What you need know about Real Estate in 2010.

1. 40% of all transactions take place in the first 90 days of the year.
50 years of research from the National Association of Realtors has proven that.

If you are a seller don’t wait to put your house on the market, take advantage of the high amount of sales activity that takes place all before the end of March!

2. NAR (National Association of Realtors) forecasts that first-time buyers will again be a dominant force in 2010 at 45% of the market. A 2009 NAR study revealed that 53% of first time buyers were referred to an agent to purchase their home.

3. Home sales prices are expected to increase in 2010
Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist of NAR, expects a 20% boost in existing home sales in the first half of 2010 compared to the same time last year. This will further reduce inventory and set the stage for price increases in many parts of the country.
One factor underlying the home sales forecast is that mortgage rates will continue to remain at near historic lows-under 6%.

4. Studies show that 84% of all homes are sold by professionals who were referred to buyers and sellers.


When your friends mention they are going to be buying or selling a home (or both) please think of me and refer them. I would love to be of service and provide a wonderful buying and selling experience.

Thank you!

Renée

Tax Credit Bill Summary

How the homebuyer tax credit would work:
· Tax credit: Ten percent of the purchase price of a primary residence, up to a maximum of $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and $6,500 for repeat buyers who purchase between December 1, 2009 and May 1, 2010. First-time homebuyers are defined as people who have not owned a home in the previous three years. Repeat buyers must have owned their current home at least five years. The credit cannot be used for houses costing more than $800,000.
· Deadline for qualifying: Purchase agreements must be signed by April 30, 2010, and closings must be final by June 30.
· Military deadline: The deadline is extended by a year for members of the military who have served outside the U.S. for at least 90 days from Jan. 1, 2009, to May 1, 2010.
· Income limits: Individuals with annual incomes up to $125,000 and joint filers with incomes up to $225,000 qualify for the full credit. Individuals with incomes up to $145,000 and joint filers with incomes up to $245,000 qualify for reduced credits.
· How to apply: Taxpayers can claim the credit on their federal income tax returns. If the credit exceeds their tax bill, the government will issue a payment. Taxpayers who want immediate refunds can amend their tax returns for 2008 to claim the credit.
· New anti-fraud limitations imposed.
· Cost: $10.8 billion.
Source: Bloomberg Press and Associated Press and confirmed information with the content of the Senate bill.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Update!

Tax Credit for Homebuyers
First-Time Homebuyers (FTHBs): First-time homebuyers (that is, people who have not owned a home within the last three years) may be eligible for the tax credit. The credit for FTHBs is 10% of the purchase price of the home, with a maximum available credit of $8,000.
Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount.
Current Owners: The tax credit program now gives those who already own a residence some additional reasons to move to a new home. This incentive comes in the form of a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified purchasers who have owned and occupied a primary residence for a period of five consecutive years during the last eight years.
Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount.
What are the New Deadlines?
In order to qualify for the credit, all contracts need to be in effect no later than April 30, 2010 and close no later than June 30, 2010.
Tax Credit Versus Tax Deduction
It’s important to remember that the tax credit is just that… a tax credit. The benefit of a tax credit is that it’s a dollar-for-dollar tax reduction, rather than a reduction in a tax liability that would only save you $1,000 to $1,500 when all was said and done. So, if a first-time homebuyer were to owe $8,000 in income taxes and would qualify for a tax credit of $8,000, she would owe nothing.
Better still, the tax credit is refundable, which means the homebuyer can receive a check for the credit if he or she has little income tax liability. For example, if a first-time homebuyer is eligible for a tax credit of $8,000 but is liable for $4,000 in income tax, she can still receive a check for the remaining $4,000!
Higher Income Caps
The amount of income someone can earn and qualify for the full amount of the credit has been increased.
Single tax filers who earn up to $125,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, single filers who earn $145,000 and above are ineligible
Joint filers who earn up to $225,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, joint filers who earn $245,000 and above are ineligible.
Maximum Purchase Price
Qualifying buyers may purchase a property with a maximum sale price of $800,000.
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Remember, the new tax credit program includes a number of details and qualifications. For more information or answers to specific questions, please call or email me today.

Renee

Shred It

Do you have a stack of papers that you don’t want to just throw away for security reasons? Or old files that you no longer need but you don’t know what to do with?

