Arn Cenedella

Archive for the 'Helpful Sites' Category

The buyer sale of house contingency is back!

During the past few years, the market has been so hot - so many buyers were “throwing” money at sellers and sellers were getting 6 and 7 offers – no buyer with a house to sell had a chance to get his offer accepted.

Times have changed. Buyers now have a change to get an offer accepted CONTINGENT upon the sale of their home.

Kris Berg of San Diego Home Blog provides a nice explanation of this contingency and process.

First-time home buyer tax credit form

If you are a first-time home buyer (defined as someone who has not owned a home in three years), here is the tax form you need to file along with instructions as to how to do so.

It is fairly straight forward.

Who pays closing costs? – varies by county and sometimes by City

Which party (buyer or seller) in a transaction pays which closing cost  is not regulated by law.

Sellers typically pay county transfer taxes. City transfer taxes are typically split 50/50 between buyer and seller.

What about title and escrow fees?

However each county has their own custom.

In San Mateo County buyer pays for owner title policy. In Santa Clara County seller pays.

Buyer generally pays for lender title policy (ALTA).

So if you sell in San Mateo County and move to Santa Clara County, you typically will pay no title and escrow fees.

Please note

Here is a chart that shows who pays what on a county by county basis.

Thanks to Sam Benson of RealEstate680 bringing my attention to the chart.

Obama Home Mortgage Rescue Plan part 5

Obama’s plan contains 2 main parts:

1. Refinance options for loans that are up to 105% of the current market value of the home.

2. Loan modifcation programs for people where option #1 does not apply and they are having a hard time making the monthly payments.

Obama has named the plan #1 – Making Homes Affordable.

Katie Curmutte, Zillow on Mortgages Unzipped blog provides lots of details on the plan.

Katie covers option #2.

Further details are available at: http://www.financialstability.gov/ and here and over here too.

If you are a homeowner in trouble or just want to know what your options are, just let me know.

I have written several posts on this issue and these posts contain links to other great information.

Looking to take advantage of the CA $10,000 tax credit

The $10,000 CA tax credit applies to NEW construction (never lived in properties) purchased as a primary residence.

There are several new condo/townhomes projects right now in Palo Alto and Los Altos and a soon to be released project in San Carlos.

Marrian Bennett Half Moon Bay Coldwell Banker has provided a list of new homes in the San Mateo Coastside area.

Please let me know if you want information on new homes on the Peninsula or have questions about recent tax credits approved by the US and the State of California.

More info on new California $10,000 tax credit

In an earlier post, i wrote about a recently passed California State Franchise Tax Board $10,000 credit for the purchase of a NEW principal residence. This credit is available to all purchasers of a NEW house or condominium.

Kappy Mann from beautiful Truckee Lake Tahoe area (where I will be going for a week of skiing with my buddies next Monday) has obtained lots of wonderful detailed information that explains the entire process including what paperwork to file at close. Check it out. Thanks for the good information.

This credit as well as the $8,000 Federal Tax Credit will be one of the many topics I discuss in my up-coming First-Time Home Buyer Information and Opportunity meetup March 21, 2009.

Jackie Speier proposers to raise Obama refi limit from $417,000 to $729,500

Jackie Speier one of our US House representatives rightly believes the current limit of $417,000 for Obama’s refi plan will not help many folks in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The SF Chronicle published an article that indicates only 7% to 8% of the homeowners in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties will be helped under Obama’s plan.

Julie Joyce Coldwell Banker Piedmont/Montclaire informs her readers of Jackie’s proposal.

We will also keep an eye on Obama’s latest proposal to limit the mortgage interest deduction for high-income earners.

Do you qualify for Obama refinance plan?

Exact details on Obama’s refinance plan will be out March 4, 2009.

Expect the lenders to take a few weeks to digest the information and set their in-house systems up to handle these requests.

Diane Tuman of Zillow gives good detailed information on what the plan is expected to be.

Obama plan part 4

There is lots of good information available throughout the real estate blogging community about Obama’s plan to reduce foreclosure and increase loan modifications.

Jillayne Schlicke of Rain City provides a lot of information and asks the very important question:

“IS A LOAN MODIFICATION IN YOUR BEST INTERSTS?”

Jillayne also tells it like it is: “If your home does not sell, the price is TOO HIGH period”. Sellers please pay attention, if your home does not sell, it is proced to high – bigger ads, more open houses won’t get it sold if property is priced above current market.

I recently sold a BRAND new home in prime west Menlo Park for slightly over $1M. This spec built home came on the market at $1.5M about 6 months ago. The price was too high since property is located on a busy street. If property was priced at $1.3M, it would have sold first week. Developer then chased the market down always behind the curve and after the stock market tanked in October 08, the market slowed further. As a result of over-pricing; my client – THE BUYER – has made an excellent purchase posied for long-term appreciation – AVERAGE price in west Menlo Park is about $1.8M.

As I have mentioned before, there are signifcant and complicated legal and tax impacts on loan modification, short sale, or fireclosure. Be sure to consult legal and tax advice before AGREEING to ANYTHING. For example, a lender could agree to a short sale but NOT release you from the balance remaining on the loan that was not paid in the short-sale.

Charles Feldman of Bigger Pockets questions as I do how effective this program will be.

Additional information on stimlus package and first time buyer tax credit

President Obama after much discussion on TV, in the print media, and in the blogosphere will sign the stimulus package on Tuesday.

Of greatest interest to home buyers and sellers alike is the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.

Unlike the previous $7,500 credit which was a no-interest loan but would need to be paid back; the $8,000 credit is a true credit with no requirement for repayment as long as you own home for three years.

On all things involving Uncle Sam and its wicked nephew the IRS be sure to consult a tax advisor to fully understand how these credits may or may not work in your particular situation.

Marian Bennett, a long-time Coldwell Banker colleague on the beautiful San Mateo Coast has more info on the credit along with her thoughts on its impact – mainly will help first-time buyers.

First-time home buyers this is a great time to get into the market – prices are down, interest rates are down, and now subject ot income limits you might get an $8,000 tax credit.

Opportunities exist!

Please contact me for a no-obligation discussion of the local market, your wants and needs, and let’s see if buying makes sense for you at the present time. No pressure just information.