2011 Filing Season Tax Tips for Transferees

Tax season is upon us, with most Americans starting to put together the paperwork they need to file their returns.   The Worldwide Employee Relocation Council (ERC) has offered some tips to keep in mind when filing your return.

Here are several items deductible as moving expenses that are sometimes overlooked:

• Tips to the moving van driver or helpers.

• Mileage for driving second or third cars to the new location (in addition to the first car). The deduction for 2011 is 19 cents per mile from January 1 to June 30, and 23.5 cents per mile thereafter.  (The deduction will decrease to 23 cents per mile for 2012).

• Lodging expenses in the departure location for one night after the household goods are packed, and one night in the new location on the day of arrival.

• Moving household goods from a location other than your main home, up to what it would have cost to move them from the main home

• Storage of household goods for up to 30 days, including the cost of moving the goods into and out of storage.  Note that the costs for moving the goods into and out of storage remain deductible even if the goods are in storage more than 30 days.

• Expenses not reimbursed by your employer, such as extra crating, shipment of unusual items, tips to van line staff, etc.

And remember: You don’t have to itemize to deduct moving expenses.

Real Estate Roundup

It is no secret that mortgage interest rates are at historic lows.  According to Freddie Mac, the average for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage has been below 4.00 percent for six consecutive weeks.  Affordability is rising dramatically due to a combination of housing price deflation and extremely low mortgage interest rates. This combination should allow the national real estate market to recover slightly in 2012.

Nationally, existing home sales started to trend upward at the end of 2011. Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose for a third month in December to the highest level since January 2011, a sign the housing market ended last year with momentum. This trend is expected to continue into 2012 as the economy continues to add jobs and buyers recognize there has never been a better time to purchase a home.

Here in our home market of Metropolitan Detroit it is well known amongst the realtor community that there is a shortage of quality, saleable properties.  Sales jumped 5.6 percent in December in Metro Detroit, the sixth consecutive month with a sales pickup.  Oakland County recorded a 2.2 percent increase, while Macomb County declined 1.3 percent. By contrast, multiple listing service Realcomp II Ltd. reported a 9.6 percent gain for Macomb in 2011 and a 3 percent hike for Oakland. 

Social Media and Relocation

For many real estate agents the world of marketing has changed.  According to the National Association of Realtors 2011 Technology Survey more than half of it’s member agents reported using social networking sites last year. This compares with a little more than a third in 2009. Nearly two-thirds have a website and 1 in 10 has a blog.    Social media websites such as Facebook and Linkedin have transformed old contacts into new potential clients and customers.

But how do you know if your social media marketing is really working and is effective?

Our very own Scott Gaffan, Manager of Learning Technologies & Technical Training for Relocation America, has been trumpeting the use of Klout.com.  Klout.com will demonstrate for you the effectiveness of your current online/social media efforts and also helps you to see the types of things that affect that influence.  You can read the full details of this exciting website by clicking over to Scott’s blog here.

Relocation America participates in Polar Plunge for Special Olympics

Relocation America, through its parent company Real Estate One, is honored to be a site sponsor for the 2012 Detroit Polar Plunge.  This year’s event is being held along the banks of the Detroit River at Milliken State Park in Detroit, Michigan.  The money raised from this event will go to support Special Olympics Michigan year-round sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.   For more information or to volunteer your time please click on the attached link.

DetroitPolarPlunge

The New Mortgage Qualifying Process

I came across an article in the most recent issue of Mobility magazine. This article discusses the new mortgage qualifying process that has many transferees baffled and upset.   While reading it I noticed it mentioned many of the same issues that a recent transferee of mine encountered when purchasing his new home.  He relayed to me that the mortgage process was a nightmare and in his many years in the professional services industry he was  mortified by the lenders performance

Upon further investigation what I found was that many of the delays/confusion he was experiencing were directly related to changes in how income is documented and large deposits verified.   It is not unusual, according to the transferee’s relocation lender, for underwriters to request large amounts of additional paperwork late in the loan process, sometimes days prior to closing.

These requests often frustrate transferee buyers who many times don’t have ready access to personal financial records and delays closings.   Delays affect not only the transferee but also van lines, temporary living providers and title companies which increases the stress factor.

Below is a quick summary of the key changes in the mortgage qualifying process.  Hopefully this table can help your relocating transferees understand the changes that have occurred if they last purchased a home more than 4 years ago. 

Relocation Trends

Atlas Van Lines recently released their ’2011 Migration Trends’ reports.  According to this new report, Southwestern and Mid-Atlantic states were popular destinations in 2011.  Historical data suggests this trend in relocation is likely related to retirement and weather preferences. Retirees are attracted to states with temperate climates, affordable costs of living, good health care and pretty scenery.

The Midwest continued to lose residents in 2011, but the data shows Michigan became a balanced state after six consecutive years of steady outbound moves (yeah). 

SHRM January Employment Expectations Released

The SHRM Employment Expectations Report for January 2012 has been released.

Key findings:

– Job creation will be limited in January

– Recruiting difficulty increases in both sectors in December

– Compensation packages for some new hires rise in December

For more information please visit:

http://www.shrm.org/Research/MonthlyEmploymentIndices/line/Documents/LINE%20January%202012.pdf

Temporary Housing Outlook

According to Minna Sharrak of Leading Apartments, 2011 was an interesting year for the temporary housing industry in Michigan.  With corporate relocations on the rise and the Michigan Film Incentive bringing productions from out of state, temporary housing was very much in demand.

The increased demand coupled with a surge in foreclosures brought a severe shortage of quality temporary housing in 2011. There has not been much in the way of new apartment construction in the past 10 years due to the fluctuations in the economy. Apartment complexes that were newer were always running at 99% occupancy.  The low vacancy rate translated into less well maintained complexes being presented to incoming transferees as their only temporary housing option.

International Relocation Seminars

On Monday March 5, 2012  Relocation America will be hosting two half day international relocation seminars.  Both sessions will be held in the Real Estate One Academy.  Full details  can be accessed by clicking on the links below.

If you or a guest would like to attend please email Dave Foess at dfoess@relocationamerica.com.

International Relocation Seminar1

International Relocation Seminar2

2011 in Review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,600 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 43 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.