The Home Buyers Tax Credit May be Extended and Enhanced!

by cindy ~ August 27th, 2009 ~ Uncategorized Comments (113)

Attention all Bay Area home buyers!  There is a new bill introduced by Howard Coble (Republican Representative from North Carolina), to extend and enhance the HOME (Home Ownership Moves the Economy) Act of 2009. 

How does this help you?  It continues the home buyer tax credit that is currently in place with some changes that will help home buyers anywhere, even in the Bay Area – including on the gorgeous peninsula.  Think about this, using your tax credit to buy a home in San Carlos, Redwood City, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Woodside and yes, even Atherton?

The changes submitted in this bill (H.R. 2081) that benefit you are:

1.  It extends the home buyer tax credit through January 1, 2011 – it is currently set to expire December 1, 2009;

2.  It extends the first-time home buyer tax credit to allindividuals who purchase a principal residence (currently, only first-time home buyers as so defined);

3.  Income restrictions are removed – so anyone buying a home can use the tax credit regardless of your modified adjusted gross income

If the HOME tax credit program is extended, it may motivate more people (who have more disposable income) to buy a home and thus, hopefully help the real estate market recover, and attempt to boost the economy even further.  However, the negative impact is that tax payers will be footing this bill.  A double edged sword.  And that is a debate to discuss outside of this blog.

This HOME bill with the changes was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee on June 9, 2009.  To read more go to http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2801 .

So basically this gives principle residence home buyers $7500.00 per year tax credit claim for two years ($15,000.00).  It is being called the “Cash for Fixers bribe that the market wants”.  It is also being called “the upper middle class neighborhood stabilization plan”.  Call it what you want, it will probably pass.  The House Ways and Means Committee is mostly Democrats with a few Republicans from real estate sore states, and we know the same for the House and Senate.  I will not impose my own political beliefs here.  I just hope that if it does pass, only those that really and truly NEED to use the tax claim will do so. 

We have had a robust July and August compared to most years.  This extended credit could possibly motivate those renters that make a decent living (or more than decent living) who must write a big tax check to the IRS at the end of each year.  It will motivate those with disposable income that have not purchased a house yet for some reason. 

From Los Altos Hills north to Burlingame and every city in between (yes, even Menlo Park and Atherton), the “Cash for Fixers” credit just might make a good impact on our economy in many different ways.  I will keep tabs on the HOME bill and let you know what happens.

Home Sales Progress Shows Recovery Is Near???

by cindy ~ August 21st, 2009 ~ Miscellaneous, Real Estate in General Comments (74)

I’ve been told that Kiplinger.com is rarely wrong and is full of very good, useful, information.  Kiplinger’s July 23, 2009 article, “Home Sales Progress Shows Recovery Near” describes the factors involved in proving economic recovery, and the end of the recession.  Kiplinger has identified 6 key indicators that the economic recession is nearing an end.  The 6 key indicators that must be met are to prove economic recovery are:

1.  Existing home sales growth – showing positive signs the last 3 months

2.  Interest rate spread is smaller – now showing improved health in the banking sector

3.  Retail sales must increase

4.  Consumer confidence must rise

5.  Durable goods up-trend

6.  Jobless claims must decline

Kiplinger claims we have met the first 2 of the 6 indicators.  Read the article (see link below) for more details and to receive future email alerts and updates on the recovery index.  If you double click on the indicators, another page explains what they mean and why it is important.

http://www.kiplinger.com/businessresource/forecast/archive/recovery_index_ehs_090723.html

Let’s hope that the other four indicators are met soon, and let’s all do what we can to help.  Hope you find this Kiplinger article interesting and/or helpful.  I realize the article is a month old, but I think it is still relevant and interesting to track.

Menlo Park, CA Has A Purchase Assistance Loan Program

by cindy ~ August 20th, 2009 ~ Menlo Park, Miscellaneous, Real Estate in General Comments (67)

Wow!!  Menlo Park, CA is now offering a home Purchase Assistance Loan Program (aka PAL program).  This program is now being offered by the Menlo Park City Government ONLY for first time home buyers with middle-income qualification as an affordable second home mortgage program.  Here’s the rules:

1.  MUST be a first time home buyer (has not owned a home in the last 3 years), for a property within the incorporated City of Menlo Park, CA

2.  MUST meet middle-income requirements (see link below for chart)

3.  MUST have lived in Menlo Park and/or worked in Menlo Park for at least a year

4.  Can get a loan of 20% of the selling price of the home or $75,000.00 – which ever is lower

5.  The maximum loan term is 35 years at 0% loan interest with no payments for the first 5 years and a fixed loan interest rate of 5% thereafter = yay!  Great terms!

6. The loans are for purchasing condo’s, townhouses, single family homes, and attached or detached units (duplexes) in Menlo Park only.

7.  There are no maximum restrictions on what the selling price is.

8.  The PAL loans can be used along with other loans from the FHA, CALFHA and the County of San Mateo’s Mortgage Credit Certificate Program (MCC).

For a complete description, points of contact and many more details of the PAL program, please see http://www.menlopark.org/departments/hsg/pal.htm.

