February 2010

World’s Most Beautiful Cities

Choosing the world’s most beautiful cities is a subjective enterprise. To identify urban areas where the architecture and the locale are both stunning, Forbes magazine turned to world-renowned architects. Here are their top choices:
•    Paris
•    Vancouver, Canada
•    Sydney, Australia
•    Florence, Italy
•    Cape Town, South Africa
•    San Francisco
•    Chicago
•    New York City
•    London
•    Cambridge, England
•    Tokyo

Source: Forbes, Tim Kiladze (01/22/2010)

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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob

Shadow Inventory Unlikely to Hurt Market

Nearly 5 million houses and condos, of which the mortgages are delinquent, will go through foreclosure over the next few years, a new study by John Burns Real Estate Consulting Inc. concludes.

This represents more than half of the 7.7 million households now behind on their mortgage payments. The situation is worst in Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada. Burns calculates that there is an inventory equivalent to 27 months of sales in Orlando, 24 months in Miami, and 18 months in Las Vegas.

Consulting firm CEO John Burns says there is strong investor demand for these properties, so as long as employment continues to recover and interest rates remain moderate, these sales won’t have much impact on overall prices.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty (02/16/2010)

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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob

Luxury Homes in Foreclosure Go to Auction

An increasing number of homes with multi-million dollar price tags are going into foreclosure and that’s driving desperate owners to sell at auction.

In 2009, 18,817 properties worth at least $1 million faced foreclosure. That’s up 162 percent from 2008, reported foreclosure marketer RealtyTrac.

Prices of $1 million-plus properties are down about 25 percent since 2007 with an increasing number of desperate home owners choosing auction sales over waiting for years for the right buyer to come along.

“Any home owner selling in this economy is on the market because they have to be,” says John Brian Losh, CEO of LuxuryRealEstate.com, a Web site that specializes in high-end properties. “If they’re frustrated and they can’t figure out why they haven’t gotten any offers, they might think an auction will generate some interest.”

Source: Forbes, Francesca Levy (02/11/2010)

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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob

Foreclosure Prevention Has Aided 116,000

The federal foreclosure prevention program has helped about 12 percent of borrowers who applied for help since the plans were announced a year ago, the Treasury Department says.

About 1 million borrowers initiated the application process, and as of January, about 116,000 home owners–12 percent–had their loans modified. But administration officials say another 76,000 applications have been approved and are awaiting signatures.

Another 830,500 home owners are currently in a trial modification review period during which banks make sure payments are feasible for the borrower and ensure the qualifications of the assistance program are met.

For those who qualify, the Home Affordable Modification Program brings monthly loan payments down to 31 percent of home owners’ pre-tax income.

Nearly 60,500 people have been denied permanent modifications.

Source: CNNMoney, Tami Luhby (02/17/2010) and USA TODAY, Stephanie Armour (02/17/2010)

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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob

Top 5 Most Affordable U.S. Markets

How affordable or unaffordable is it to buy a home? Well, it depends heavily on the part of the country where the buyer chooses to live.

Earning the U.S. median income of $64,000 a year is enough to allow buyers to purchase 70.8 percent of all homes sold in the country during the last three months of 2009, according to a joint report from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo.

But some parts of the country are a lot more affordable than others. Here are five major housing markets that housing analysts judge to be the most affordable major markets in the country.
· Indianapolis
· Detroit
· Dayton, Ohio
· Youngstown, Ohio
· Akron, Ohio

Source: CNNMoney.com, Les Christie (02/17/2010)

———————————————————
Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob

‘Affordable’ Housing Less Attractive Now

Affordable housing projects all over the country have been a tough sell the last couple of years. Some of the reasons include hard-to-get mortgages and a dwindling difference in prices between affordable units and market-rate properties with no restrictions on resale.

The problem is particularly acute in Far Rockaway, N.Y., where New York City housing officials and developers are frustrated by slow sales of existing units, which prevents the remainder of the project from being built.

City-subsidized housing in Far Rockaway and in various other parts of the city selling for $250,000 to $350,000 is sitting on the market for as long as 18 months, even though prices have been cut as much as 30 percent.

City Housing commissioner Rafael E. Cestero said when the projects were planned, these units ”were deeply affordable” compared with what was then on the market. ”We had no idea what was going to happen,” he said.

