With the first signs of blooming forsythia, crocuses and daffodils, we will celebrate the end of a very long winter. Homeowners and brokers will be relieved that driveways and walkways will not need to be shoveled and plowed for showings and open houses. We will all be celebrating the spring season in hopes that buyers will embrace the opportunities out there for them to find the homes of their dreams.

Open Houses are a wonderful way to allow buyers the opportunity to freely explore properties on their own. In many cases, this is their first step before they find a broker to help them. Buyers are not only evaluating the homes, but they are searching for a broker that they feel a connection with. It’s the broker’s opportunity to present their listed home and to meet prospective buyers for the first time.

First impressions are everything with respect to the location, condition, features of the home as well as with broker’s presentation of the home and his or her ability to communicate with the buyers.

Think of an Open House as an invitation to a lovely event. Brokers and seller should create ambiance by playing soft music in the background, and by displaying fresh flowers, and a slide show of pictures of the property on a laptop. Brokers should provide color property fliers for buyers, and have some cookies or other refreshments.

The broker and seller’s first goal is for everyone who walks through that open door to remember how pleasant it was in that home. Creativity and elements of the unexpected will ensure that a listing will have a lasting impression on buyers.

Open Houses can be presented around a theme or holiday such as St. Patrick’s Day.

Click here to view upcoming open houses. Residential Properties open houses are typically held on weekends and are updated on the prior Thursday.

We are excited to announce in our Client Services department that we have been chosen as Rhode Island’s only MD Preferred real estate provider.

Through our MD Preferred program, we are able to offer many benefits to the doctors and graduating physicians throughout Rhode Island. Our department, which already serves the professionals of Rhode Island’s many teaching hospitals, is thrilled to offer additional benefits to our physician clients.

Benefits include free area tours to discover our communities and micro-neighborhoods, expert real estate assistance from our Relocation Certified real estate agents, discounted moving services and more.

Register with Client Services to be eligible to receive these and other benefits including a FREE home warranty when purchasing or selling a home through Residential Properties, and special financing programs.

To register with the program and be matched with a Relocation Certified agent, call Client Services at 800.886.1775.

Deep within the massive new stimulus plan are a few lines of text that could save American home buyers a pile of cash.  According to the new plan, first-time home buyers who buy a home this year will be eligible to receive an $8,000 tax credit.

This important change gives qualifying home buyers cash they do not have to pay back unlike the $7,500 tax credit already available to some home owners under last year’s Housing and Economic Recovery Act.

Under the previous plan, the $7,500 tax credit was a 15-year interest-free loan and was available to home buyers who purchased their homes after April 9, 2008, and before July 1, 2009.  The new tax credit offers a larger tax credit, but it also has very specific restrictions, from the date of purchase to the buyer’s income.

Some of the eligibility qualifications include:

• The buyer must be a first-time home buyer.
• The plan defines a “first-time home buyer” as “buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.
• “The house must be bought between Jan. 1, 2009 and Dec. 1, 2009.  For anyone who purchased a home before the New Year, it won’t qualify.
• The tax credit only counts if the home is bought after Jan. 1 and  the home cannot be purchased after Dec. 1 – meaning there are 30 days at the end of this year during which time anyone buying a home would not be eligible for the credit.  Why the cutoff doesn’t naturally fall at the end of the year is anyone’s guess.
• The buyer’s modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) must be less than $95,000 for an individual or $170,000 for a married couple filing a joint return. Up to a modified adjusted gross income of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for joint filers.
• As income rises from there, however, the amount of available credit declines until the buyer’s MAGI reaches $95,000, at which point the buyer is no longer eligible for credit.
• The house purchased must be the buyer’s  “primary” home.
• Eligible home types include single-family detached homes, attached homes like townhouses and condominiums, manufactured homes (also known as mobile homes) and houseboats.
• The buyer must live in the home for at least three years after the purchase date.  Home purchasers cannot move, sell or otherwise leave the home they purchase for at least three years to retain eligibility to receive the tax credit.
• The cost of the home is $80,000 or more. According to the way the plan is written, the home buyer receives 10 percent of the home purchase price – meaning, to receive the maximum available $8,000 credit, the home must be bought for $80,000 or more.

Confused?  Click over to FederalHousingTaxCredit.com and clear your head.