America’s Top 25 Towns To Live Well

by cindy ~ July 23rd, 2009 ~ Best, The Peninsula in the bay area, Top Lists, Uncategorized Comments (77)

There are so many lists published every year that it seems that one could spend far too much time reading them, and far less time doing something else worth while.  Frankly, they can be a waste of time unless you really use the lists for a certain purpose.  Seeing that my passion is all about helping people find their next dream home and selling the current one, I am always interested in reading the lists that have anything to do with where people are choosing to live (and why).  I found the list of America’s Top 25 Towns To Live Well quite interesting.

My last post on July 20, 2009 questioned how in the world did Money Magazine come up with their list of The Top 10 Places to Live, since the list only included cities that had bad weather most of the time.  Oh, and by the way, Money Magazine’s Top 10 did not include a California city.  I would bet that most of us that live here on the peninsula, in the beautiful Bay Area of California, certainly think that we deserve inclusion in that list.  Weather here is gorgeous and that should be considered in the weight of the decision for the Top Places to Live.  Yes, weather is an important consideration for most, if not all of the clients that I serve.  And yes, I have spent far too much time on the east coast and in the midwest enduring a lot of rain, wind, clouds, blizzards, freezing temperatures, socked in gray skies and morose weather in general.  What a waste of time spent indoors!  Isn’t life happier when it is sunny, warm and with a slight breeze?  Think, Menlo Park, CA; Atherton,  Palo Alto, and Woodside, CA to name a few…

I am happy to say that www.Forbes.com got their lists right (in my humble opinion).  In America’s Top Towns To Live Well, there are 9 towns in California that made the list of 25!  Thank goodness someone did thorough research and weighted in the delight of seeing the sun more than a few days a year.  I am content to see that Mountain View and Cupertino, CA came in on the list in 4th and 5th place.  Give an applause for seeing Foster City, Belmont and Hillsborough, CA in 10th, 11th and 12th place.  I still have not reconciled why Menlo Park and Palo Alto, CA are not on the list?  I’ll do that later.

So, in order to feel like you are “Living Well”, one of the things that is often considered is nice weather on a regular basis.  Of course there are several other factors such as schools, crime rate, culture, economy, job opportunities among others, when making the decision on where to move and live.  Real estate here is expensive, and it is difficult for many people that live here to afford it.  Silicon Valley has been the land of opportunity for thousands from every walk of life.  This area has historically proven that real estate has been a good investment.  All in all, I do think that Menlo Park, CA or Palo Alto, Portola Valley, Woodside, Los Altos, San Carlos, CA or any of our other lovely peninsula towns/cities are indeed great places to “Live Well.” 

Check out the link and read in detail how the towns were selected.  See America’s Top 25 Towns To Live Well List of lists on Forbes.com at http://bit.ly/2ZEMMm.   There are several other lists to peruse too, such as;  Best Places to Grow Old, Cities Hardest to Get By, and Best Places to Move To (my personal opinion is that last list needs to be researched better – oh my goodness!).    I hope you find some of it interesting and/or helpful. 

Money Magazine Picks Best Places To Live??

by cindy ~ July 20th, 2009 ~ Best, Real Estate in General, Top Lists, Uncategorized ~ Comments (0)

Money Magazine released their lists of their selected best places to live in the US.  There are several lists such as; towns where there are the most jobs, top 25 places for most affordable homes, 25 best places for singles and places with the cleanest air etc.

Their Top 10 Selections for the Best Overall Places to Live (they are small towns with strong local economies, good schools, affordable homes, and low crime rates) did not include one single California city at all!!  My first thought was, you’ve got to be kidding me?!!!  That top list includes:      

                                     1.  Louisville, Colo.

                                    2.   Chanhassen, Minn.

                                     3.  Papillion, Neb.

                                     4.  Middleton, Wisc.

                                     5.  Milton, Mass.

                                     6.  Warren, N.J.

                                     7.  Keller, Texas

                                     8.  Peachtree City, Ga.

                                     9.  Lake St. Louis, Mo.

                                     10.Mukilteo, Wash.

What were they thinking???  So, why didn’t anyone consider weather in the qualifications of this list??  Doesn’t that affect quality of life?

 If the list above represents the TOP 10 BEST OVERALL PLACES TO LIVE, a huge percentage of the population would include temperate climate in their qualifications.  Gee, why do so many people (not just the retiring couple) move to California?  For the jobs, gorgeous weather, beautiful terrain, strong economy, and low crime rates.  Seems to me, they never made it to the west coast when they were doing their research (maybe they did go to Washington, but so what?)!  Poor reporting or lack of understanding of the weight of the decision for good weather.  Lack of understanding  how perfect living on the Peninsula in the Bay Area really is?

Although California has its’ budget problems, tax issues, expensive real estate and density issues, it still offers a wonderful quality of life and has all of the other qualifications used in the selection.  This is an amazing place to live (do you think maybe that is one of the reasons why real estate is so expensive here?).  I think we need to invite the researchers to tour the state for about a month.  Perhaps researching during November, January or March, when they would not normally want to live in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Washington or Minnesota!!

 Check out the rest of their lists.  See what they are missing….or how far down the lists California cities rate.

 http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/top100/