February 2019 - Gulf State Homebuyers

Tips

Understanding Taxes And Your Home

28Feb2019

Many of our clients have recently been asking us about how selling their home affects their taxes, given it is tax season. Therefore, we thought we would share with everyone some answers to the most common questions we have recently been asked.

What taxes will I have to pay when I sell my home?

There is no simple answer to this question. Rather, the amount that someone will have to pay is on a case by case basis. For this article we will focus specifically on selling your home in the state of Texas. Here are some simple guidelines:

When Americans file for their taxes, they generally file a state income tax return and a federal income tax return. However, in the state of Texas there are no income taxes. Therefore, a homeowner looking to sell their home does not need to worry about paying this part.
Every homeowner will be responsible for paying capital gains taxes. Capital gains taxes are taxes paid on the profit that a homeowner makes from their home at closing. The percentage that an individual pays depends on the tax bracket that they fall into, as well as how long they lived in their home. Additionally, the tax law provides an exemption for those who have lived in their homes for two out of the last five years: $250,000 for those that file single and $500,000 for those that file jointly. For this exception though the homeowner must have owned the home for at least two years.
Selling an Inherited Property: If someone inherits a property, they are only responsible for paying capital gains taxes on the home’s gain since the date of death of the individual that passed the home on.
Selling an Investment Property: Similar to that of your primary home, a homeowner will have to pay the capital gains taxes on the home. Unless a homeowner lived in the home previously (two of the last five years), they will be responsible for paying long-term capital gains according to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Here is a brief breakdown of the tax rate:
- 0% for single filers with taxable income of $0 – $39,375, married filing jointly with income between $0 – $78,750, heads of household making $0 – $53,750, and those married filing separately with incomes between $0 – $39,375;
- 15% for single filers with taxable income of $39,376 – $434,550, married filing jointly with income between $78,751 – $488,850, heads of household making $53,751 – $461,700, and those married filing separately with incomes between $39,376 – $244,425; and,
- 20% for single filers with taxable income of over $434,550, married filing jointly with income over $488,850, heads of household making over $461,700, and those married filing separately with incomes over $244,425.

When will I have to pay those taxes?

If you sell your home this tax season you will not need to pay taxes until you file in 2020. Therefore, selling your home now does not impact your tax returns for 2019.

Is tax season a good time to sell my home?

Contrary to popular belief, tax season is a great time for any homeowner to sell their home. As mentioned above, homeowners are not affected until the following year. So, selling in tax season can actually provide an array of benefits.

Winter time brings more serious buyers to the table. Not everyone who goes on the house hunt is ready to pull the trigger on purchasing their next home – however, when marketing and selling during tax season, the buyers are generally those who have considered how much they will receive or how much they will have to pay this tax season. Therefore, they will have a better understanding of their financial position and maximum amount they can spend on their purchase.

In addition, tax season is the time in which the fewest number of houses are on the market. This means that there is less competition so you can get the best offer for your home. Many homeowners are deterred because of the distractions during tax season and their personal belief that buyers are not looking at this time.

How Should You Sell During Tax Season?

There is no doubt that this time of year can be somewhat stressful. Taxes are due, the children are back at school, and families are taking a break after a busy holiday season. However, as a homeowner, you may want to take advantage of this unique time to sell. Remember, if you sell now you will not need to pay taxes until 2020 – this will give you plenty of time to discuss with an accountant how to save the most before filing next year.

There is a solution to avoid the hassle of listing and marketing your home though: Sell to an all cash buyer. In this process you as a homeowner can sell your home at a competitive price without requiring the excessive time of working with a broker. If you are interested in learning more, read about the benefits here, or contact us today for a free consultation.

Cash Offer

Gulfstate Homebuyers – Why Choose Us?

27Feb2019

In today’s society, there are typically dozens of companies that offer the same services to one region – this includes in Baytown, Texas. Given this easy access to multiple resources, sometimes selecting a company for your needs can be difficult. How do you know which company is right for you? Well, when it comes to selling your home to an all cash-buyer, we have the answer for you.

Last week we outlined the importance of working with a A+ BBB accredited company when selling your home. This week we want to outline the importance of working with a company whose mission statement and philosophy match your needs.

What is the Mission Statement?

Many consumers overlook a company’s mission statement and look directly at what services a specific company offers – however, the truth is that a company’s mission statement provides important information to consumers about the philosophy of the company. The mission statement outlines the goals of the company, what their services include, and what their priorities are. Aligning yourself as a consumer with a company’s mission statement can allow you to be ensured that the process of working with that company will meet your expectations.

