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The New, Improved, (and extended) $8,000 Tax Credit
November 22, 2009 /By now you've probably heard: The $8,000 Tax Credit has been extended! And you're thinking, "I've been wanting to buy a home... maybe there's something to this procrastination thing, after all." In this case, you'd be right; The last go-round provided up to $8,000 to homebuyers who had not owned a home in the past 3 years, and whose income was $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for married taxpayers filing joint returns. In recognition of your patience and wisdom, you are now eligible for the Sweetened Deal: For home purchases occurring after November 6, 2009, the new income limits are $125,000 for single taxpayers and $225,000 for married couples filing jointly. Be prepared to prove it! Due to the very real potential for fraud, you will be required to prove that you have not owned a home in the last 3 years, however, the credit can be allocated to the person who has not owned previously, in cases where parents are assisting with a purchase, or where one member of an unmarried couple has previously owned. Saving for a downpayment? Another element of the new version is that it allows prospective home buyers who believe they qualify for the…Read more
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HVCC, HERA & other Bureaucratic Sausages
August 19, 2009 /The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty." Eugene McCarthy In the spirit of an inefficient bureaucracy, and under the guise of "economic recovery", we've seen several new edicts handed down from the mountain lately. The 2 most onerous directives go by the handy handles of 'HVCC' & 'HERA'. Both attempt to right the wrongs perpetrated in this last housing runup, but from my perspective, they are relatively undisguised attempts by big banks to utilize the fear in the marketplace to have their way, creating legislation that does little to remedy the actual problems, while pushing the BIG BANKING agenda well down the road. The Home Value Code of Conduct (HVCC), enacted in April, puts severe restrictions on the lines of communication between lenders and appraisers, requiring the use of an automated online system to place appraisal orders, while keeping lenders and brokers from speaking directly, and purportedly preventing the collusion that took place in the dark ages between '04-'07. The fly in this ointment is the reality that quality work requires quality people. The new system requires lenders to draw anonymously from a predetermined pool of appraisers,…Read more
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Housing: swimming in info, searching for the bottom
July 14, 2009 /The US Housing market officially hit bottom on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, according to Mad Money's Jim Cramer. Based on his analysis of better than expected housing starts, increasing sales, and decreasing inventory, Cramer argues that we've seen the worst of this housing debacle, and can begin the slow climb back to sanity. And yet, a month later, we're still seeing headlines that read like footnotes to the 4 horsemen's sightseeing tour. So, how can we have this extreme swing in opinion? We're all getting the same numbers, and existing on the same planet, correct? Yet I'd swear I've never seen more schizo info. There's nothing consistent, no standards of reporting, no BIG HOUSING CHART that we're all referring to- like the digital counter ticking up the national debt ( I think they ran out of slots on that one). Shouldn't there be some agency (job security!), or body of standards keepers (bureaucrats) who sift through all the info and disseminate it into neat little bite-sized, easily digestible (And Accurate) chunks so those of us with lives to lead can get our (Useful) news and still have a life? I'm sure this was the original thinking behind the current crop of infotainment/news…Read more
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Pickett Street on the radio
June 24, 2009 /On Tuesday Dennis and I were asked to participate on a round table discussion of the real estate market on "The Money Thing," a local talk radio show that airs on Tuesdays from 12-2pm on 1150AM (KKNW). Neither of us had ever been on the radio before, but that would never keep us from offering our opinion! :) The show is hosted by Howard Bono, a mortgage originator and owner of Old West Mortgage in Everett. We had only met Howard once before, but that meeting prompted enough thought that he asked us to come on the radio program to share our ideas with his audience. The discussion was lively, and was largely in reference to the short sale processs, what we anticipated for our local market over the next 12-18 months, and how we counsel buyers in times like these. The entire program segment is available on Howard's website, TheMoneyThing.com, but I've posted just our segment below. Thanks to Howard for having us - and thanks to Jerry Jaz for taking the time to take in-studio pics.Read more
