Here is a good place to go to get your questions answered on the $8000 tax credit that is part of the 2009 Federal Bail Out...
http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/faq.php
Courtesy of the National Association of Home Builders there are 21 questions and answers here to answer YOUR questions regarding this new housing stimulus.
Rates are still very close to their lowest levels in 50 years and with prices down it is a great time to buy a home or an income property.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Realtor Day at the Legislature
I know I haven't posted for a long time, but I am trying to do better. On Friday the 13th about 1000 of us Realtors met with most of the Utah Legislature at the Salt Palace for a few hours. We used to go up on Capital Hill, but there are far too many of us to do that so the legislators come to us at the Salt Palace.
Most of the discussions centered around the economy and the bailout plans and the outlook for the real estate market was pretty bleak. They do feel like the market in Utah will turn slightly in the Spring and a little more in the second 1/2 of the year but no one expects or is predicting anything very positive.
My Salt Lake real estate company closed so I am back with Century 21 Bushnell which is where I was before I went with GMAC in Salt Lake. Most of the people here are the same and it feels good to be back. The GMAC thing was good while it lasted but they just didn't have the resources to hang on with the market down like it is.
Most of the discussions centered around the economy and the bailout plans and the outlook for the real estate market was pretty bleak. They do feel like the market in Utah will turn slightly in the Spring and a little more in the second 1/2 of the year but no one expects or is predicting anything very positive.
My Salt Lake real estate company closed so I am back with Century 21 Bushnell which is where I was before I went with GMAC in Salt Lake. Most of the people here are the same and it feels good to be back. The GMAC thing was good while it lasted but they just didn't have the resources to hang on with the market down like it is.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Illegal aliens and our country's financial mess
I got this email today with the following information and it was just too good to pass up. I looked at most of the links and they are very enlightening.
Subject: What is REALLY bankrupting this nation?
You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much?
Read this:
Boy, am I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to be RIDICULOUS. I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts.
1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments. Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77
2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. Verify at: http ://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! Verify at: http://transcripts..cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers. Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html
9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html
13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm
14. 'The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States.' Verify at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml
The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.
More simply put, in just over 2 years without the illegal alien stanglehold on our economy, the current Wall Street crisis and the proposed $700 billion bailout would be paid for, without a cent of tax of US citizens!
Are we THAT stupid?
Subject: What is REALLY bankrupting this nation?
You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much?
Read this:
Boy, am I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to be RIDICULOUS. I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts.
1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments. Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77
2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. Verify at: http ://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! Verify at: http://transcripts..cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers. Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html
9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html
11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.com/t9sht
12. The National Policy Institute, 'estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.' Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm
14. 'The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States.' Verify at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml
The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.
More simply put, in just over 2 years without the illegal alien stanglehold on our economy, the current Wall Street crisis and the proposed $700 billion bailout would be paid for, without a cent of tax of US citizens!
Are we THAT stupid?
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Traffic Metering Lights
Today is a soapbox day - I get on the freeway at 1600 North in Orem pretty much every morning and we have a new metering light to deal with. You just have to love the logic of UDOT. They changed what has been 1 lane for years and years into 2 lanes so they could put up 2 lights so you merge back into 1 lane to get on the freeway!! Plus it is an uphill on ramp so what the lights really do is make you stop so you can't even get a decent run and get up to speed to merge into the freeway traffic. I suppose they have all kinds of data and research about how great the metering system works but for those of us in the trenches every day, it just doesn't make any sense. This is actually only one of a long list of things I would love to discuss with UDOT but I think I will give up for now. Hooray for UDOT!!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Some thoughts on the current financial crisis
It looks to me like there was no shortage of warning signs and they have been right in front of us for several years. As far back as 2001 a number of prominent people have been talking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and things that needed to be done. If you want to see some great evidence of this just got to www.youtube.com and type in Fannie Mae. The on camera evidence is compelling to say the least.
I have been saying for a long time that the mortgage companies were digging themselves into a giant hole with 100% financing - no down and no doc loans - and other similar programs. I admit that some people have benefited from these programs but for the most part they have simply enabled those who shouldn't buy a home to be able to do so and now we are seeing the results. My last 3 closings have been short sales/foreclosures and I'm pretty sure that I will have a lot more of them before we get back to a more "normal" market.
I don't know what the future holds for financing and the housing market so if you have a good crystal ball, let me know. I do know that along the Wasatch Front, homes are being bought and sold every day and life goes on, so a lot of people aren't just hanging on waiting to see what happens.