A Clearer Picture

Let’s take real estate for example. Many companies have different objectives in mind. Some are driven by profit and building equity for their company and clients, while others are more directed towards building a strong community and providing personalized services to its people. Reflecting on your own personal ideologies, what kind of business do you want to support in your neighborhood?

How We Fit In…

We here at Gulf State Homebuyers are all-cash home buyers. “Our mission is to provide sellers a fast, easy and stress-free way to sell their real estate. We have been buying houses for over 15 years in Houston and the surrounding areas in addition to providing the best customer service in the business. Here at Gulf State Homebuyers, we take pride in making sure our sellers feel at home and not to mention, we treat them like family.”

As you can see, our mission is not about getting homes at below market prices, but rather dedicated to customer service and client satisfaction. This is essentially how we have built a highly reputable (A+ BBB Accreditation) company and how we have grown our business for over a decade, including through one of the worst recessions in United States history.

In situations where individuals don’t want to sell their home but are struggling financially, we try to help as well. We provide the option for our clients to sell us their home, then we allow them to rent or owner finance. This gives our clients the up-front capital to catch up financially and allows them to stay in the home that they feel comfortable in.

If a client is looking to move quickly, then we are here to help too. We buy homes that are damaged, threatened by foreclosure, and those that are investment properties. No matter the reason, we have a team of professionals that work with our clients to ensure that at the end of the day, their needs are being met. If they need to close quickly, we can close in five days. If they need help with moving, we can help with moving costs.

Why We Share This Information?

We want our community as a whole to grow and develop – it is not only where we do business, but where we live as well. That is why we share this information with individuals, such as yourself, who are looking to sell their home. We want to keep the economy of Baytown moving forward. Ultimately, we have aligned our mission statement with just this concept – putting our clients first.

Why Choose Us?

Do you align with our beliefs and ideas? Are you looking for a company that can support you during the home-selling process, which can be stressful and overwhelming? Are you looking for a company that can work with you on the closing date so that your transition into your next phase is smooth and simple?

If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above questions, then we may be the company for you.

Get started today! As mentioned, we buy homes in all conditions. We make competitive offers and provide simple solutions to our clients when they are confronted with the challenges of selling their home. We have legal counsel that can draft all paperwork and a team of educated individuals who can assist throughout the process. We stay true to our mission statement.

Don’t wait – contact us today for your free consultation.

Cash Offer

Two Myths About Selling to An All Cash-Buyer – DEBUNKED!

21Feb2019

If you are a homeowner and are considering selling your house, then any type of research most likely brought up some articles on the pros and cons of selling to an all-cash buyer. Unfortunately, many articles highlight the myths (advertised as facts!) that relate to selling to an all-cash buyer. Well, we at Gulf State Homebuyers are here to share with you two truths that we believe every homeowner should know. There are numerous benefits to selling your home to an all-cash buyer; however, these myths often steer homeowners in the other direction. We hope that by providing you with these two truths we can help you make an educated choice on the next best move in your home selling process. Now – let’s start debunking!

MYTH #1 – ALL-CASH BUYERS GIVE LOW BALL OFFERS

Homeowners in general report feeling fearful of selling to an all-cash buyer because they believe that all-cash buyers are going to provide an under-market offer. This myth is commonly marketed by real estate agents because it can be identified as a competitive advantage to agents.

Nonetheless, this myth is false. An all cash-home buyer is a real estate investor. They are educated in the market and have the capital at hand to purchase homes in their identified areas. The offers that they give can be below the valuation – however, this does not mean that they are low-balling the homeowner.

Just like when a homeowner works with a real estate agent, the first thing a real estate investor will do is valuate the property. They do this by considering other homes on the market, their selling prices, recent closes, quality of the home, as well as a few more variables. Once they have the valuation, they make an offer

This offer is sometimes below the valuation of a respected agent – but, why? Well, when you are selling your home on the market, there are additional costs that will be incurred by the home seller. First, they will be responsible for the agent’s commission – this is both the commission for the seller and the buyer’s agent and is generally 6% of the closing price. Secondly, the home owner will be responsible for closing costs. These costs are in addition to the agent fees and range from 2% – 5% of the closing cost of the home. Lastly, the seller may be responsible for paying for specific inspections and upgrades.

