is all smiles when you first meet that it'll stay that way through the entire project period. There'll more than likely be at least one disagreement, and you need to highlight an agreeable way to settle such disputes. Arbitration or going to court are the two options, should it be a serious enough disagreement. Both are expensive and should be avoided at all costs.

8. Leave yourself a backdoor - A cancellation policy - a 30-day stipulation is good for independent contractor agreements as well as purchase and sale agreements - can be your golden parachute if you discover in your due diligence period that something is amiss and can't be remediated without terminating the contract altogether.

9. Pick a state law that will govern the contract - Should you need arbitration or judicial remediation of a contract, the state that you're doing business in will be the state whose laws govern the contract. But, if you're on a border between two states (Augusta, where Auben Homes is located, is just on the border of Georgia and South Carolina) clearly specifying a state will keep you from getting caught in a tug-of-war if the contractor is located in one state and the work is being performed in another state. The project location's state is the best way to go.

10. Keep it confident - If an IC (independent contractor) goes off the wire after a disagreement, a confidentiality agreement will be the only thing to keep him or her from sullying your good reputation all over town. Especially if you live in a town like Augusta, where word travels fast and everyone knows everyone. If you treat someone fairly and with respect while protecting your own assets, a contractor will have no reason to say anything bad about you or your company. But they do sometimes, anyway. Put some bite into this part of the contract, so that you will curb any sinister instincts on the other side.

The main ingredient to any enforceable agreement is that it is actually on paper. I've heard a story of a wedding prenuptual that was written on a napkin at the reception. Not sure if that actually held up in court or not, or if it even came to that. The point is that anything on paper is infinitely more enforceable than a verbal or handshake agreement. Then, you can tweak the print agreement to your specific needs with these 10 tips.

--Auben Homes

Top 10 overlooked items in a renovated house

One of the last things you should have to worry about - or ever want to catch sight of - when you move into that seemingly pristine, sparkling new home, is any inkling that the renovators overlooked, either on purpose or mistakenly, any necessary maintenance to the house. So, with that nightmare in mind, here are the 10 most commonly overlooked (and not coincidentally some of the most expensive) items in a house renovation.

1. Roof - A roof beyond its service life is one of those things like a car's fan belt: you don't know it needs replacing until it's way too late. In the roof's case, those telltale brown spots on your ceiling are the way in which you'll likely find out about it, along with a faint overhead "tap" whenever it rains.

How to spot it - Fortunately, those little brown rings on the ceiling are also the way to tell if the roof leaks long before you buy the house. Just look up when you're walking through the first time, and not necessarily only on the house's top floor is this important. Stray water takes a strange path through a house - it can end up on a two-story house's bottom floor sometimes, too. Other signs to look for are: buckling shingles, especially on the edges of the roof, and if you have a keen eye, little flecks of asphalt from the shingles can be spotted on the ground below a roof that's taken a beating from heavy storms, hail or those random once-every-80-years meteor showers.

2. Other water leaks - The roof isn't the only place water can get in, unfortunately. Old or improperly installed plumbing, improperly sealed foundations or standing moisture in the house's crawlspace are like the Trojan horse that can destroy your home from the inside out. And though remediation companies like Servepro can work wonders on a flooded house, it's best not to use them if you don't have to. 

How to spot it - Much like a roof leak, you will want to look around the house for water stains, but water coming in at ground level will also appeal to another of your senses: smell. Take a whiff in the basement, if the house has one, and anything rotten will smell accordingly. If there's not a basement, hire an inspector that you trust, and that actually likes crawling under a house. Strange, we know, but they are out there. A good inspector will provide a thousand-fold return on his inpection fees by saving you untold amounts of repair money (not to mention grief).

3. Lead paint, asbestos, aluminum wiring or radon gas leaks - It's hard to believe that there was a day, long ago, that people actually thought these were safe building materials (except for radon gas, of course). These items are like the architectural version of bell-bottom jeans, except that bad fashion rarely kills people. The scariest factor of all of these items is that you can't see them, and wouldn't be able to even if you knew what to look for. 

