198 MILLION Roses

Did you ever wonder how many roses are purchased on Valentine’s Day for all the loved ones and secret crushes out there?

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

“In 2012, an estimated 198 million roses were sold for Valentine's Day. According to ProFlowers, men buy 75 percent of roses for the holiday.
Many young men find the prices too expensive to buy a dozen roses, thanks to the growers knowing this is the best time of year to jack up their prices. Here are some different ways you can get around this:

Tips on buying roses for Valentine's Day:

• Red roses are the most expensive. If you insist on red roses (considered a sign of love and passion) then DON'T BUY the long-stemmed red roses because the longer the stem the more expensive the rose! When the receiver of the bouquet of roses gets them the roses should be cut UNDER WATER by 1" or more before putting into a vase. So, it stands to reason by buying long-stemmed roses you are paying more for something that will or should be cut-off by the receiver.
• If you go to a discount store or a small store to get a better deal for your roses, feel the bulb part of the rose (just below the petals) and if it is spongy then the rose is not fresh and won't last, but if it feels fairly solid the rose is in good shape.
• Women today don't always want red roses and find other colors more appealing so it's alright to either give a mixture of colors to your wife or girlfriend (should she like pink, yellow, etc.) or just a dozen of another color and a nice card.
• For those young men that can't afford a dozen roses no matter what color, one single rose with a pretty small bow on it should be enough to tell your wife or girlfriend you love her. You can ask the florist to put the ribbon around the stem of the rose for you and add a nice mushy card to go with it.
• My husband and I have been married 34 years and the most precious gift he gave me when we were dating and his company went on strike. He bought me one red rose and a beautiful card. I cherished that one rose so much that I pressed it between a book and I still have it to this day!”    Thank you to ProFlowers.com & Answers.com

    Happy Valentine’s Day from The Keller Home Selling Team

     We’re here for all of your Orange County, Ca Real Estate needs! Visit SearchOCHomesForSale.com

Is Homeownership a Good FINANCIAL Decision?

   Is owning a home a strong financial decision?… of course it is. Yes, the market it cyclical and sometimes the investment into a home is better than others but KeepingCurrentMatters lays out numerous great reasons to why Homeownership a Good FINANCIAL Decision!

Posted: 13 Feb 2013 04:00 AM PST

    Many have reported on Robert Shiller’s recent comments on the investment aspect of homeownership. Shiller, a Yale professor and co-founder of the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, is famous for making provocative comments on house prices and the financial benefits of owning a home. In a recent Bloomberg Television interview, Shiller responded to a question about homeownership as an investment this way:

“So, why was it considered an investment? That was a fad. That was an idea that took hold in the early 2000′s. And I don’t expect it to come back. Not with the same force. So people might just decide, ‘Yeah, I’ll diversify my portfolio. I’ll live in a rental.’ That is a very sensible thing for many people to do.”

Today, we would like to debate Shiller’s notion by offering three FINANCIAL reasons to purchase a home:

1.) You Can’t Live in Your IRA

When you buy your own home you are not taking available dollars away from another investment. You are replacing one housing expense (rent) which has no potential for a return on investment with another (mortgage payment) that does give you an opportunity for a return. We realize that there has been research (ß great link to research case study) showing that over the last 30 years renting has been less expensive than owning. That research also says that if you invested the entire difference between the rent payment and mortgage payment you may have done better financially. There are two challenges with this conclusion:

• · Today, in the vast majority of the country, renting is actually more expensive than owning a home.
• · History has proven that tenants DO NOT invest the difference in their rent and mortgage payments.

2.) Homeownership Creates Wealth

Paying a mortgage creates what financial experts call ‘forced savings’. The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University released a study titled America’s Rental Housing: Meeting Challenges, Building on Opportunities. In the study, they actually quantified the difference in family wealth between renters and homeowners:

“[R]enters have only a fraction of the net wealth of owners. Near the peak of the housing bubble in 2007, the median net wealth of homeowners was $234,600—about 46 times the $5,100 median for renters. Even if homeowner wealth fell back to 1995 levels, it would still be 27.5 times the median for renters.”

3.) There Are Tremendous Tax Advantages to Investing in a Home

There is no doubt that selling an investment such as gold is easier than selling your home. However, this liquidity comes at a price. The price is called capital gains. That is the tax you pay on any financial gain you receive from the investment. This tax doesn’t apply the same way when you sell your primary residence:

Theresa Palagonia, a CPA and the Accounting Manager for the firm G.S. Garritano & Associates, was good enough to explain the Home Sale Exclusion Rules:

“You may qualify to exclude from your income all or part of any gain from the sale of your main home.

Maximum Exclusion

You can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain on the sale of your main home if all of the following are true:

• You meet the ownership test.
• You meet the use test.
• During the 2 year period ending on the date of the sale, you did not exclude gain from the sale of another home.

If you and another person owned the home jointly but file separate returns, each of you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain from the sale of your interest in the home if each of you meets the three conditions listed above.

You may be able to exclude up to $500,000 of the gain on the sale of your main home if you are married and file a joint return and meet the requirements. (Special rules apply for joint returns.)

We will let you decide for yourself whether homeownership makes sense financially.

This fantastic information is brought to you by KeepingCurrentMatters and published on this blog for your viewing pleasure by The Keller Home Selling Team.

Thinking of Buying Your Dream Home? DO IT NOW!

Another great informational article from the great team at Keeping Current Matters. 

Thinking of Buying Your Dream Home? DO IT NOW! 

 

Don’t hold off on buying your new home…KCM explains why the longer you wait, you still may get what you want, but you’ll pay for it when it comes to that final purchase price.

-The Keller Home Selling Team, visit SearchOCHomesForSale.com

by THE KCM CREW on FEBRUARY 12, 2013

A recent survey showed that 3 out of 4 future home buyers (who are not first time buyers) plan to move up to some form of a ‘better’ home. The breakdown:

• Move to a significantly bigger home (49%)
• Move to a nicer home (17.5%)
• Move to a nicer part of town (8.6%)

If you or your family falls into any one of these categories, you should strongly consider making the move sooner than later. The ‘cost’ of your new dream house will be determined by two factors: the price of the house and the mortgage interest rate. Both are projected to increase this year.

Prices Set to Increase

In the recent Home Price Expectation Survey, 105 leading housing analysts called for a3.1% increase in home values by the end of 2013.

Mortgage Interest Rates Projected to Increase

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, after reaching record lows in 2012, the 30 year mortgage rates are expected to creep up slowly in 2013 to 4.4%.

Now is a great time to buy the home you always dreamt of owning. However, the longer you wait, the more it will cost.