Property taxes are what most homeowners in the United States pay for the privilege of owning a piece of real estate, on average 1.5 percent of the property's current market value. These annual local assessments by county or local authorities help pay for public services and are calculated using a variety of formulas.

Property taxes on all real estate, including those levied by state and local governments and school districts are usually fully deductible against current income taxes. Check with your tax professional.

You have several ways to determine the value of a home:

• An appraisal is a professional estimate of a property's market value, based on recent sales of comparable properties, location, square footage and construction quality. This service varies in cost depending on the price of the home.
• A comparative market analysis is an informal estimate of market value performed by a REALTOR® based on similar sales and property attributes. The REALTOR® will most often compare those homes currently for sale, those that have recently gone under contract and those that have sold in the past 6 months. Most agents offer free analyses in the hopes of winning your business.

• The list price is a seller's advertised price, a figure that usually is only a rough estimate of what the seller wants to get. Sellers can price high, low or close to what they hope to get. To judge whether the list price is a fair one, be sure to consult comparable sales prices in the area.
• The sales price is the amount of money you as a buyer would pay for a property.
• The appraisal value is a certified appraiser's estimate of the worth of a property, and is based on comparable sales, the condition of the property and numerous other factors.

An escrow account is a trust account established by the lender to hold money to pay for real estate taxes, and mortgage and homeowners insurance premiums as they are received each month.

According to experts, sellers do not have to disclose other offers

Consider these questions before making a choice between adding on to an existing home or moving up in the market to a bigger house:

• How much money is available, either from cash reserves or through a home improvement loan, to remodel the current house?
• How much additional space is required? Would the foundation support a second floor or does the lot have room to expand on the ground level?
• What do local zoning and building ordinances permit?
• How much equity already exists in the property?
• Are there affordable properties for sale that would satisfy housing needs?

The more you know about a seller's motivation, the stronger a negotiating position you are in. For example, a seller who must move quickly due to a job transfer may be amenable to a lower price with a speedy escrow. Other so-called "motivated sellers" include people going through a divorce or who have already purchased another home.

Remember, that the listing price is what the seller would like to receive but is not necessarily what they will settle for. Before making an offer, check the recent sales prices of comparable homes in the neighborhood to see how the seller's asking price stacks up.

Some experts discourage making deliberate low-ball offers. While such an offer can be presented, it can also sour the sale and discourage the seller from negotiating at all.

To prepare your home for sale, you will need to step outside of yourself as the Homeowner and become a prospective buyer. Ask yourself what you would want to see in a new home. Doing whatever you can to put your house's best face forward is very important if you want to get close to your asking price or sell as quickly as possible. Short of spending a lot of money, there are several steps people can take to make their home show better:

First impressions are important. Clean up the outside of your home. Sweep the sidewalk, mow the lawn, prune the bushes, weed the garden and clean debris from the yard.

Space - Nobody wants a house that appears small because of clutter. Clean out closets to make them appear spacious. Store extra furniture so that rooms offer possibilities for furniture arrangements. Clean out the garage of anything but cars.

Clean – Everything, especially kitchens and baths. Windows should sparkle. Clean the windows (both inside and out).

Pets – If possible, keep them boarded elsewhere or at least outside when there are showings. Make the home seem as if there are no pets that live there. While you may love Fluffy and Buddy, prospective buyers may not.

Paint – Check for any pealing paint. Touch up areas that are marked or dirty and won’t come clean. A fresh coat of paint in a neutral color may help a prospective buyer imagine their furniture in a room that you have personalized with an accent color. If your home was built before 1978, federal law gives a buyer the right to request a lead inspection. If you think you might have some problems, do the inspection yourself beforehand and make any fixes you can.

Appliances – Any appliances that stay with the home should be in good working order. Those that are not need to be fixed or taken out of the home.

• ACR - acreage
• BR - bedrooms
• BA - bathrooms
• Gar - garage (garden is usually abbreviated "gard")
• DR - Dining room
• LR - Living Room
• GR - Great Room
• KIT - Ktichen
• FP, frplc, fplc - fireplace
• Grmt kit -- gourmet kitchen

A home is worth what someone will pay for it. Everything else is an estimate of value. To determine a property's value, most people turn to either an appraisal or a comparative market analysis.

An appraisal is a certified appraiser's estimate of the value of the property at a given point in time. To make their determination, appraisers consider square footage, construction quality, design, floor plan, neighborhood, availability of transportation, shopping and schools amenities, energy efficiency. Appraisers also take lot size, topography, view and landscaping into account.

