How to file your tax return on time

Due to busy schedules and for unseen reasons some of us wait until the last minute to file our taxes -- which this year are due by Tuesday, April 17. Here are some simple tips to make sure yours is sent in on time:

Filing Paper Returns:

1. USPS - Postal mail. GET IT IN THE MAIL BY APRIL 17th. Your paper return is filed on time if it is mailed in an envelope that is properly addressed, has enough postage, and is postmarked by April 17. Many of the post office's will remain open until midnight on tax day so returns can be postmarked by this date.

TIP: Send it registered mail or certified mail

2. Private delivery services. If you use a private delivery service designated by the IRS to send your return, the postmark date generally is the date the delivery service records in its database or marks on the mailing label. The delivery service can tell you how to get written proof of this date.

IRS-designated private delivery services:

DHL Express: DHL Same Day.
Federal Express (FedEx): FedEx Priority Overnight, FedEx Standard Overnight, FedEx 2Day, FedEx International Priority, and FedEx International First.

United Parcel Service (UPS): UPS Next Day Air, UPS Next Day Air Saver, UPS 2nd Day Air, UPS 2nd Day Air A.M., UPS Worldwide Express Plus, and UPS Worldwide Express.
Filing electronic returns on time

File Electronically with IRS e-file:

Your return is considered filed on time if the company that electronically transmits the return to the IRS postmarks the transmission by April 17. The date and time in your time zone controls whether your electronically filed return is timely.

The electronic postmark serves as proof of when the authorized electronic return transmitter received the transmission of your electronically filed return on its host system.


Still can't get it in on time? File an extension:

Filing an extension is super easy. The deadline to file your 2011 return is April 17, 2012. Form 4868 will extend the deadline by six months. With an extension, your deadline to file a tax return is October 15, 2012. However, an extension of time to file is not an extension of time to pay. If you owe, you should pay the IRS by the April 17th deadline to avoid penalties and interest. For more filing deadlines, see the Tax Calendar.

Happy Filing!

February 2011 Sales Promotion

Our new mobile app!

Stay up to date on the newest homes to it the market anytime via our new mobile app. Just type in the following address into your browser.

http://wbxapp.com/dfw-real-estate

Or scan this barcode with your smartphone. If your smartphone is able to read QR codes, you can use this barcode to go to our mobile app. More about QR codes

30-Year & 15-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates at Record Lows!

Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), with the 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages reaching record lows for this survey. (The 30-year fixed-rate survey began in 1971, and the 15-year began in 1991.)

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.56 percent. At this time last year the 30-year FRM averaged 5.20 percent.

15-year FRM this week averaged a record low of 4.03 percent. At this time last year the 15-year FRM averaged 4.68 percent.

5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.79 percent. At this time last year the 5-year ARM averaged 4.74 percent.

1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.70 percent this week. At this time last year the 1-year ARM averaged 4.77 percent.


"The decline in mortgages rates over the past few weeks echoes the recent signs of weakening confidence in the strength of the economy, particularly the housing and consumer sectors. For example, homebuilder confidence declined in July to lows not seen since April 2009, as measured by the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, following the large drop in housing starts reported for June. Similarly, July's consumer confidence dropped to the lowest level since August 2009, based on the Reuters/University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment index. We see these as part of the normal pattern of ebbs and flows in recovery and believe that there is sufficient momentum to carry the U.S. economy forward, albeit moderately."

-Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac

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Is the local real estate market looking up?

New home construction starts in DFW are up more than 50 percent this year from the first 6 months of 2009.

The number of new homes sold in the area is rising for the first time in four years, according to a second-quarter report from Metrostudy Inc. However, analysts caution that the rebound is likely to slow now that federal buying incentives are running out.

June pre-owned home sales figures, which were also released Wednesday, were down 3 percent, ending a three-month run of double-digit year-over-year sales gains.

The recent gains in new-home sales and starts have been welcome in a market that suffered through more than two years of declining construction and sales.

"This is the second quarter in a row that new-home starts in Dallas-Fort Worth jumped significantly compared to the prior year," said Metrostudy director David Brown. "Homebuilders increased starts during the first half of the year in reaction to the increased demand from the homebuyer tax credit and reduced inventory."

New Home Builders started more than 4,600 houses, the most since 2008's third quarter.

Even so, the number of new homes for sale in North Texas is at its lowest level in 13 years and is 64 percent less than its peak in 2006.

"The fact is that the inventory is gone," Brown said. "When builders sell a house, they have to start one."

At the end of June, about 4,477 finished new homes were on the market in the D-FW area – a steep decline from more than 12,000 four years ago.

North Texas builders sold 4,733 new homes during the second quarter, almost 8 percent more than in the same period last year.

The biggest jump in new-home sales this year – 24 percent – is in properties priced at less than $200,000, which go mostly to first-time buyers, Metrostudy found.

Northern suburbs have accounted for the greatest spikes in building, with a 145 percent year-over-year increase in starts in Frisco. McKinney, North Fort Worth and Little Elm also had large second-quarter gains.

But most analysts expect housing purchases to slow. "We've seen a fairly significant fall-off in sales reported by the builders in virtually every market," Brown said. "Clearly, the second half of the year is not going to be as robust."

Pre-owned home sales in North Texas are already declining. The 3 percent decline for June compared with year-earlier figures was widely anticipated. "Yes, I would have guessed a bigger drop-off," said Dr. James Gaines, an economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

The median price for area pre-owned homes last month was unchanged from a year ago at $155,000.

Housing economists had expected the market to retrench when the federal homebuying incentives were withdrawn. To qualify for up to $8,000 in tax credits, buyers had to have a home under contract by the end of April. "The tax credit pushed ahead a lot of buying decisions," Brown said. "But with the job growth numbers we are hearing about and stronger apartment leasing, we will start to see household formation grow. Next year we should see sales start to build back up."

Pre-owned home sales for the first six months of the year increased the most in higher-priced neighborhoods, including the Park Cities, which were up 66 percent, and North Dallas, up 44 percent.

Through the first half of 2010, the number of pre-owned single-family homes sold by real estate agents through the Multiple Listing Service rose 9 percent from a year earlier, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.

Median prices have inched up 2 percent so far this year.

At the end of June, 41,339 homes were listed for sale in the area. That's up 11 percent from June 2009 and the first annual increase in inventory in more than a year.

There is a 6.9-month supply of homes on the market.

With pending sales down 23 percent, year-over-year purchases are likely to drop again in July.

Dallas Ranks #9 in Forbes' Top Ten Best Housing Markets...

Dallas has been able to stay on top despite the market down turn.

Things are looking up, Forbes.com released their list of Top 10 Best Housing Markets based primarily on the stability of each metro area as measured by affordability rankings and foreclosure rates as an indicator of a lack of excess inventory, making the top cities what they call the best opportunities for home shoppers. Lists are a dime a dozen, but Forbes is pretty reliable with their data analysis and take a big picture view of the market.

Here are the top ten best housing markets:

1. Pittsburgh, PA
2. Louisville, KY
3. Houston, TX
4. Minneapolis, MN
5. Indianapolis, IA
6. Memphis, TN
7. Columbus, OH
8. St. Louis, MO
9. Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
10. Austin, TX

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