Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

Just like you do an annual tax return, it's equally important to do an "Annual Home Review". Your home may be your biggest investment, so it's critical to keep up-to-date on the answers to these five crucial questions: 1. What have homes near you sold for, and how does this impact you today? 2. What new tax laws give you deductions or credits on home improvements? 3. What's happening in your neighborhood that will impact the value of your home? 4. What changes have occurred in your life that will alter your goals over the next five years, and how to prepare now to take full advantage of them? 5. What's occurring with your current mortgage, and what new possibilities would benefit you now?  The next time you are in a conversation with a friend, family member or neighbor who is talking about their home's value, remember the future always belongs to the person who prepares. I am completely prepared to help you and the people you care about. Call o

Expect the home-purchase market to strengthen along with the economy in 2015, according to Freddie Mac's U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook. "The good news for 2015 is that the U.S. economy appears well-poised to sustain about a 3 percent growth rate in 2015 — only the second year in the past decade with growth at that pace or better," says Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "Governmental fiscal drag has turned into fiscal stimulus; lower energy costs support consumer spending and business investment; further easing of credit conditions for business and real estate lending support commerce and development; and consumers are more upbeat and businesses are more confident, all of which portend faster economic growth in 2015. And with that, the economy will produce more and better-paying jobs, providing the financial wherewithal to support household formations and housing activity." Freddie Mac economists have made the following proje