This is good News!!

Nearly 40 percent of first-time home buyers report federal tax credit played critical role in decision to purchase a home

LOS ANGELES (Sept. 18) – Nearly 40 percent of first-time home buyers said they would not have purchased a home if the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers was not offered, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ (C.A.R.) “2009 First-time Home Buyers Tax Credit Survey.” Understanding the significance of the federal tax credit to the housing market’s recovery, C.A.R. surveyed 200 California first-time home buyers to gauge the impact it had on their purchase decisions.

“It is clear that the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers is working, as evidenced by the spike in home sales in recent months,” said C.A.R. President James Liptak. “This tax credit is arguably the most successful strategy employed by the government’s efforts to stimulate the housing market.

“Because the tax credit has helped so many first-time buyers become homeowners, it is critical that Congress extends the credit beyond the Dec. 1 deadline, and includes all buyers, not just first-timers,” he said.

Nearly 70 percent of those surveyed said that the federal tax credit was either “very important” or “most important” in their decision to purchase a home. When ranking the importance of the tax credit, those who planned to use the tax credit gave it a 4.5 on a scale of one to five, with five being “most important.” That rank was tied with low home prices.

In California home prices have declined 59 percent from the peak to the current low in this cycle—contrasting with the national picture where the prices have declined by 28 percent.

“While affordability has improved in California over the past two years, it is still lower than affordability nationally. As a result, the tax credit is an even bigger factor in California compared with elsewhere in the country,” added Liptak. “Going forward, the credit will be even more important to the housing recovery.”

Income levels played a role in the decision of first-time buyers to apply for the federal tax credit. Ninety-four percent of respondents who earn an annual income of less than $100,000 planned to apply for the credit, while only 51 percent of first-timers earning $100,000 or more planned to apply for it.

Other key findings from C.A.R.’s “2009 First-time Home Buyers Tax Credit Survey” include:
· Ninety-four percent were aware of the federal first-time buyer tax credit.
· Eighty-two percent listed the ability to obtain financing as “very important” or “most important.”
· Ninety-one percent reported low home prices as “very important” or “most important.”

..............ok already....

So having the right price point is very, very important..having a tax credit does help but affordablity trumps all other factors in the case of home buying...so here's the call..

Why the Housing Market Has Yet to Hit Rock Bottom

Why the Housing Market Has Yet to Hit Rock Bottom

Buyers BEWARE: Prices on the Rise, Sellers run the Show, Agents desperate for Commissions….but its not all bad!

Buyers BEWARE: Prices on the Rise, Sellers run the Show, Agents desperate for Commissions….but its not all bad!

You Have Less Than Four Weeks To Find A Home

September 8, 2009
First-Time Buyer Hoping To Get The $8,000 Tax Credit? You Have Less Than Four Weeks To Find A Home
The federal government is offering first-time home-buyers a tax credit of 10% of a home’s sales price up to $8,000. To qualify, you must close on a home by November 30th; if you close on December 1st, you’re out of luck.

If you’re a first-time buyer in Southern California, you have a little less than four weeks left to find a home, make an offer and negotiate terms if you hope to close in time to get the $8,000 tax credit.

Close By November 13th
In a normal month, about 20% of closings slip from the last week of a month to the next. This number will almost certainly be higher in November due to the expected rush of buyers trying to get the tax credit and because November 30th falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

If you’re hoping to get the tax credit, you want to make sure you’ve closed before the week of Thanksgiving because it’s not a full work week:

•Thursday, November 26th: Turkey day. A day to give thanks and watch the Detroit Lions go for six Thanksgiving Day losses in a row.
•Friday , November 27th: Los Angeles & Orange County offices are closed.
•Saturday & Sunday, November 28th & 29th: The banks aren’t open so you can’t close.
•Monday, November 30th: The last day to close and qualify for the first-time buyer tax credit. It’s going to be a goat rodeo.
To give yourself the best chance of getting the tax credit, plan on closing by November 13th. If you run into any problems during closing, you’ll have more than a week to work things out and still qualify for the tax credit.

