7865 E Mississippi Avenue Denver CO 80247 (303) 394-2377 ...read more

Top 11 Cities Where Homes Sell the Fastest Denver, Colorado was ranked as the third fastest cities for home sales with only an average of 66 days on the market. Homes for sale in California tended to spend the shortest amount of time on the market last month, based on March housing data fromRealtor.com.In Oakland, Calif., the average days on the market for listings was 50 in March--the least amount of days for median days on the market for the 146 markets reviewed.Nationally, the median for homes for days on the market was 160 in March, which is an increase of 40 percent in a year. Here is a list of the cities with the fewest median days on the market from March: Oakland, Calif.Median days on the market: 50Median list price: $319,000San FranciscoMedian days on the market: 63Median list price: $639,000DenverMedian days on the market: 66Median list price: $259,900Iowa City, IowaMedian days on the market: 66Median list price: $187,500Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.Median days on the market: 70Median list price: $345,000Stockton-Lodi, Calif.Median days on the market: 70Median list price: $175,000Bakersfield, Calif.Median days on the market: 70Median list price: $141,500San Jose, Calif.Median days on the market: 71Median list price: $470,000Anchorage, AlaskaMedian days on the market: 71Median list price: $279,975Fresno, Calif.Median days on the market: 71Median list price: $170,000Tulsa, Okla.Median days on the market: 71Median list price: $147,900 If your thinking about selling your home in Denver, Colorado giveArmstrong Real Estate Services a call today! Source: REALTOR® Magazine online (April 27, 2011) ...read more

 FACT or FICTION? The 3.8% Real Estate Tax on Home Sales. There seems to be lots of misinformation being spewed out throughout on the Internet regarding the POTENTIAL 3.8% tax that would be imposed on SOME (not all) income generated from particular home sales (again not all). * First allow me to start this off by stating, I am not a tax professional, nor do I ever attempt to play one on my Blogs or ever for that matter. As always, consult&address; your tax questions with a licensed TAX PROFESSIONAL. With that being said we can get down to the topic on this 3.8% tax. Fact:Yes, effect January 1, 2013 there is aPOTENTIAL3.8% tax that will be imposed on someincome generated fromsomehome sales. Fiction:No, it is NOT a "real estate transfer tax" nor a "Real Estate Sales Tax". This 3.8% tax, in fact, will apply to a very few in a very few circumstances. When you going over theactual legistion,it's easy to understand why so many people might misinterpret what this 3.8% tax is actually all about.Ahhh! I mean does this really make sense to you? In simpler terms Rather than spending precious time trying to rewrite the pages produced by Congress&others, I'll use SNOPES.com and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to help  me. It's a complicated section of a complicated piece of Legislation which since has been frequently misrepresented, rumored & reported as basically amounting to a 3.8% "sales tax on all real estate transaction". Which again isFALSE. Off SNOPES.com you'll read from provisions of the recently passed Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA) heath care legislation which calls for high income households to be subject to a new 3.8% Medicare tax on investment income starting in 2013.  After which you'll read a simpler explanation&scenario. It reads: The PPACA creates a new code Section 1411, which will generally impose a 3.8 percent tax on the lesser of "net investment income" or the excess of modified adjusted gross income over a "threshold amount" (generally $250,000 for taxpayers filing a joint return, $125,000 for married taxpayers filing a separate return and $200,000 in all other cases). Net investment income generally means the excess of (i) interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, rents, income from passive activities, income from trading financial instruments, and commodities, and gain from the disposition of certain non-business property, over (ii) allowable deductions properly allocable to such income. In determining the amount of net investment income, special rules apply with respect to dispositions of equity interests in certain partnerships and S corporations, and to distributions from certain plans. This additional tax applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012. Click here: snopes.com: 3.8% Tax on Real Estate TransactionsOff NAR's you can read Senior Editor, Robert Freedman, of Realtor Magazine explain the matter further.http://speakingofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org/2010/11/24/the-3-8-tax-is-not-a-real-estate-transfer-tax/This is a complicated issue which will apply to very few people starting in the 2013 tax year although I hope you'll not allow yourself to be mislead or misinterpret the facts. Don't forget the Capital Gains Exclusion remains ($250k for a single person;$500k for a couple). And if you're concerned you'll be subject to the 3.8% additional tax IF you are in a high income bracket (making over $500k & meet other criteria) you might look to avoid it by selling before 12/31/2012 or using other approaches such as using the Stepped Up approach but again it gets complicated so ALWAYS consult your TAX PROFESSIONAL!I hope this will help in some way to clear up confusion.I'm sure that I'll be touching on this topic again on the blog as we move forward. ...read more