How to spot it - Any inspector worth his salt will be on the lookout for these items, and state and federal regulations have been enacted to remediate lead paint. But, if you have any doubts, consult these resources:

- Lead paint: http://www.epa.gov/lead/

- Asbestos (which was used in ceilings, drywall, flooring, insulation and exterior siding):  http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/

- Aluminum wiring: http://www.inspect-ny.com/aluminum/aluminum.htm

- Radon gas: http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html

4. Structural issues - When people get old, they start to bulge and sag, but a house that's even 100 or more years old, if built and maintained properly, should only have minimal settlement. Oddly enough, though, you can come across foundation issues just as commonly in 20 year-old houses as in those that were built when Lincoln was alive. Buy a house with structural issues and it'll still be moving as you're moving out. You'll go insane trying to pinpoint the causes, or you'll go insane trying to figure out which kidney you're going to sell to have it remediated. It's better just to find it and have it taken care of (or run like hell from it) before you sign the purchase contract.

How to spot it: Look for vertical cracks on the interior walls, or excessive sagging along the house's main axis. Step on a weak spot in the floor? Dig deeper. You won't have to look terribly hard to spot foundation issues, and your inspector will probably notice them before he even gets out of his truck.

5. Heating/air-conditioning - It's a good idea to have an HVAC technician that you're good friends with. Why? Because they'll accompany you on one of these walkthroughs before you buy, and they can inspect ductwork, the furnace, the fan, every component of the heating and air system in a house. Give him a Macaroni Grill gift certificate every now and then and he'll immediately tell you if the unit is large enough to heat and cool the house without straining your power bill, and whether there is any energy loss in any room in the house. If the unit is not dead yet but is starting to have "senior HVAC moments," he'll spot those too. A really good HVAC tech will tell you when the unit is past its service life and what will be under warranty or what won't. And all of this should be translated out of HVAC language and into humanspeak.

How to spot it: Leave the details to a trusted expert, but if the outside unit is rusty enough that even Fred Sanford wouldn't salvage it, you might be in for an overhaul.

6. Plumbing system - Probably a great idea to bring a plumbing contractor along as you grow more serious about buying the house. Not one of those guys with dollar signs in their eyes, either. Everyone knows someone who knows a plumber they recommend in good faith, and they usually have a "this guy saved me thousands of dollars" story to accompany the recommendation. 

How to spot it: The saying is that, like the house's electrical system, a standard walk through a house will only reveal 1% of a house's plumbing. The rest, those lengths of supply and waste pipe, are behind the walls and under the house. A plumber will test for leaks and pressure by cutting on the water with a plumber's key and walk through and crawl under a house to see how things are working. Old galvanized steel or lead pipes, should the house be old enough to have either, can be a dealbreaker, should they need replacing.

7. Electrical system - If a house has cloth or tube-and-knob wiring, or if whatever it has is frayed or improperly wired to begin with, this house may kill you. Wiring is often the cause of house fires, and they don't always wait until you go to work to flare up. That's the worst of it, but that's not all. Some electrical panels weren't enough to carry the house's electrical load when they were put in. Strain a house's electrical capacity and you'll also put yourself and your family in harm's way.

How to spot it: An inspector will pick up on it right away. Indicators like burnt wire around outlets, a panel that's full of fuses (with no space for any more), outlets without third-prong grounds, or a service wire (the one that connects at the outside from the utility poles from the road) that looks like it has some age - these are signs that the house's wiring will need another look. Personally, I look at plate covers - those little plastic screw-on covers for the light switches and electrical outlets. If they look pretty old, then what's underneath them is likely equally ancient.

8. Outdated windows and/or doors - It sounds elemental to fix this, but you'd be shocked to find out how many people fixing up their house will spend $40,000 on their kitchen cabinets or $10,000 laying new, exotic hardwoods, only to leave single-pane windows on the house that don't form a tight seal and let out hundreds of dollars in energy each year. Most doors can be brought up to date with an inexpensive roll of weather stripping, but it'll cost more than a visit to Starbucks to replace a rotten wood window.