I have been saying for a long time that the mortgage companies were digging themselves into a giant hole with 100% financing - no down and no doc loans - and other similar programs. I admit that some people have benefited from these programs but for the most part they have simply enabled those who shouldn't buy a home to be able to do so and now we are seeing the results. My last 3 closings have been short sales/foreclosures and I'm pretty sure that I will have a lot more of them before we get back to a more "normal" market.
I don't know what the future holds for financing and the housing market so if you have a good crystal ball, let me know. I do know that along the Wasatch Front, homes are being bought and sold every day and life goes on, so a lot of people aren't just hanging on waiting to see what happens.
Friday, September 26, 2008
National Public Lands Day
This Saturday (actually tomorrow) September 27th is National Public Lands Day. Many clubs, groups and organizations will be involved in projects all over Utah and the rest of the country to help the Forest Service and other government entities with clean up, fence building and other needed maintenance activities.
I belong to the Lone Peak 4 Wheelers, a 4 wheel drive club and we will be working with the Utah 4 Wheel Drive Club (U4WDA) and other off road clubs working with the Forest Service up American Fork Canyon on a variety of projects. We will be meeting at Tibble Fork Reservoir at 8:30 AM and get to work about 9:00 AM.
I belong to the Lone Peak 4 Wheelers, a 4 wheel drive club and we will be working with the Utah 4 Wheel Drive Club (U4WDA) and other off road clubs working with the Forest Service up American Fork Canyon on a variety of projects. We will be meeting at Tibble Fork Reservoir at 8:30 AM and get to work about 9:00 AM.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
In The News/Real Estate
President Bush signed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 today, a bill that will assist an estimated 400,000 homeowners facing foreclosure by allowing them to refinance their current mortgages with a Federal Housing Administration-backed loan. The bill also permanently increases the conforming loan limit to as high as $625,500.
“One of the biggest reasons we’ve seen a slowdown in home sales is because buyers are having difficulty obtaining mortgage funds. That’s why this bill is significant: It increases the access to affordable, stable mortgages,” said Chris Sloan, president-elect of the Utah Association of REALTORS®.
The new loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the greater of either $417,000 or 115 percent of an area’s median home price, up to $625,500. The new FHA loan limit will be the greater of $271,050 or 115 percent of an area’s median home price, up to $625,500. Both new loan limits will be effective at the expiration of the economic stimulus limits on December 31, 2008.
Another part of the bill includes a temporary tax credit for first-time home buyers of up to $7,500 for those who purchase between April 9, 2008, and July 1, 2009. This credit is available to anyone buying their first house or anyone who has not owned in three years. Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full credit. A home is eligible for the credit if it is any residence that will be used as a primary residence (single-family, townhouse, condo, etc.)
For more detailed information about the bill and the tax credit, visit http://www.realtor.org/ or click here. Another Web site, http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/, also provides information about the tax credit.
More News
Breaking Real Estate News..May Home Sales Data…
Posted: 29 Jul 2008 12:36 PM CDT
Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell at a faster pace in May, and consumer confidence stayed this month near the lowest level since 1992, posing a threat to household spending.
The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 15.8 percent from a year earlier, the biggest decline since records began in 2001, after falling 15.2 percent in April. The Conference Board’s confidence index rose to 51.9, from 51 in June.
Home prices have fallen every month since January last year, eroding household wealth at a time when consumers are trying to cope with record fuel costs and the credit crunch.
Sales Headwinds
Stricter loan rules, rising mortgage rates and an increase in foreclosures are making it more difficult for prospective buyers to get financing, hurting home sales. The prolonged real- estate slump, along with higher fuel prices and a shrinking job market, is weighing on consumers and the economy.
Home prices decreased 0.9 percent in May from the prior month after declining 1 percent in April, the report showed. The figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal effects so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year changes instead of month to month.
The index was forecast to fall 16 percent from a year earlier, after a previously reported 15.3 percent drop in the 12 months ended in April, according to the median forecast of 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Estimates ranged from declines of 14.8 percent to 17 percent.
Year-End Forecast
“We’re going to see continued declines in house prices, much more so in problem areas,” said Mickey Levy, chief economist at Bank of America Corp. in an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York. “By year-end, the inventories will be low enough, particularly in new homes, that we’ll begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Regional patterns stand out,” David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, said in a statement. The areas that once boomed, such as Miami and Las Vegas, are now showing the biggest declines, he said. Areas in the Midwest, including Detroit and Cleveland, are showing signs of economic stress, according to Blitzer.
