You are right about not including maintenance costs and HOA costs but that's because there's no standard calculation for either. In most HOAs, the monthly amount is $50-$75, but not every home is in an HOA. As far as home maintenance costs, estimating those varies widely and is dependent on the age of the home (new construction has almost zero in maintenance costs early on due to age and the builder warranty for any issues that may arise). If you go out to purchase a home today, hopefully you're getting an inspection which will give you a good indication as far as the useful life remaining on the expensive maintenance items and can negotiate your contract accordingly so your maintenance costs in the first few years of homeownership are mitigated. When you look at the annual compounding effect of the actual loss from getting your principal back and equity gained, it is far more likely that your maintenance costs as an owner would not exceed this amount. Could you have an expensive year, sure. But averaged out over time, the annual expense isn't typically that extreme to offset what's lost by renting. I based the equity calculation on a conservative 3.5% annual growth. If we look at historical data from the St Louis FED on the Average Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States from Q1 of 1963 through Q4 of 2019 (before the latest housing price appreciation boom), the actual annual rate of return (based on a formula to find the compound annual growth rate) was 5.49% over that time. The idea that you could gain 3.5% in equity in the first years of ownership is very feasible. (fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ASPUS) If the supply gets high for rentals, landlords will get out of the rental business. Landlords exist to make money. So the cost to own the home with the annual increase in insurance, annual increase in property taxes, along with the profit margin they require to make the investment worth it to them will dictate the rental amount. There's only so much margin a landlord has to reduce the rent before the investment no longer makes business sense. If an oversupply of rentals gets to that landlords aren't making money on their investment or can make more money with different investments, they will sell. We currently have only 1.9 months of single-family rental inventory, so we a ways from the point where supply is outpacing demand. We can agree on the fact easy money and rates are gone. That's why it's important to look at the big picture so you can make an informed decision.

Hm, can you give me examples?

Thank you!!

Thank you!!

Thanks for the comment. If the idea is that we would have to take out expenses paid at closing to determine a value, then that would mean you'd have to make all of those public because there's no standard amount paid at closing. There's no set commission rate, as a seller you also have to pay property taxes for the time you owned the home that year through the day of closing (which is another deduction paid at closing), maybe as a seller you also paid for the title policy and/or additional concessions for repairs to to help the buyer with their closing costs. Too many variables to create an accurate model for analysis. Also, it's not always a given property taxes will go up annually. In fact, with the tax rate compression that went into effect last year, many homeowners saw their taxes paid decrease.

Sorry about that! Not sure why it isn't working. Here's the link to the flipbook: heyzine.com/flip-book/df499a1188.html

Hi there! I have no clue about that one! I've actually never heard of it, so am definitely in no position to speak on it.

Hi Sheila - This home was built in 2019, and sold in 2024. It was lived in during that time. It took the owners a month to get the home ready using time on the weekends - they touched up paint, fixed baseboards, deep cleaned, and took care of maintenance items that needed to be fixed. So, it was a newer home but still required work to make it look as good as it could look. The principles of staging remain the same, regardless of the age of the home. You still want to neutralize the colors and taste specific design elements of the home. You still want to clean every square inch and do as much as you can to make your home an easy 'YES!' when prospective buyers walk in.

Thank you, Peggy!

I would bring it and explain that you weren't aware this could've been used as support in your last hearing. I'm not sure they'll use it but I always recommend people bring any evidence they possibly can. However, that closing statement is now for 2022 values. The appraisal district is looking for a value as of January 1, 2024. Where your 2022 closing statement might help is if you had been able to get your assessed value lowered to your purchase price for 2023, then your 10% cap would be lower this year.

I would bring it and explain that you weren't aware this could've been used as support in your last hearing. I'm not sure they'll use it but I always recommend people bring any evidence they possibly can. However, that closing statement is now for 2022 values. The appraisal district is looking for a value as of January 1, 2024. Where your 2022 closing statement might help is if you had been able to get your assessed value lowered to your purchase price for 2023, then your 10% cap would be lower this year.

Yeah - too bad the links to the videos are on the other side of the screen. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Thank you!

Ouch! Sorry that was your experience but glad your loan officer prepared you.

Thanks for the comment!

@flhbradley - the guide at TheHomeStagingGuide.com is absolutely free and it gets sent to you after you fill out a form requesting it.

Good idea on the mirror. Many would tell you to remove any religious items but I focus more on minimizing the number of items as opposed to what they are. As far as worrying about offending someone with a particular faith, I instead caution clients against having anything out on display that wouldn't be appropriate for a child to see.

Most people have a hard time conceptualizing a space without furniture. So if the goal is to help people see themselves in your home you're trying to sell, staging does help more than it hurts.

Where do you want people to go who still live in the house until it sells?

That’s what the inspection is for. Staging is to help people imagine themselves there. Less metal work involved in trying to figure out where furniture goes. Some buyers don’t even know what an electrical panel is.

Did someone piss in your cheerios or something?

Most talkative award definitely goes to me! 🫣

Ha - yes! I love it!

🤐.... But I have so much to say!!

When I interviewed a local Chief Appraiser, that was not mentioned as a protest criterion but you should confirm with your local appraisal district since I am not an ad valorem property tax professional. Here's a link to that interview with the protesting suggestions towards the end: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmiZnYeJr6lmjLssi=LUZ95TvgGxh3ZP5S

You will have to ask your appraisal district what they will allow. I have another video coming out soon about mortgage increases on account of property taxes. It's a shock for a lot of people!

​@livingindallasfortworth Thank you, looking forward to it.

Thank you so much!!

That would be something I suggest confirming with your appraisal district, but my understanding is that since you are taxed on the assessed value, not the market value, the way to get a lower assessed value would be to get the market value below the initial assessed value the county provided on your notice.

@@livingindallasfortworth 🥴 in other words yes it’s pointless. Lol

That is a question your local appraisal district will have to answer.

It used to be, but the appraiser in your district will review your homestead exemption at least once every five years to make sure your property still qualifies. Here's a good resource: www.protitletx.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Providence-Title-Homestead-Exemption.pdf

@@livingindallasfortworth Thank you!