How to spot it: Just as easy as you think. An old window just looks old, and holding your hand up to a window or door, you'll feel a temperature difference. Even a slight one. If you see light around the seal of a door, it's got gaps.

9. Wood-boring insects - Foundation issues are one thing, but termites can sometimes elicit an emotional response. These are living things with an agenda, and it's like they are personally out to make your life miserable. But they aren't. Your line of work might be preparing taxes or cutting hair, but termites exist just to devour the 2x4's that hold a roof above your head. It's just what they do.

How to spot it: A termite letter from a qualified, reputable and highly recommended company is a good start. If you see those in-ground sentricon systems in the dirt around the house (they look like sprinkler heads, really close to the foundation), they might've been put in proactively, but it could be a reaction to an existing infestation. And wood that runs from the house all the way to the ground, as opposed to a brick foundation, is like a welcome mat to termites. Wood-to-earth contact = major lure to termites.

10. Zoning/easements - It's important to ask the right questions on the front end. "Are there trains that run nearby?" "Are there commercial developments planned for right around the corner?" "Isn't this where that sacred Indian burial ground was?" There are forces larger than you at work in your city, and while the path of progress is great, trying to hear Seinfeld over the recently-constructed Interstate a block away, well, that sucks.

How to spot it: Neighbors are put on this earth to tell such tales. Ask around. And as a backup, you may want to pull a professional survey or even such measures as a zoning opinion letter, flood plain classification or environmental certification letter (all from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development) to ensure that you aren't buying the house that hundreds have passed on because the local nuclear plant buries their radioactive waste next to what will be your herb garden.

Happy hunting!

--Auben Homes

What we look for in renters

We manage a lot of rental properties. They are all over the CSRA, and no two are alike in terms of size, location, architectural style, and hundreds of other distinguishing characteristics. Every one of them tells a story. And much like those properties, there is no one "ideal renter" that we have in mind when we are fixing up a property.

Take a recent Old Towne renovation we recently completed. Old Towne is Augusta's oldest community, and the house itself is easily over 100 years old. When we were renovating this 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house, we didn't know if it would be for a group of college students or a family with children. As it turns out, it best fit the needs of a single family that moved in soon after. But it was more about our house fitting their needs than the renter fitting ours. What I mean by that is that, while we look at the following criteria when deciding to lease, one single blemish won't knock you out of the running entirely:

• Credit score - Many think that this is the one factor that can pass or fail a potential tenant's chance of getting into a lease. We do pull credit. We do pay attention to what is on a credit report. But we also understand that these are tough times, and no one is perfect. So while it is important that a credit score is satisfactory, it's not the only character witness testifying on your behalf.
  
• Rental history - This is perhaps the most important factor of all. Paying rent on time in the past, not packing up and moving away in the middle of the night a day before rent is due, having had a good relationship with past landlords - these are things that we like to hear when we call references.
• Job verification - Steady income to you means that you are more likely to pay your rent on time, to put it bluntly. Don't worry if you aren't a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or something like that. If you were, you'd probably be buying a million dollar house in a country club somewhere, not renting one!

Those are the main areas we take into account.

--Auben Homes

Tips on selling your house, Part I.

Today I thought that while we're hammering out the details on our upcoming properties, I would go over some tips on how to make sure you've got every base covered when putting your house on the market to sell. In this economy of declining home values, sometimes you don't have the room in your asking price to afford listing it under a real estate agent or Realtor. Thus, you don't have a guiding voice over your shoulder telling you where your time and money would most effectively be put to use. So here are the major points to consider when selling your home. Some may seem minor, but trust us, it can make the difference between selling a home for full asking and not selling one at all.

1. Landscaping, and in general, cleaning up the area from street to steps, is arguably the most important factor in selling your house. First impressions are everything, and even if there are stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, clawfoot bathtubs and twelve fireplaces in your house, if the potential buyer has already soured on the property because of bare patches in the lawn, weeds coming up through the beds or, (gasp!) litter in the yard, it won't matter what's inside. A strong curb appeal is the equivalent of a good, firm handshake that doesn't let go until the other guy does.

