J.F. Brown Real Estate

Trying to sell your Lexington home in a slow market is definitely frustrating. You may find that it takes longer to sell and you cannot get as much money as you could during a strong market. However, you can’t believe all the hype about a sluggish real estate market. Do the research and separate the facts from the fiction.

1.     You won’t get a fair price. Your Lexington property will sell for whatever a buyer is willing to spend on it. A comparative market analysis shows you what other buyers spent on property like yours. Of course, if you bought your house when values were higher, you may have to take a loss. However, most people can get a fair price and even make a profit in a slow market.  2.     Your real estate will stay on the market too long. While it’s true that real estate tends to take longer to sell during a slow market, it’s not impossible to sell them. People do still buy real estate in slower markets. If your real estate is priced right you can still sell it within a reasonable amount of time.  3.     Buyers only want and short sales and foreclosures. The truth is that buyers want good deals, and this can be in the form of money or time. The price of a foreclosure or short sale may certainly be attractive, but they can take a considerable amount of time to close while the banks negotiate their terms. Paying slightly more for a traditional sale is sometimes well worth the time they can save. Selling your Lexington home in a slow market isn’t easy, but it can be done.

I was reading, the other day, some of the provisions of the new tax law and how it will affect the 1031 exchange. By all appearances the law should have a positive effect on exchanges of real estate. The major areas of concern for most people were the rates and treatment of capital gains, the tax free exclusion amount for estate and gift taxes and the stepped up basis for inherited property. The tax rates for capital gain has remained the same for real estate at a 15% maximum. For estate and gift tax there is an exclusion of $5,000,000 per person and for amounts over $5,000,000 there is a tax rate of 35%. One of the most important provisions of this estate tax provision is that real estate is inherited at the stepped up basis at a market value reflective of the time at which the properrty is inherited and not based on the value of the property when it was originally purchased by the decedent. Therefore, an exchanger can continue to defer capital gains by doing an exchange and leave the property to heirs without any income tax on the deferred capital gain. The result is that the heirs will pay no income tax on the previous gain as they will recieve the property with a tax basis at its current market value. If the heir sells the property immediately there will most likely be no capital gain. These provisions will be in effect until the end of 2012.

As always it is prudent to check with a tax professional to determine how the tax law will affect you. 

Lexington is an independent city within Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population at the time of the 2000 cencus was 6,867. Lexington is located in the western central portion of the Commonwealth.

It is home to Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute and is the county seat of Rockbridge County. The area is steeped in history. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are buried here. Sam Houston, 19th century statesman, politician and soldier was born here.

Today, Lexington’s primary economic activity stems from higher education and tourism. Lexington is host to W&L and VMI, and with its various connections to the Civil War Lexington attracts visitors from around the country.

All you need to compost is enthusiasm, yard and/or food waste (except meat or dairy products), and a little space. Compost piles don’t need to be enclosed, although many people use a bin or similar enclosure. Bins can be purchased, or easily constructed with common materials such as chicken wire, snow fence, lumber or used pallets. Other tools that come in handy for composting are a garden hose, wheelbarrow and pitch fork.

Composting can begin any time of year, but many people start in the fall when leaves are abundant. Choose an easily accessible spot in the yard and get started. There is alot of information available on the web.