Price Measures
The pickup in the pace of house-price decreases from last year contrasts with other private and government measures that indicated values were declining at a slower pace.
The median price of existing houses fell 6.1 percent in June from the same month last year, compared with an 8.5 percent decrease registered in the 12 months ended in April, according a report from the National Association of Realtors last week.
Prices of new homes, as reported by the Commerce Department, dropped 2 percent last month from June 2007. In the year ended in March, the decrease was 13 percent, the biggest in almost four decades.
Residential construction companies are struggling to stay profitable. Pulte Homes Inc., the third-largest U.S. homebuilder, reported a second-quarter loss of $158.4 million last week.
“We see no immediate signs of this housing downturn relenting,” Pulte Chief Executive Officer Richard Dugas said in a conference call with analysts.
“One of the biggest reasons we’ve seen a slowdown in home sales is because buyers are having difficulty obtaining mortgage funds. That’s why this bill is significant: It increases the access to affordable, stable mortgages,” said Chris Sloan, president-elect of the Utah Association of REALTORS®.
The new loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the greater of either $417,000 or 115 percent of an area’s median home price, up to $625,500. The new FHA loan limit will be the greater of $271,050 or 115 percent of an area’s median home price, up to $625,500. Both new loan limits will be effective at the expiration of the economic stimulus limits on December 31, 2008.
Another part of the bill includes a temporary tax credit for first-time home buyers of up to $7,500 for those who purchase between April 9, 2008, and July 1, 2009. This credit is available to anyone buying their first house or anyone who has not owned in three years. Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full credit. A home is eligible for the credit if it is any residence that will be used as a primary residence (single-family, townhouse, condo, etc.)
For more detailed information about the bill and the tax credit, visit http://www.realtor.org/ or click here. Another Web site, http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/, also provides information about the tax credit.
More News
Breaking Real Estate News..May Home Sales Data…
Posted: 29 Jul 2008 12:36 PM CDT
Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell at a faster pace in May, and consumer confidence stayed this month near the lowest level since 1992, posing a threat to household spending.
The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 15.8 percent from a year earlier, the biggest decline since records began in 2001, after falling 15.2 percent in April. The Conference Board’s confidence index rose to 51.9, from 51 in June.
Home prices have fallen every month since January last year, eroding household wealth at a time when consumers are trying to cope with record fuel costs and the credit crunch.
Sales Headwinds
Stricter loan rules, rising mortgage rates and an increase in foreclosures are making it more difficult for prospective buyers to get financing, hurting home sales. The prolonged real- estate slump, along with higher fuel prices and a shrinking job market, is weighing on consumers and the economy.
Home prices decreased 0.9 percent in May from the prior month after declining 1 percent in April, the report showed. The figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal effects so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year changes instead of month to month.
The index was forecast to fall 16 percent from a year earlier, after a previously reported 15.3 percent drop in the 12 months ended in April, according to the median forecast of 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Estimates ranged from declines of 14.8 percent to 17 percent.
Year-End Forecast
“We’re going to see continued declines in house prices, much more so in problem areas,” said Mickey Levy, chief economist at Bank of America Corp. in an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York. “By year-end, the inventories will be low enough, particularly in new homes, that we’ll begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Regional patterns stand out,” David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, said in a statement. The areas that once boomed, such as Miami and Las Vegas, are now showing the biggest declines, he said. Areas in the Midwest, including Detroit and Cleveland, are showing signs of economic stress, according to Blitzer.
Price Measures
The pickup in the pace of house-price decreases from last year contrasts with other private and government measures that indicated values were declining at a slower pace.
The median price of existing houses fell 6.1 percent in June from the same month last year, compared with an 8.5 percent decrease registered in the 12 months ended in April, according a report from the National Association of Realtors last week.
Prices of new homes, as reported by the Commerce Department, dropped 2 percent last month from June 2007. In the year ended in March, the decrease was 13 percent, the biggest in almost four decades.
Residential construction companies are struggling to stay profitable. Pulte Homes Inc., the third-largest U.S. homebuilder, reported a second-quarter loss of $158.4 million last week.
“We see no immediate signs of this housing downturn relenting,” Pulte Chief Executive Officer Richard Dugas said in a conference call with analysts.
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