2. Ridding clutter on the inside as well as the aforementioned front yard is vital. It should go without saying, but you'd be alarmed to know how many sellers haven't done the bare minimum of picking up their personal possesssions and vacuuming/mopping before their house is shown. Go one step beyond that: steam clean the entire house. It's cheap and you'll get your money back out of the steam cleaner rental fee when the buyer offers you a full asking price for your house.

3. Smell, or more specifically, a good smell, such as that coming from a reed diffuser, candle or plug-in deodorizer, is the hidden weapon of all effective house sellers. Just as the scent of a dead skunk or rotting food will send you running out of a house, making someone think that you've been baking sugar cookies or having your bathrooms smell clothesline fresh (what is clothesline fresh, anyway?) will start to trigger positive emotions and memories, and make someone feel like they're walking through a place that's comfortable to them, that they'd like to call home. Scent is the sense most strongly tied to memory. Proven scientific fact.

4. Staging is a strong finish to a house that's already been cleaned and prepped for the open market. Obviously, if your house is still being lived in, effective arrangement of the furniture and accessories will help. Think spatiality, think symmetry, and think flow. A perfect example of good staging is in a store like Rooms-to-Go or Ashley Furniture. There are people who get paid a lot of money just to design those layouts for those stores. If you've already moved out of the house and it's completely empty, spend a day and a hundred bucks or so at Pier One, looking for sale items, paying special attention to things that can go on bathroom or kitchen countertops, or medium-sized vases that can fit in corners. Simply put, a well-staged home has a 50% greater chance of selling than one that isn't staged.

5. Wise pricing, that is, pricing that fits the current market trends (like sales records of comparable properties), is another vital factor to getting a property sold. Ever hear the phrase, "An item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it"? Well, that's especially true in real estate. That's because anyone looking to buy in your neighborhood, even the moderately savvy buyer, won't even drive beyond the entrance to your subdivision without knowing what houses are selling for in there. If they're represented by an agent, and they probably are, that agent has already looked at several items: three very recent sales in the area, three actively listed properties in the area, how many bedrooms, bathrooms, any upgrades, etc. Read more about the specifics of "comping" an area here.

Coming soon: Part II of Tips on Selling Your House

--Auben Homes

New properties, coming soon, and more...

At least two new properties are in the pipeline this week. More details, with pictures, are soon to follow. Check back later this week for more.

Beyond that, I thought I'd list a few reasons why working with Auben Homes, whether you're looking to buy, sell, or rent a home, is an option that knocks the socks off of all the others.

1. We only deal in win-win situations. It's not a good deal for us if it isn't a great deal for you. We are located at 1918 Central Ave. and we're going to be here for a while, so what this means is that we have no interest in making a quick dollar and moving on. Our company credo is to better the area and lives around us, and we simply can't do that by putting our own interests first.

2. Expertise. Here's the thing: The market is doing cartwheels right now, and if we are constantly educating ourselves on how to bring the homebuyer and the home together, whether it be through little-known grants or government programs, creative financing, or one of a thousand other ways to get you in a house. That's our thing! Alternately, if you are in a tough financial situation and need to get out of a house for any reason, we can work with that too.

3. We are people. Just like you, we have mortgages and leases. As such, we know how it feels to want to get the most out of your hard-earned cash. Whether you buy or rent from us, we do everything possible, then a little bit more, to make sure it's a great experience for you.

--Auben Homes

We want to buy your house!

Auben Homes is currently looking to buy residential property of nearly any type, including, but not limited to: single family houses, duplexes, triplexes, quad-plexes, and apartment complexes. We are able to work with sellers to avoid foreclosure or catch up late mortgage payments, buy your equity, assist with relocations or the like. So, if you are in the CSRA and, for any reason whatsoever, you need to get out of your house, get in touch with us at the aubenhomes.com page on selling your house. Remember, we only specialize in win-win situations. That means that you get your desired result as well. Ugly house in need of repairs? All the better.

--Auben Homes

Welcome!

Welcome to the Auben Homes blog. Here, we'll be providing you with updates on upcoming and available properties. Please check back often, as we are acquiring new properties constantly.

--Auben Homes