When an all-cash investor, such as Gulf State Homebuyers, makes an offer, these factors must be considered. For example, Gulf State Homebuyers covers all closing costs, removes all agent fees, purchases homes as-is, and even assists with seller moving expenditures. If taking into consideration these extra costs, the price that an investor makes is usually comparable to what the homeowner will receive at the end of paying all their fees at closing anyways. However, the benefit of selling to an an-cash investor – the time frame to close is exponentially shortened!

MYTH #2 – YOU CAN GET MORE WHEN YOU MARKET YOUR PROPERTY

Many homeowners believe that the more eyes that see their house, the higher price they may receive – this is false. Conversely, the longer that a home sits on the market, the fewer offers the homeowner can anticipate, and they may incur the dreadful necessity of a price reduction in the future.

An effective agent will price a property accurately which means that the home should find a buyer relatively quickly. Though, there are additional factors that can affect this process, including the strength of the market, how many buyers are ready to purchase, and even what season it is that someone is marketing their home. With this uncertainty in finding a home buyer, and the threat of your home sitting on the market for an extended period of time, then the best option for selling your home comes down to a quick close – which is what an all-cash investor provides. Just as mentioned before, the price is competitive to the profit a homeowner would make from marketing their home on the market. But in selling to an all-cash investor, the anxiety of “what-if” can be removed, providing homeowners with ease and simplicity in selling their homes. We here at Gulf State Homebuyer can close in as quickly as 5 days!

Get Your Free Consultation

Determining the best solution for your future can be challenging. That is why we here at Gulf State Homebuyers provide our clients with free consultations and home evaluations. We educate clients on how we determine the price of their home and allow them to decide for themselves if selling to us is the best option. There is no commitment necessary. Contact us today and find out how our offer compares!

testimonial

Why the BBB Accreditation is Important?

20Feb2019

The Better Business Bureau, or BBB, was established in 1912 in effort to create a marketplace where consumers can find “businesses, brands, and charities that they can trust.” Their “mission is to be the leader in advancing marketplace trust. [They] do this by: Setting Standards for marketplace trust; Encouraging and supporting best practices by engaging with and educating consumers and businesses; Celebrating marketplace role models; Calling out and addressing substandard marketplace behavior; [and] Creating a community of trustworthy businesses and charities.”

Businesses nationwide pursue a BBB accreditation. Not only does it establish their trust with their consumers, but also encourages honest business practices in their established field. In order for a business to qualify for a BBB accreditation they must meet the following standards: build trust, advertise honestly, tell the truth, be transparent, be responsive, safeguard privacy, and embody integrity.

As a consumer, you may be reading this and thinking, ‘I thought that all businesses would practice these standards.’ Unfortunately, that is not true. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) 2018 reports, frequency of small businesses fraud is at 28% and frequency of fraud in larger organizations is at 22–26%. This means that a quarter of businesses nationwide are anticipated to have some element of fraud, whether it is billing schemes, check tampering, financial statement fraud, or any of the other schemes reported annually. Because of these statistics and the relevancy of fraud, companies who are BBB accredited are those that should be most trusted in your community.

However, the BBB also rates each business depending on the “BBB’s opinion of how the business is likely to interact with its customers.” Businesses, once accredited, can receive a letter grading (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, or F); these ratings are impacted by the businesses: complaint history with BBB, type of business, time in business, transparent business practices, failure to honor commitment to BBB, licensing and government actions known to BBB, and advertising issues known to BBB.

As you can see, the qualifications and assessments of each business that is recorded into the BBB database must meet a rigid set of standards, as well as maintain those standards through their business practices. Although this process may be lengthy and comprehensive for each business independently, the BBB provides an opportunistic platform for consumers to ensure that their contracted businesses are ethical and honest.

BBB Accreditation in Real Estate: To the Homeowners

If you are a client in the real estate business, it is even more important that you work solely with a BBB accredited company. It is no secret, but selling your home can be quite stressful. If you have ever entertained the idea of selling, you most likely received numerous offers from agents in your local area, proposing the best representation in your market. However, how are you as a homeowner supposed to know the details about each offered source of representation? Outside of friends and family members making recommendations, there is no adequate process to vet each agent or home buyer. This is why selecting a BBB accredited company can be most beneficial.

Gulf State Homebuyers, A BBB Accredited All-Cash Home Buying Company

We here at Gulf State Homebuyers are a BBB accredited company with an A+ rating. We have been accredited since February 19^th, 2014.

What does this mean?

We have been through a rigorous review and have met and maintained all standards by the BBB.

How Does this Benefit You, The Homeowner?