Thursday, October 29th from 9am to 1pm

Everyone is invited to bring all your old files, checks and other personal or business paperwork and clean out those cluttered file cabinets. The destruction equipment does not require the removal of paper-clips or staples and your documents are shredded in your presence. There is NO limit to the amount of files or boxes you can bring and this is FREE.

If you bring a non-perishable food item, or money, to donate to the Community Food Bank you will be entered into a raffle to win a new personal shredder.

The shredding party will be located in the back parking lot of the Southern Arizona Community Bank at 6400 N Oracle Rd Tucson, AZ 85704

Tucson Ranks Top Place for Simple Living by AARP

USA Today printed an article that was titled:
Tucson is the top go-to place for simpler living, says AARP

Demographers used statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources to evaluate towns and cities on a variety of criteria. They looked at places with a low cost of living and that offered a wide range of activities. They looked for affordability, low rates of unemployment and the ability to walk and bike to work along with other “outdoor amenities” such as farmers markets and hiking. They also looked at low rates of suicide, crime, divorce, depression and other factors that play into how stressed people feel living there. Once they came up with 25 the editors at the magazine picked the top cities in different areas of the country to make sure that every region was represented. Tucson made the top!

1. Tucson, AZ
2. Greenville, S.C.
3. Montpelier, Vt
4. Logan, Utah
5. Ames, Iowa
6. Northampton, Mass.
7. Lexington/Fayette, Ky.
8. Texas Hill Country
9. Oxford, Miss.
10.Walla Walla, Wash.

For more information on all that Tucson has to offer and the quality of life here, please give me a call. I was born and raised here in Tucson and would be happy to share with you all the splendor this town has to offer.
If you want to live simply and enjoy each day, Tucson is the place to be.

Renée

NAR Information on Revised TILA Disclosure Requirements Take Effect on July 30, 2009

There are many rapid changes occurring in the real estate mortgage and lending industry it is critical to use a lender who is current on these daily changes. Most recently the federal government is passing a new law in the Truth in Lending Act. Below are a few of the highlights provided by the National Association of Realtors. If you would like more information or the name of a great lender please give me a call.

Now is a fantastic time to be a buyer so if you know someone looking to make a home purchase I would love to help them.



Lenders will be subject to new disclosure requirements for mortgage loans under the Federal Reserve Board Truth in Lending Regulation (Reg Z). The new requirements apply to loan applications filed on or after July 30, 2009. The new rules are complex and compliance will be a challenge for lenders. REALTORS® will want to advise clients of potential delays and the new procedures. Here are key highlights of the changes:

-- The new requirements apply to all mortgages secured by a borrower’s home, including primary and second homes and refinancings. Investor loans continue to be exempt.
--Lenders must give good faith estimates of mortgage loan costs within 3 business days after the consumer applies for a loan (early disclosure). The lender may not collect any fees before the disclosure is provided, except for a reasonable fee for obtaining a credit report.
--The closing may not take place until expiration of a 7 day waiting period after the consumer receives the early disclosure.
--If the annual percentage rate (APR) increases by more than 0.125 percent, the lender must provide a corrected disclosure to the borrower and wait an additional 3 business days before closing the loan. The APR includes not only the interest rate on the loan but certain other costs related to settlement, so it will be important for any fees that affect the APR to be as accurate as possible, as early as possible, to minimize the need for a corrected TILA disclosure.
--The consumer may modify or waive both waiting periods for a documented personal financial emergency, but must receive the disclosures no later than the time of the modification or waiver.

Happy 233rd Birthday America!

Today is Independence Day where we celebrate our freedom and the birth of the United States of America by the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I want to thank all our troops on the front lines and all our veterans who have served and sacrificed for our freedom.


Fun facts:
2.5 millionIn July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.Source: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970
304 millionThe nation’s population on this July Fourth.Source: Population clock
$17.3 millionThe value of U.S. manufacturers’ shipments of fireworks in 2002.Source: 2002 Economic Census
$207 millionThe value of fireworks imported from China in 2007, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($217 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $14.9 million in 2007, with Japan purchasing more than any other country ($3.8 million).Source: Foreign Trade Statistics

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

~Elmer Davis



I have included the complete Declaration of Indepence as a reminder of the meaning behind today.