Source: The New York Times, Cara Buckley (02/19/2010)

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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob

10 Home Features Buyers Want

Home designers and builders speaking at the recent International Builders Show in Las Vegas say that buyers are seeking cost-effective features and rejecting things that don’t have lasting value.

“It’s all about family togetherness – casual living, entertaining and flexible spaces,” says Carol Lavender, president of the Lavender Design Group in San Antonio.

Paul Cardis, CEO of Avid Ratings, which conducts an annual survey of buyer preferences, identified these must-haves in new homes:

1. Large kitchens with islands
2. Energy efficiency, including energy-efficient appliances, super insulation, and high-efficiency windows.
3. Home offices
4. Main-floor master suite
5. Outdoor living space
6. Ceiling fans
7. Soaking tub in the master suite and/or an oversize shower with a seating area
8. Stone and brick exteriors rather than stucco or vinyl
9. Community walking paths and playgrounds
10. Two-car garages, but three-car garages are even more desirable

Source: MarketWatch, Steve Kerch (01/30/2010)

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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob

Home Price Reductions Level Off

The share of homes on the market with price reductions declined to an average of 21 percent as of Feb. 1, according to Trulia.com, which has been tracking the information since April 2009.

This is a significant decrease compared to November 2009, when 26 percent of homes had at least one price reduction

The total dollar amount cut from home prices dropped to $22.6 billion as of Feb. 1, down from $28.1 billion in November, a 19 percent decrease.

The average discount for price-reduced homes is holding steady at 11 percent off the original listing price.

Here are the cities with the largest decrease in listings with price reductions between last November and this month, according to Trulia.
•    San Francisco, -46
•    Oakland, Calif., -43
•    Sacramento, -42
•    San Jose, -40
•    Indianapolis, -39
•    Seattle, -37
•    San Diego, -33
•    New York, -33

Source: Trulia.com (02/16/2010)

Important Homebuyer Tax Credit Q&As

Important Homebuyer Tax Credit Q&A as provided by http://homebuyertaxcredit.com

First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Eligibility
Q. What are the basic eligibility requirements for a first-time home buyer?
To qualify for the first-time home buyer tax credit, you cannot have owned a home as your principal residence in the three years prior to closing.

Q. How much is the first-time home buyer tax credit?
The first-time home buyer tax credit is 10% of your purchase price up to $8,000.

Q. I bought a home once before, but sold it years ago. Do I still qualify as a first-time home buyer?
For the first-time home buyer tax credit, you qualify as a first-time home buyer so long as you have not owned a primary residence in the past three years prior to closing on your new property. So if you owned a home in the past, but sold it more than three years ago, you would qualify as a first-time home buyer.

Q. Can I qualify as a first-time home buyer if I rent my primary residence, but own an investment property or vacation home?
Yes, you could still qualify as a first-time home buyer. Even if you own property, you are still eligible if you have not used that property as your primary residence within the prior three years.

“Step-Up” or Long-Time Homeowner Tax Credit Eligibility
Q. Can I get a credit if I currently own a home?
To qualify as a long-time homeowner, you must have owned a home that you lived in as your personal residence for five consecutive years out of the previous eight years prior to closing.

Q. Can I get the tax credit if I lived in one home for four years, sold it, and then immediately bought and lived in another home for the last two years?
You would not qualify. In order to be eligible for the long-time homeowner tax credit, you must live in the same home for five consecutive years out of the last eight.

Q. Can I get the long-time homeowner credit if I otherwise qualify, even if I don’t sell my previous home?
Yes, the law does not require that you sell the home that you lived in for five consecutive years out of the last eight years. You can keep title to it. However, you have to make the qualifying home your principal residence, so you can’t live in the prior home.

Q. Can I get the credit if I owned one home for ten years, and my current home for three?
No, to get the long-time homeowner home buyer tax credit, you must have lived in your current residence for at least five consecutive years out of the last eight.

Q. Can I sell my current home, and buy a less expensive home, and qualify for the “step-up” tax credit?
Yes. The term “step up” is misleading, because nothing in the law requires that you have to “step up” in value. You do not have to buy a more expensive home. We try to use the term “long-time homeowner tax credit” to make it clear how the credit works.

Income Qualifications
Q. How much can I make and still qualify for the tax credit?
The tax credit is only available at certain income levels: up to $125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for joint filers. The income limits are the same for both first-time home buyers and long-time homeowners. If you make within $20,000 of those limits, you can still qualify for a partial tax credit. But if you make over $145,000 for single filers or $245,000 for joint filers, you are not eligible.