A comparative market analysis is an informal estimate of market value, based on comparable sales in the neighborhood, performed by a real estate agent or broker. You can do your own cost comparison by looking up recent sales of comparable properties in public records. These records are available at local recorder's or assessor's offices, through private companies or on the Internet.

Any points you or the seller pay for your home loan are deductible for that year. Property taxes and interest are deductible every year.

While other home-buying costs (closing costs in particular) are not immediately tax-deductible, they can be figured into the adjusted cost basis of your home when you go to sell (any significant home improvements also can be calculated into your basis). These fees would include title insurance, loan-application fee, credit report, appraisal fee, service fee, settlement or closing fees, bank attorney's fee, attorney's fee, document preparation fee and recording fees.

A REALTOR® is a good source for finding out the condition of the local housing market. A REALTOR® is in the business of knowing what is going on in the local market and can then give competent advice to Sellers and Buyers.

While your low offer in a normal market might be rejected immediately, in a buyer's market a motivated seller will either accept or make a counteroffer.

Full-price offers or above are more likely to be accepted by the seller. But there are other considerations involved:

• Is the offer contingent upon anything, such as the sale of the buyer's current house? If so, a low offer, even a full price offer, may not be as attractive as an offer without that condition.
• Is the offer made on the house as is, or does the buyer want the seller to make some repairs or lower the price instead?
• Is the offer all cash, meaning the buyer has waived the financing contingency? If so, then an offer at less than the asking price may be more attractive to the seller than a full-price offer with a financing contingency.

It's very important to price your home appropriately relative to current market conditions. Because the real estate market is continually changing, and market fluctuations have an effect on property values, it's imperative to select your list price based on the most recent comparable sales in your neighborhood.

A comparative market analysis provides the background data on which to base your list-price decision. Study the comparable sales material presented to you by the different agents you interviewed initially. If the analyses are more than two or three months old, have your agent update the report for you.

If all agents agreed on a price range for your home, go with the consensus. Watch out for an agent whose opinion of value is considerably higher than the others.

In addition to supply and demand, and other economic factors, the time of year you choose to sell can make a difference both in the amount of time it takes to sell your home and in the ultimate selling price.

Weather conditions are less of a consideration in more temperate climates, but most of the time, the real estate market picks up as early as February, with the strongest selling season usually lasting through May and June.

With the onset of summer, the market slows. July is often the slowest month for real estate sales due to a strong spring market putting possible upward pressure on interest rates. Also, many prospective home buyers and their agents take vacations during mid-summer.

Following the summer slowdown, real estate sales activity tends to pick up for a second, although less vigorous, fall market, which usually lasts into November when the market slows again as buyers and sellers turn their attention to the holidays.

Sellers often wonder whether or not they should take their homes off the market for the holidays. Generally speaking, you'll have the best results if your house is available to show to prospective buyers continuously until it sells.

Because many buyers prefer to move in the spring or summer, the market starts to heat up as early as February. Families with children are anxious to buy so they can move during summer vacation, before the new school year begins.

The market slows down in late summer before picking up again briefly in the fall. November and December have traditionally been slow months, although some astute buyers look for bargains during this period.

Even in a down market, real estate experts say price and condition are the two most important factors in selling a home. So, the first step is to lower the price. Also, go through the house and see if there are cosmetic defects that you missed and can be repaired.

Home sellers should make sure that the home is getting the exposure it deserves through open houses, broker open houses, advertising, good signage and a listing on the local multiple listing service.

If the seller is using a real estate agent and the property isn't getting proper exposure, find another agent.

Obligations to disclose information about a property vary from state to state.

Under the strictest laws, the seller and the seller's broker, if there is one, are required to disclose all facts materially affecting the value or desirability of the property which are known or accessible only to him.

Items sellers often disclose include: homeowners association dues; whether or not work done on the house meets local building codes and permits requirements; the presence of any neighborhood nuisances or noises which a prospective buyer might not notice, such as a dog that barks every night or poor TV reception; any death within three years on the property and any restrictions on the use of the property, such as zoning ordinances or association rules.

It is wise to check your state's disclosure rules prior to a home purchase.

Most offers include two standard contingencies: a financing contingency, which makes the sale dependent on the buyers' ability to obtain a loan commitment from a lender, and an inspection contingency, which allows buyers to have professionals inspect the property to their satisfaction.

A buyer could forfeit his or her deposit under certain circumstances, such as backing out of the deal for a reason not stipulated in the contract.

The purchase contract must include the seller's responsibilities, such things as passing clear title, maintaining the property in its present condition until closing and making any agreed-upon repairs to the property.

Home inspections, seller disclosure requirements and the agent's experience will help. Disclosure laws vary by state, but in some states, the law requires the seller to complete a real estate transfer disclosure statement.