Get An Offer Accepted By October 4th
Right now, it’s taking our clients in Southern California an average of 40 days to close once they reach initial agreement on terms. This means if you want to close by November 13th, you need to get an offer accepted by October 4th. That’s 26 days away.

For more information, check out the Home Buyer Tax Credit FAQ from the IRS and get all the details about the tax credit from the agency giving the credit. Also, check out the report that this program may be extended.

Find A Home You Like
Don’t rush into a purchase. Make sure you’re buying because you’ve found a home you want to live in, not because you want the $8,000. You don’t want to end up in the wrong house in the wrong neighborhood with the wrong commute just for a few thousand dollars

“Not now” doesn’t mean “never”

Home ownership is just not a realistic option for everyone right now, despite what may look like once-in-lifetime mortgage rates. If you fall into this category, don’t despair. Your financial circumstances could change, the economy is still very much in flux, and remember that the current mortgage crisis involved a lot of home buyers getting in over their heads. When it comes to a major purchase like a home, timing is critical.

"I like this idea of waiting to time a home purchase to when you are ready...Of course sales agents will tell you practically anything to get you to buy but ultimately you make the decision...So dont feel like this opportunity to purchase a home will not be there when you are ready..that's simply not true."

I would say planning and preparing yourself are the first steps...and then maybe soon you call me..I'm here to help.

Low rates keeping homes affordable

Low rates keeping homes affordable

INLAND REGION: The market is still shaky, but mortgage applications and refinancings are on the rise.

Falling interest rates are fueling a rise in home mortgage applications and refinancings in the Inland region, though experts aren't yet ready to declare the beleaguered local housing market on the road to full recovery.

Virginia-based Freddie Mac, a government-backed corporation that provides mortgage capital to lenders, released a study Thursday showing 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaging 5.08 percent, down from 5.14 percent a week ago and 6.35 percent a year ago.

For full story, go to http://www.pe.com/business/local/stories/PE_Biz_S_mortgages04.38b40b4.html

Get ready...now is the time.

Yes, the Housing Market Has Rarely Looked Better
by James B. Stewart
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
provided by

Passing through the Fort Myers, Fla., airport a few weeks ago, I noticed people eagerly signing up for a free bus tour of foreclosed real estate — with all properties offering water views. During the ride to my hotel, the young driver volunteered that he’d just bought his first house, paying $65,000 for a foreclosed property in nearby Cape Coral that had last sold for over $250,000. He said he’d never expected to be able to buy anything on a driver’s salary, let alone something that nice.

Last week, Standard & Poor’s reported that its S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price index of real estate values increased this past quarter over the first quarter of 2009, the first quarter-on-quarter increase in three years. Its index of 20 major cities also rose for the three months ended June 30 over the three months ended May 31, with only hard-hit Detroit and Las Vegas experiencing declines. The week before that, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales volume of existing homes was up 7.2% in July from June.


In short, the data suggest that real-estate prices hit a bottom some time during the second quarter, and have now begun to rise. There’s no way to be certain that this marks the end of the long, painful correction that followed the real-estate bubble, but clearly prices are no longer in free fall. That means if you’ve been sitting on the fence, it’s time to act.

Ordinarily I’d never try to time the real-estate market, but I can understand why buyers have been cautious. Few want to buy in down markets, just as stock buyers avoid bear markets. And for most people, of course, buying a house is a much bigger decision than buying a stock. But with real estate prices nationally now down about 30% from their 2006 peak, and showing signs of turning up, the prices aren’t likely to go much lower. Every real-estate market is local, and so there may be a few exceptions. Overall, though, I can’t imagine a better time to buy than right now.

In addition to bargain prices, buyers should find plenty of homes to choose from. The inventory of unsold homes was 4.09 million units in July, up 7.3% from June, according to the National Association of Realtors. And mortgage rates this week were at a two-month low of close to 5%, according to Zillow. Even the stricter appraisal process is working to the advantage of buyers. Appraisals are coming in far lower than most sellers have been expecting, forcing them to face the new reality of sharply lower prices. And with stricter standards, lenders aren’t going to let buyers borrow more than they can afford, which protects buyers and helps to keep prices down.

