Great Charities For Year-End Donations

Year’s end is a time with a lot of charitable giving. Whether it is the Christmas spirit or making final tax-deductible donations, charities often experience an uptick in donations at the end of the year. The Boehmer Team supports numerous charities and foundations throughout the year, including some right here in St. Charles County. So if you are making plans to give a year-end charitable donation, consider one of these fine organizations.

 

First Capitol Lions Club

https://www.firstcapitollionsclub.org/

First Capitol Lions Club is a local branch of the largest service organization in the world, Lions Club International. Club members identify community needs and organize to offer assistance where help is needed. Club Lions are actively involved in: collecting eyeglasses to recycle, supporting sight-saving surgeries, vision screenings for local people in need, and providing treatment to those at risk of losing their vision. In addition the Lions Affordable Hearing Aid Project (AHAP) enables Lions to provide high-quality low cost hearing aids to individuals who would otherwise not be able to afford them. We support The Lions Club mission and think they are a great consideration for your year-end donations.

Missouri School for the Blind

https://msb.dese.mo.gov

This fine organization offers educational and outreach services for legally blind Missouri children from birth through age 21 and their families free of charge.

Missouri School for the Blind concentrate services on two areas – schools for the blind from kindergarten through grade 12 school in St. Louis, Missouri, and outreach services offered throughout the state. MSB’s school is free of charge and open to all legally blind Missouri children ages five through 21. But they need our support to continue to offer great services to children and families. We’ve been supporters for years and know they make a great option for year-end donations.

Hunt For Justice

http://huntforjustice.net/

Hunt for Justice is a charity based out of St. Charles, Missouri. Their mission is to support police officers throughout the nation that have experienced hardship as a result of accidents while on duty. They rely solely on donations as their directors and volunteers do not accept a salary. We’ve been fortunate to help them assist officers in St. Charles County that are still dealing with traumatic job-related injuries. We think they are a great organization.

Sunshine Kids

https://www.sunshinekids.org

Sunshine Kids is an organization that adds quality of life to children with cancer by providing positive group activities where children can bond with and get support from other kids also fighting cancer. While they are based out of Houston, Texas, Sunshine Kids supports children nationally, including kids right here in the St. Louis area. For each home The Boehmer Team lists, a donation is made to Sunshine Kids.  Our support for this organization has never waivered and we think they are an excellent choice for year-end donations.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

https://www.stjude.org

The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to “advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.” At St. Jude no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay. We’ve been fortunate to get involved in organizing for St. Jude via the yearly St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway event. We’ve worked with the homebuilder to promote this event and have donated prizes, including a trip to Dream Riviera Cancun to help raise funds for the yearly event. If you are thinking of making year-end donations, consider St. Jude.

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The Boehmer Team is grateful to be able to offer time and funds to assist these amazing charities. These organizations contribute to the caring communities we serve every day. Please consider one of the awesome organizations for your year-end charitable giving. And if you are considering buying or selling a home in the St. Louis area, contact The Boehmer Team for assistance.

December Has Best Deals on Homes

Updated December 11, 2020

Homebuyers are always searching for the best deal on their new home. The busy holiday season in December not only delivers great deals on Christmas shopping, it delivers great deals on homes. And after all, a home could even be a Christmas gift. (To learn more about the best way to do that, click here.) 

According to a study by Attom Data Solutions, December is the best month and December 26th is the best day to get the biggest discount on a home.

The study by Attom Data Solutions found that overall, December is the best month for deals if you are buying a home. Homebuyers and investors searching during the holidays will face less competition in the marketplace. Also, they will have more motivated sellers, which could give an upper hand during price negotiations.

The analysis, based on closing date, found that only ten days of the year offer discounts below estimated market value (no months do overall). Seven of the best days to buy are in December, when savings can average as much as $2,500 or more. Also one day in October, November and February each offer extra discounts for homebuyers with saving of $500 to $1,000.

Attom’s study covers the last five years of sales. Previous years have had more days of good deals but a particularly hot seller’s market in the last few years drove the number of days for deals down. As the market cools down the number of days for deals will go up again.

Using the same data from the study one can also see days that homebuyers are least likely to get a good deal. The days where homebuyers can expect to pay up to 9 percent over the estimated home value are May 28th, 29th, and 30th.

The days that are linked to the best deals are related to holidays and down times when it comes to buyers making offers. With many people busy over the holidays, sellers become more motivated to offer deals. Keep in mind that the study is based on closing dates, so the days are related to down times when buyers are making offers.

For example, the deal day in October is the 12th, when buyers can get a $1,000 discount, are from offers that were most likely accepted over the Labor Day weekend holiday. And on February 12th, when buyers can get a $500 discount, offers were probably accepted around the New Year.

Looking at the study overall by month, buyers pay just 0.5 percent over the estimated home value in December. While June shows buyers can pay 7.3 percent above the estimated home value.

Meanwhile region can affect the best month to buy a home too. Cold seasons tend to offer the best discounts. While Hawaii isn’t as affected by seasonal sales, every other state shows the best discounts from October to February.

Something we have experience with that is not mentioned in the study are year-end deals offered by homebuilders. Homebuilders offer some of the best deals of the year at the end of the year. The greatest year-end type savings are often times tied to homes that can close by the year’s end.  Most homebuilders have a preferred lender that is able to close a home very quickly to secure year-end driven promotions. Check out our New & Now and New & Almost Ready For You pages to see new homes available where these deals might apply.

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The Boehmer Team is available for you almost any day of the year. That’s one of the great reasons to work with a team; we have the availability to match your schedule and needs. And you don’t have to go to a national website to find a good deal on St. Louis or St. Charles County area real estate. Our local website gets updated with new listing information multiple times a day while the national sites only get updated every few days. Click on over to TheBoehmerTeam.com or contact The Boehmer Team to assist you in finding a great deal on a new home that is perfect for you.

*See the full Attom Data Solutions report at: https://www.attomdata.com/news/home-prices-and-values/top-10-best-days-of-the-year-to-buy-a-home/