Selling your home through an all-cash buyer can be a very speedy process. Take our sales for example – we can close a home within five days. This expedited sale can often make home owners nervous, as they often feel they do not have adequate time to complete their due diligence. However, since we are BBB accredited with an A+ rating, we remove the uncertainty in the transactions. Every client we work with can be guaranteed that we stick to our standards. And even more importantly, if there is a problem, we are by our client’s side immediately to help them resolve the issue.

Our standing is extremely important to use. Not only does it help us maintain a positive reputation in the industry, but in the community as well. We will go above and beyond to ensure the satisfaction of our customers.

To review our accreditation, visit the BBB site here. To view our services, visit our website. To get a consultation, contact us today and we will set you up with one of our staff immediately. Remember, consultations are free – we will educate you on the market and our process, as well as provide you a FREE valuation of your home.

Holiday

WHY YOU SHOULD BUY YOUR VALENTINE A HOUSE THIS HOLIDAY!

19Feb2019

Happy Valentine’s Day! The one day of the year dedicated to showing your significant other just how much you love them. Well, we should say, one additional day outside of their birthday, your anniversary, and every other holiday during the year.

Anyways, finding the perfect gift for your Valentine can be a challenging task. Do you buy them the hottest new technological innovation, or do you forgo the material gift and take them on a surprise weekend vacation? The real answer – it depends on who your Valentine is, and what they would love and appreciate. However, since we cannot know exactly who your special someone is, we are going to outline the most popular presents you can get this Valentine’s Day. Don’t be surprised, they are not as exotic as you would hope. According to a recent study on US citizens, the results are in:

1 – CHOCOLATES, CANDIES, AND SWEETS

Nothing says love more than a gigantic heart shaped chocolate bar…and one with peanut butter can be an indication of that extra love. This should be no surprise though – for year’s past, the gift of chocolates, candies, and sweets has always ranked number one.

2 – GREETING CARDS

There is no better way to say ‘I Love You’ than literally with the words in a romantic greeting card. Fortunately for you, there is no shortage of your options here. If your Valentine prefers a sweet adoring card, or an inappropriate comedy card, there is a choice for you. If you want to go eco-friendly, you can even send an electronic card.

3 – FLOWERS

Valentine’s Day is one of the biggest holidays to send flowers. Historically, roses have been the flower to send, as they signify romantic love. However, there are hundreds of other varieties that people can send to customize their gift to their loved one. Whether it’s the dozen roses to your wife, or a sunflower bouquet to your mother, we can guarantee that no one will turn down this beautiful gift.

4 – ROMANTIC DINNER

Life can be hectic, reducing the quality time that many couples spend together each year. Therefore, setting aside this one night and arranging a special evening, including a romantic dinner, can be just the solution to reigniting that old kindling love between any couple. Whether it is reservations at a special restaurant, a picnic in the park, or a celebration at home, a romantic dinner can be the perfect start to an excellent evening.

5 – WEEKENED GETAWAY

This gift has been increasing in popularity through the years, especially for millennials. This generation is less keen on receiving material items and would rather spend their money on activities and quality time. So, if you are a millennial, or any other person looking to reignite your relationship through a weekend away, try planning a trip for this Valentine’s Day celebration. Hint: You do not need to go on Valentine’s Day (we know it is a today!); instead, buy the getaway and surprise your Valentine at dinner!

6 – EVENT TICKETS

There is no better way to show your affection than by surprising your loved one with tickets to their favorite event. Whether it be a concert, the theater, or an art gallery, taking your Valentine to a special event can show that you really care about their happiness. Not only are you taking quality time away with them, but you are also focused on purchasing presents that are unique to them.

DO YOU WANT TO STAND OUT THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WITH YOUR VALENTINE?

There is one present that may be more suitable for you. Whether it is for your significant other, or even for yourself, this gift idea is unique, extravagant, and can provide for a future of new memories!

How about getting them a new home? The market is hot and it is a great time to sell. We know this may sound crazy, but why get your Valentine the run of the mill presents when you can get them the house of their dreams?

Are you interested? If you are, and you currently own your home, then this option can be quite simple. Call us and we can provide you with a free consultation. We will evaluate your home’s value and make an offer. Thanks to our extensive experience in the industry, and our dedication to the community, we guarantee that our offers are competitive. If you accept, we can have your home closed within five days! Even better news: We can cover the closing costs to help you get into your next home.

Don’t be like the rest, get your Valentine a new home this Valentine’s Day.

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