1412 Seminary New listing

Come discover this hidden gem. Located on a quiet private driveway this cozy Bay Farm home has an updated kitchen and bathroom. With hardwood floors and dual paned windows you can walk out your dining room to a spacious backyard overlooking the golf course. Perfect for entertaining, gardening or relaxing. Close to Godfrey park, shopping and in a desirable Alameda school district. This home is move in ready. OHSun 3/14 2-4 pm. See more photos on my website at 1412seminary.com

First time homebuyer tax credit

The first time homebuyer tax credit effectively ends on April 30th. This is an $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers. For the tax credit program, the IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.
Read more here.

IRS rules for claiming first time homebuyer tax credit

The Internal Revenue Service recently released the new form that eligible homebuyers need to claim the first-time homebuyer credit this tax season and announced processing of those tax returns will begin in mid-February. The IRS also announced new documentation requirements to deter fraud related to the first-time homebuyer credit.

With the release of Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit,and the related instructions
, eligible homebuyers can now start to file their 2009 tax returns.

In addition to filling out a Form 5405, all eligible homebuyers must include with their 2009 tax returns one of the following documents in order to receive the credit:

* A copy of the settlement statement showing all parties' names and signatures, property address, sales price, and date of purchase. Normally, this is the properly executed Form HUD-1, Settlement Statement.
* For mobile home purchasers who are unable to get a settlement statement, a copy of the executed retail sales contract showing all parties' names and signatures, property address, purchase price and date of purchase.
* For a newly constructed home where a settlement statement is not available, a copy of the certificate of occupancy showing the owner’s name, property address and date of the certificate.

In addition, the new law allows a long-time resident of the same main home to claim the homebuyer credit if they purchase a new principal residence. To qualify, eligible taxpayers must show that they lived in their old homes for a five-consecutive-year period during the eight-year period ending on the purchase date of the new home. The IRS has stepped up compliance checks involving the homebuyer credit, and it encouraged homebuyers claiming this part of the credit to avoid refund delays by attaching documentation covering the five-consecutive-year period:

* Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement, or substitute mortgage interest statements,
* Property tax records or
* Homeowner’s insurance records.

More details on claiming the credit can be found in the instructions to Form 5405, as well as on theFirst-Time Homebuyer Credit page
on IRS.gov.

Source: IRS.gov

More short sale shenanigans

Walking away, is this irresponsible. Don't ask a banker!

I recently read this article in the New York Times regarding bankers and politicians call to not have homeowners not walk away from their mortgages.  Interestingly enough the article makes it clear that business and in particular their business do this all the time. It even cites how Morgan Stanley actually chose to stop paying on an office buildings they bought in San Francisco. 

As quoted from the article.  Brent White, a University of Arizona law professor has argued that the government should stop perpetuating default “scare stories” and, indeed, should encourage borrowers to default when it’s in their economic interest. This would correct a prevailing imbalance: homeowners operate under a “powerful moral constraint” while lenders are busily trying to maximize profits. More important, it might get the system unstuck. If lenders feared an avalanche of strategic defaults, they would have an incentive to renegotiate loan terms. In theory, this could produce a wave of loan modifications — the very goal the Treasury has been pursuing to end the crisis.

To be sure if you are a homeowner you should try every available avenue before walking away. i.e. loan modification and possibly a short sale.  These damage a homeowners credit rating less.  Being in the business of help people into or out of a home by their own choosing I am furious at the mess created by these large banking institutions and the government that relaxed the rules enough to let them do it.

So I say if you are a homeowner and have not gotten any satisfaction from whoever owns your loan now, walk away.  Free from the notion that you have some moral obligation to the bankers.  If you are trying to get a loan modification and have not had any luck with your lender give me a call I recently met someone who has had success with these.  If you are interested in exploring the idea of a short sale I can help you.

Fast facts courtesy of CAR

Click here to view a snapshot of Alameda home sales from 2009.

A few fast facts about the real estate market courtesy of the
California Association of Realtors.
Right now the affordability index is at an all time high.
I remember that sometime around 2004 I saw this and it was hovering around 15%

Calif. median home price: November 09: $304,520 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region November 09:
Santa Barbara So. Coast $750,000(Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region November 09:
High Desert $124,710 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Third Quarter 2009: 64 percent (Source: C.A.R.)
Mortgage rates - week ending 1/7/10 30-yr. fixed: 5.09 Fees/points: 0.7%
15-yr. fixed: 4.50% Fees/points: 0.7%
1-yr. adjustable: 4.31% Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)

Happy New Year! And welcome 2010!

The New Year is here and probably a welcome sight for many in the real estate business.
This year was filled with many ups and downs for those looking to buy or sell a home.
For those who were buying the tax credit combined with declining prices were probably good news.
For those looking to sell a home declining prices were the opposite.  In Alameda we suffered from a low inventory.  Which made the good homes on the market even more competitive.



I worked with many first time home buyers this year. Many were excited to be bidding on homes they might have been priced out of even a year ago. Despite whatever was going on in the media I still found myself in competetive bidding situations with almost all my buyers.  The national news stories about the real estate market give you very basic and general information about what is going on.  Particular area's in Alameda remained strong but more specifically particular homes were the hot ticket... or not.  Great presentation combined with a competitive price brought in multiple offers.  Even lousy presentation but a great starting price on a bungalow brought in multiple offers.  I see prices stabilizing and can expect the same to continue through the beginning of the year.  This spring and summer will be a litmus test to see if we have really turned a corner and are on our way back to a "healthy" housing market.