Unless you’re really prepared to accept the demands (and headaches) of being a landlord, I don’t recommend direct ownership of real estate as an investment. The days of buyers lining up to buy and flip Miami Beach and Las Vegas condos are mercifully gone. There are much easier ways to make money in real estate, such as real-estate investment trusts or buying shares in home builders and other housing-related businesses (such as Home Depot (HD)). Historically, the mean rate of return on real estate has been around 3%, according to research from Yale economist Robert Shiller, who co-developed the Case-Shiller index. Shares in REITs and other stocks have often done much better.

But there’s a good reason home ownership has been such a central part of the American dream. It delivers security, pride of ownership, a sense of community and decent investment returns as a bonus. I felt glad for my driver in Florida. He represents the other side of the foreclosure crisis. For every hardship story, and no doubt there are many, others are realizing their dreams of home ownership and getting what may well turn out to be the deals of their lives.
Copyrighted, SmartMoney.com. All Rights Reserved.


Reposted

What's wrong with the F2F.....

Social networks and cell phones... you and I may find these technologies sacrosanct, but for kids getting weaned on this stuff, relationships in the real world may be suffering badly.

With the average teen sending or receiving over 2,000 text messages a month and spending nine hours a week on social networking sites, experts are worried that in-person, face-to-face social interaction is beginning to take a back seat to this twitchy, impersonal, and detached form of communication. The problem: When people rely exclusively on short bursts of written communication, those doing the texting miss out on the subtleties that come with a verbal and (especially) face-to-face discussion.

As the Wall Street Journal suggests, looking at a smiley face in an email isn't the same as seeing an actual smile on an actual face, and text-addicted teens are simply failing to learn the intricacies of bodily cues like eye movement and physical motion, not to mention all the nuance that comes with verbal conversation, cues which are learned only though a lifetime of practice in the read world. The result: Many fear we are raising a generation of kids who simply can't carry on a conversation -- or even look another person in the eye.

Of course, teens aren't the only ones susceptible to this problem. As the linked story above notes, even work environments -- where technology is a critical part of getting your job done -- are struggling with the effects of laptops and cell phone messaging during the work day. The most noteworthy effect is that most meetings with more than a couple of attendees have become all but useless, as workers spend the entire time checking their phones and tapping away on Facebook, virtually ignoring the person standing at the whiteboard across the room. Now being called "continuous partial attention," the problem is now being combated by simply banning all technology from meeting rooms, much to the likely anger of those who attend the meetings.

The scary thing is that no one knows how severe the problem really is. This phenomenon is relatively new on the sociological time scale, and even attempting to study how a reliance on written messaging leads to real-world detachment is fraught with difficulty. As the WSJ notes, by the time a study could be put together to analyze the situation, any technology investigated would have changed again, making the study outdated before it was ever published.

Maybe it's just a phase? God help us.

WHOA....

Can you imagine what this world would be without a face to face conversation, real touch, feelings.....well I think we better understand that in life we really need each other...not just to communicate our ideas but to translate our humanity...I know with fear being so primal..and people assume the worst before they think about what real reasons they feel a certain way..

like the health care debate..here are these large corps elisting soldiers to fight their fight. Health care is a buisness and these guys dont like competition.they are very effective in getting in your face because nobody thinks rationally when someone is being confortational. I want to shut down or throw a punch. oooooo...that sensationalism that would look good on the networks I own and wow I can make more money from the advertisers...one big circle of corporate greed and profit off us...

when will we ever get angry enough....I am.

but to make a point we need to communicate essentially face to face to commune with others of like and unlike minds...sure texting and email is communicating but talking face to face shares the human element to all communications, and maybe we can calm fear, maybe we can really listen to each other and maybe we can really communicate the truth.