Q. How do I figure out my “modified adjusted gross income” or “MAGI”?
You really should talk to your accountant about it, but generally speaking, your MAGI is what we all colloquially think of as our “income” – wages, salaries, interest income, dividends, and capital gains. Your MAGI also includes certain foreign income, but very few people have that. Note that your MAGI will be reduced by certain deductions such as alimony, but not the ‘below the line” itemized deductions that are on Schedule A of your tax return. Since your MAGI is very close to the “adjusted gross income,” or “AGI,” you can check your last tax return to see what you make: the AGI is the last number on Form 1040or 1040A.

Q. How is the partial credit figured?
The partial tax credit is available for taxpayers whose income is within $20,000 of the income limits: so up to $145,000 for single filers and $245,000 for joint filers. If your income is within that “phase out range,” you get a partial credit based on how much of your income is within that range. For example, if your MAGI is $130,000 as a single filer, that means you’re $5,000 into that $20,000 range. That’s 25% of the range, leaving 75% still in the range. So you would get 75% of the tax credit you’re entitled to: $6,000 if you’re a first-time home buyer (75% of $8,000) or $4,875 if you’re a long-time homeowner (75% of $6,500).

Deadline Issues
Q. When do I have to be in contract?
In order to claim either first-time home buyer tax credit, or the long-time homeowner tax credit, you have to be in contract by April 30, 2010. This is a hard deadline, with no extensions.

Q. When do I have to be in closed?
In order to claim either first-time home buyer tax credit, or the long-time homeowner tax credit, you have to be closed by June 30, 2010. This is a hard deadline, with no extensions.

Q. What if my closing is delayed because of problems with appraisals, attorney delays, etc.?
It doesn’t matter. The IRS has been very exacting with the deadlines. If you don’t close by midnight June 30, 2010, you will not be able to claim the tax credit.

Q. What if I was already in contract at the time the law was passed in November?
It doesn’t matter when you went into contract, so long as you are in contract by April 30, 2010. So long as you otherwise qualify, and close by June 30, 2010, you will get the tax credit. Obviously, a number of people who got into contract without realizing they were going to be eligible for the tax credit are going to get a windfall.

Q. What if I was not eligible for a tax credit on the law prior to November 2009, and closed before the new law? Can I get a tax credit?
No, the law only applies to closings after November 6, 2009, and before June 30, 2010. If you closed on November 6, 2009 or earlier, and did not qualify for the tax credit at the time of your closing, you cannot get the new tax credit.

Buying with Someone Else
Q. If I am buying with someone else, and we both qualify, do we get two tax credits?
No, the tax credit is allocated according to the purchase, not the number of purchasers. So if two people who both qualify purchase a house together, they would split the applicable tax credit.

Q. What if I qualify for the credit, but my spouse does not?
In order to claim either the first-time home buyer tax credit, or the step-up home buyer tax credit, both spouses must be eligible. So if you are eligible, but your spouse is not eligible for whatever reason, neither of you can claim the tax credit.

Q. What if my income is within the limitations, but my spouse’s income is above the limitations?
In that case, unfortunately, neither of you qualify for the tax credit. Both of you must qualify.

Q. What if I previously owned a home in the past three years, but my spouse never owned a home?
In that case, unfortunately, neither of you qualify for either tax credit. You are ineligible for the first-time home buyer tax credit because you owned a home in the past three years, and she is ineligible for the long-time homeowner tax credit because she never owned a home before.

Q. What if my wife and I just got married after living in separate homes, and both qualify for the long-time homeowner tax credit for our prior homes?
Unfortunately, you don’t qualify. In order for a married couple to qualify for the “step-up” home buyer tax credit, both spouses must qualify by owning the SAME principal residence. You each owned separate principal residences, so even though you both might qualify separately, you don’t qualify togethe

For answers to more of your tax credit questions, please visit this excellent website: http://homebuyertaxcredit.com/faq.aspx

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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob

Homebuyer Tax Credit Deadline Looming

The Homebuyer Tax Credit is set to expire this summer.  The tax credit is available to both First-Time Homebuyers and Step-Up Homebuyers. The provision to make the tax credit eligible for Step-Up Homebuyers was added when the law was extended.

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