Declaration of Independence singed in Congress, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,


When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1Georgia:Button GwinnettLyman HallGeorge Walton
Column 2North Carolina:William HooperJoseph HewesJohn PennSouth Carolina:Edward RutledgeThomas Heyward, Jr.Thomas Lynch, Jr.Arthur Middleton
Column 3Massachusetts:John HancockMaryland:Samuel ChaseWilliam PacaThomas StoneCharles Carroll of CarrolltonVirginia:George WytheRichard Henry LeeThomas JeffersonBenjamin HarrisonThomas Nelson, Jr.Francis Lightfoot LeeCarter Braxton
Column 4Pennsylvania:Robert MorrisBenjamin RushBenjamin FranklinJohn MortonGeorge ClymerJames SmithGeorge TaylorJames WilsonGeorge RossDelaware:Caesar RodneyGeorge ReadThomas McKean
Column 5New York:William FloydPhilip LivingstonFrancis LewisLewis MorrisNew Jersey:Richard StocktonJohn WitherspoonFrancis HopkinsonJohn HartAbraham Clark
Column 6New Hampshire:Josiah BartlettWilliam WhippleMassachusetts:Samuel AdamsJohn AdamsRobert Treat PaineElbridge GerryRhode Island:Stephen HopkinsWilliam ElleryConnecticut:Roger ShermanSamuel HuntingtonWilliam WilliamsOliver WolcottNew Hampshire:Matthew Thornton

Understanding Your Credit Score

There are many questions and uncertainties about the lending situation in America right now. Understanding your credit score is more important now than ever. This months Item of Value I mailed out addressed this but I wanted to take it a little deeper.

How to Understand & Improve your Credit Score

Know the Rules: Too many credit applications can lower your score. Multiple inquires signal that you are having trouble successfully securing a loan and may be a credit risk or undesirable borrower. However, multiple inquires to the same type of lender, such as a mortgage company, are counted as a single inquiry if submitted over a short period of time.

Reduce Your Debt: Creditors look for an optimal total debt load of around 36% of your household income. You don’t want your mortgage, car loan and revolving credit card payments to total more than 36% of your monthly income.

Pay on Time: The easiest way to raise your credit score is to make all your payments on time every month. Over the span of several months, you will likely see your credit score improve. Any payments you can make automatic will prevent you from ever missing.

Timing is Everything: Wait 12 months following a credit problem before applying for a mortgage or auto loan. You will be penalized less for problems that are more than a year old.

Get Your Finances in Order: Avoid credit card purchases prior to applying for a major loan and stay away from independent finance companies with high interest rates, which reflect poor credit management. Transferring debt from one card to another is another way to lower your credit score. Paying off your credit card each month is ideal.

Plan Ahead: Don’t open new credit card accounts right before applying for a home or auto loan. Having too much available credit can lower your score. Also the longer you have been at your current job the better this reflects on our qualifications. If you plan on applying for a loan and will be switching jobs soon, apply before you start your new job.

The Five Parts of Your Credit Score
Your payment history (approx. 35%)
How much you owe (approx. 30%)
Length of credit history (approx. 15%)
New credit (approx. 10%)
Other factors (approx. 10%)

For more information, as always, just give me a call!

Renée

Spring Fun Day and 5K

Well it’s that time of year again. I am preparing for my 3rd Annual Family Fun Day and 5K. Last year was a blast with the addition of the jumping castle and games for the kids. We also raised money for New Beginnings for Women and Children. This year you can expect the same great food, games, jumping castle and some new surprises too! We will once again be raffling off prizes donated by wonderful local businesses and donating all of the money earned to New Beginnings for Women and Children. Don’t forget the morning starts with an optional 5K run/walk. If you are not into the 5K join us after for food and festivities.
Event location:
Bandi Fenton Memorial Park (River & Dodge)
Date:
Saturday May 23rd

If you would like a training schedule to get ready for the 5K please call or email me I would be happy to provide you with one.
See you soon!

