Important Changes in Lending and Tax Credits-Home Buyers Take Note!
(NOTE: Today I welcome Otilia Sullivan of Princeton Capital, as a first time contributor to Wine Country and Horses. Otilia has provided sage mortgage advice to many of my clients and I trust her ability to find the right mortgage for my clients in a timely manner. She is extremely knowledgeable about the mortgage markets and what it takes to qualify for a home, or to refinance. Since there are so many changes on nearly a daily basis, please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have.) Welcome Otilia! Don't forget that the end of the federal home buyer tax credit is in sight. This credit provides $8,000 to first time home buyers. First time buyers are defined as those who have not owned a home in the previous 3 years, so the government's definition might be different than yours. The credit also provides $6,500 to current home owners. We have heard nothing about any extensions. Borrowers need to be in contract by April 30 and close by June 30. Click here to find the details of the federal tax credit, or ask your CPA if you qualify. Also the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) is increasing from 1.75% to 2.25% with case numbers issued after April 5. Many first time buyers in the North Bay are using FHA loans since the credit restrictions are not so steep, and the down payment can be as low as 3.5%. So if your loan is $200,000.00, your MIP would have been $3,500.00 last through April 5th. From today on it will change to $4,500.00. This is not an out of pocket cost. It is rolled into the loan payments, but nonetheless it is an expense of the loan. There is a lot of talk about how people can take advantage of the newly revised $10,000 California State Homebuyer Tax Credit. We will discuss the pros and cons in our next post! If you can't wait till then, here is a link to the California State Franchise Tax Board's latest memo on the revised credits....
If You Lived Here You'd Be Home by Now–Scenes from Barrel Tasting Weekend
Today's rain should clear up and bring sunny skies and warmer temperatures for the second weekend of this year's Barrel Tasting Event sponsored by WineRoad, a group of northern Sonoma County wineries from the Russian River, Dry Creek and Alexander Valley appellations. If you are like me, perhaps your first exposure to the Sonoma wine country and our gorgeous back roads came from visiting friends during tasting events such as this. After many repeat visits, you begin to think, after a long weekend of wine tasting, gee, if I lived here, I'd be home by now....
The Number of Pending Sonoma County Home Sales Reaches Two Year High
Escrows were opened in February for 557 homes in Sonoma County, Northern California, the highest rate of home buying activity in at least two years, bringing the available supply of homes for sale to a two year low. For a typically quiet, short winter month this may indicate the continued impact of the home buyer tax credits and low interest rates....
Wine Country and Ducks, Part III: Ducks and People find Happiness in Sonoma County
These mallard ducks return every Valentine's Day for spring break by my pool in the Russian River appellation of Sonoma County. They know what Sonoma County humans know, according to a recent Gallup poll, which ranked Sonoma County as the happiest place in California, and the fifth happiest place in the US....
INSTANT VACATION! Whale Watching at Bodega Head on the Sonoma Coast
Make a whale watching jaunt to the Sonoma Coast at Bodega Bay an instant Sonoma County wine country vacation. Links and tips and an inspirational video....
Sonoma County Home Sales Drop but Pending Sales Increase Sharply
Newly pending home sales increased sharply this January as rainy weather and football did not deter buyers from writing offers on Sonoma County homes. Dig in to real estate market trends for Sonoma County based on data from the Multiple Listings Service....
Want to Get to Know Sonoma County? There's an app for that!
The new iPhone app from the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau is a handy tool for getting to know Sonoma County's wine, food, events and more....
Auction Action at a Trustee's sale
Good blog buddy, Dave Blockhus, of Coldwell Banker in Los Altos, recently shot this video overview of a home sale on the courthouse steps in San Jose. It is about 4 minutes long and provides a example of auction action occurring all over the US, including Sonoma County. There were so many home auctions in Sonoma County during the past year that Sonoma county is asking auctioneers to move their business elsewhere as they are clogging up the hallways of the county buildings. Cash investors with certified funds are the only ones welcome at these sales and they are out in force. Fully 18% of homes sold under $500,000 in Sonoma County were cash sales. I am guessing most of those went to investors. Many of the new listings since Christmas have been bought at auction (and some off the multiple listings) and are being remodelled and flipped by investors. I am seeing homes purchased for $250,000 to $350,000 (cash and as is) for example, which are brought back on the market in 60 to 90 days. In a typical scenario one of these homes closed in November or December. A construction crew moves in to put in new flooring, baths and kitchens, paint inside and out, lay some sod and voila-the house is back on the market in 60-90 days, staged and price from $400,000 and up. Some investors are doing a really nice job with quality work, employing crews that might otherwise be working on new home construction. Others are doing the bare minimum beyond minimal cosmetics. There are restrictions on the sales of these homes to FHA buyers, who comprise the bulk of the first time buyer market here in the county. These restrictions were just loosened January 15, 2010, effective February 1, so that a 90 day sale moratorium has been suspended for a year. Previously, an FHA buyer was not eligible to purchase a distressed property less than 90 days after it was previously sold. More restrictive appraisal and valuation methods will continue to apply for FHA buyers interested in these homes. If the home is priced more than 20% over the previous sales price, the FHA lender will require either a secondary appraisal or an itemized list of improvements to justify the new higher price. One property I saw recently in Sebastopol on a half acre was purchased at auction for $350,000....
View from a Sebastopol BBQ
The skies parted in time to offer this stunning view over Blucher Valley from a new listing on 2 acres up Camp Road. Great spot-great potential for only $729,000! Posted via email from pambuda's posterous ...
Farewell to 2009, Welcome to 2010 and a New Decade
With 2009 moving into the rear view mirror, there has been much speculation among agents, clients and the press about 2010 and what portends in the housing market. Inman News recently published a sobering assessment of the events that will impact real estate markets in 2010, from increasing mortgage rates, tightening FHA credit standards, high unemployment and the expiration April 30th of the buyer tax credits. Real estate agents and brokers typically look forward to spring as the season where homebuyers come out in force and sales pick up. In 2010, the uncertainty created by the financial crisis makes it harder to bank on a seasonal uptick in sales -- particularly in markets hit hard by unemployment. Further complicating matters down the road are three potentially destabilizing events that are expected to occur in a tight timeframe during the spring buying season: * At the end of March, the Federal Reserve is expected to wind up a $1.25 trillion program that's kept mortgage rates low. * The Federal Housing Administration's announcement that it plans to tighten underwriting standards could take effect as soon as April. * Congress is expected to allow the newly expanded homebuyer tax credit to expire, closing the door on buyers not under contract by April 30 and closing by June 30. Economists must rely on a certain amount of guesswork in predicting what impact these changes will have when drawing up their forecasts for 2010. Many expect unemployment won't peak until next year, and it's almost certain mortgage rates can only go up from record lows. But housing was hammered so badly, and for so long, that most forecasters expect housing prices to stabilize and sales to pick up in 2010, even if economic growth doesn't spring back as fiercely as it usually does in a recovery. "We are definitely in a recovery now, but this has been such a severe recession -- we think the financial crisis and the credit retrenchment that's occurred means this is going to be a fairly anemic recovery," said Michael Fratantoni, the Mortgage Bankers Association's vice president of research. America has moved from a manufacturing to service-based economy, meaning "there's not as much potential for a snapback" from a recession like the Reagan-era boom of the 1980s, Fratantoni said. These events certainly will impact markets nationwide, but each area will respond differently. Many of us...