Renée

The Tucson Trade Show

Saturday April 11th, 2009 from 1-4pm at the Windmill Inn and Suites

I want to personally invite you to attend the first ever Tucson Trade Show!
Admission is free and you will meet the best businesses Tucson has to offer.
Enjoy and afternoon of fun and education that won’t break the bank.
There will be light refreshments provided and live give-a-ways.
Come and enjoy trade show exclusive discounts, interactive demonstrations every 15 minutes and a chance to meet one on one with local businesses that are important to you and they way you live.
Feel free to bring a friend, or several.

Saturday April 11th
1:00-4:00pm
Windmill Inn and Suites St. Phillips Plaza the SE corner of River and Campbell

I look forward to seeing you there!

Renée

$8,000 Refundable Tax Credit for Homebuyers

There is a new refundable federal tax credit allowed for the purchase of a principal residence. The tax credit is the lesser of $8,000 or 10% of the homes purchase price. This credit provides a dollar-for-dollar reduction in federal income tax or alternative minimum tax and is also refundable. This means that if the credit is more than your tax liability, the excess is refunded to you. The credit is authorized by the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 and further amended by the 2009 Recovery Act. It applies to houses purchase after April 8, 2008 and before December 1, 2009.

To qualify for the full $8,000 credit:

+ You (and your spouse if married) must have not owned a principal residence during the 3 years period before the purchase of the home,

+ The purchase price of your home must be $80,000 or more, and

+Your adjusted gross income must be $75,000 or less ($150,000 for joint filers).

A partial credit is available for taxpayers with income greater than $75,000 and less than $95,000 ($150,000 and $170,000 for joint filers).

If the homebuyer purchases the residence in 2009, the homebuyer can elect to treat the purchase as made on December 31, 2008. By making this election, the tax payer will be able to claim the credit on their 2008 tax return.

For purchases made before January 1, 2009, the credit must be repaid over 15 years with no interest charge beginning in the year 2010. (See previous blog). If the home is sold before the 15-year period ends or it ceases to be your principle residence, the remaining credit must be recaptured in the year of sale.

For purchases made after December 31st, 2008, the credit is not subject to the payback provisions, unless you sell the home or it ceases to be your principal residence during the 36 months beginning with the date of purchase.

Consult with your tax advisor on how this credit may apply in your tax situation.

2009 in the time to buy!
Renée

Tax Credit for Homebuyers

I have had several people ask me about the new “tax credit” for home buyers so I went to the experts at BeachFleischman and ask Jennifer Nordstrom for the details.

“There is a new refundable federal tax credit allowed for the purchase of a principal residence. The credit is the lesser of $7,500 or 10% of the home’s purchase price. This credit provides a dollar-for-dollar reduction in federal income tax or alternative minimum tax. The credit is authorized by the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008, and applies to houses purchased before July 1, 2009.

To qualify for the full $7,500 credit:
- You must have not owned a principle residence in the last 3 years
- The purchase price of your home must be $75,000 or more
- Your adjusted gross income must be $75,000 or less ($150,000 for joint filers)

A partial credit is available for taxpayers with income greater than $75,000 and less than $95,000 ($150,000 and $170,000 for joint filers).

If the homebuyer purchases the residence between January 1 and June 30, 2009, the homebuyer can elect to treat the purchase as made on December 31, 2008. By making this election, the taxpayer will be able to claim the credit on their 2008 tax return.

The credit must be REPAID over 15 years with no interest charge beginning in the year 2010. However, if the home is sold before the 15-year period ends, the remaining credit must be recaptured in the year of the sale.”

For more information please consult with your tax advisor or call Jennifer Nordstrom at BeachFleischman (520) 618-1239.

Your Real Estate Expert,
Renée

Featured Business to Know

Whether it is personal or business technology is such a big part of our daily lives we hardly even realize how deep it runs until we have a problem. Last week my computer “crashed” and I was completely LOST! My whole life is on my computer as I am sure many of you can relate. However, when this tragic event occurred I knew just who to call to get my computer going again. Tom Stutsman, owner of Quik Techs Computer Services, came over right away and diagnosed the problem in less than 5 minutes. He even had the part I needed (a new RAM card) in his car! He had my computer restored to better than before and my life running smoothly once again. I cannot speak highly enough of Tom, his company and the level of service and expertise they provide. If you have any computer questions or issues he is the only name you need to know. You can reach them at (520) 971-2269 or you can always look on my Business Directory for more great local business.

Renée