General Topics affecting / related to the 1-4 unit Residential Real Estate Market

 

Items listed here are based off a sample contract from an American Home Sheild (AMS) Home Warranty (downloaded at http://www.ahswarranty.com/AHSProductPresentment/HomeshieldProductPresentment.aspx)

G. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

  1. The following are not covered for the homeowner for the first 30 days after the Effective
    Date (see Section B): (a) malfunction or improper operation due to rust or corrosion of
    appliances, heating systems (including built-in wall units or heat pumps) and/or air
    conditioning systems/coolers or pools/spas; (b) collapsed ductwork.
  2. AHS is not responsible for providing or closing access to covered items except as noted
    in Sections D.1. and D.5.
  3. You may be charged an additional fee by the Service Contractor to dispose of an
    old…

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I've read alot of books on investing on many different topics from oil, to stocks, to Real Estate.

  • Reminiscences of a Stock Operator - Edwin Lefevre
  • How to Make Money in Stocks - William J. O' Neil (founder of Investors Business Daily newspaper)
  • biographies and autobiographies on men like: Warren Buffet, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Bill Gates
  • Liars Poker - Michael Lewis
  • The Prize - Daniel Yergin
  • Rich Dad/Poor Dad - Robert Kiyasaki
  • and many more...

I've studied different industries and different investors who have made money in all sorts of economic times.  1 thing I noticed is that many of the people who have been most successful started doing something at a time when nobody else wanted to (for one reason or another, it was difficult,…

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Some form of rent regulation now exists in fifteen California cities:

  • Berkeley
  • Oakland
  • Beverly Hills
  • Palm Springs
  • Campbell (mediation only)*
  • San Francisco
  • East Palo Alto
  • San Jose*
  • Fremont (mediation only)*
  • Santa Monica
  • Hayward
  • Thousand Oaks
  • Los Angeles
  • West Hollywood
  • Los Gatos*

*These rent control cities do not have just cause eviction provisions.

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- junior lien holders can still pursue judgements - doesn't apply if homeowner refinanced mortgage - eliminates lenders option to allow short sale but maintain the right to pursue deficiency judgement by forcing seller to agree (in writing as a condition of approving the short sale) to allow the lender to pursue the deficiency judgement in the future 

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Facts of Todays Los Angeles Real Estate Market

Prices are stabilizing, Bank owned inventory is going down, Short Sales are increasing which means long wait times, the fiasco in Europe is causing interest rates to drop to ridiculous levels, this will be the last hurrah for low interest rates, I think they will go up to the mid to high 5's and everyone will complain because they are too high which will slow down sales volumes and potentially have a downward effect on prices.  The buyers that think they are going to wait to buy because prices are about to collapse won't get what they want, prices will yo-yo but obviously nothing like the drop we saw from 2005-2009.  If you can't afford a house for sale in the Los Angeles Real Estate market you want to be in…

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Inman News posted an article (see link below) with some interesting statistics compiled by Zip Realty about what homebuyers want and equally as important, what they don't want

Top 10 most desired home features and the percentage of respondents who ranked the feature as high priority:


1. Garage or parking space: 86.8 percent.

2. Master suite: 78.9 percent.

3. Ample storage space: 72 percent.

4. Large or walk-in closets: 66.5 percent.

5. Guest bedroom: 66.4 percent.

6. Outdoor entertainment area: 64.3 percent.

7. Gourmet or updated kitchen: 60.6 percent.

8. Breakfast room or eat-in kitchen: 55.8 percent.

9. Large yard: 43.2 percent.

10. Wood floors: 40.8 percent.

And sellers should keep in mind not only what homebuyers want, but also what they…

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Whats the one good thing about dropping home values?

Getting your property taxes re-assessed.

Today, June 1st 2010 is the begginning of the period that the LA County Tax Assessor will begin to review appeal applications for decline in value.  The Assessors office has automatically begun to proactively review values from January 1 to June 1, to see if you Los Angeles County property assesment has been reduced click here .  If you disagree with the value, the last day to file for a formal assesment appeal is November 30th, 2010.

 

This process can be done online now and there is no charge to have your property reviewed for re-assessment.

 

 

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The federal tax credit for home buyers is set to expire on April 30th 2010!!

 

Buyers and Sellers need to be in a purchase contract by this date and the transaction needs to close escrow by June 30th 2010 to qualify for this tax credit. 
 
This a hard federal government deadline and it will _NOT_ be extended!!

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 Guidelines for the 2010 Tax Credit for New & First Time Home Buyers have been officially posted on the California Franchise Tax Boards website:

http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/new_home_credit.shtml

 

Highligts:

  • Max $10,000
  • Starts for escrows closed after May 1st, 2010 and before January 2011
  • Total amount of allocated tax credit for all taxpayers may not exceed $100 million for the New Home Credit and $100 million for the First-Time Buyer Credit
  • State will allocate money for the tax credits on a first-come, first-served basis

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Sellers that short sale Los Angeles Real Estate no longer have to pay California state income tax on debt forgiven in a short sale, foreclosure, or loan modification.  Enacted into law April 12th 2010, Senate Bill 401 generally aligns California's tax treatment of mortgage debt relief income with federal law.  For debt forgiven on a loan secured by a "qualified principal residence," borrowers will now be exempt from both federal and state income tax consequences.  The existing federal exemption is for indebtedness up to $2 million, whereas the new California exemption is for indebtedness up to $800,000 and forgiven debt up to $500,000.

"Qualified principal residence" indebtedness is defined as debt incurred in acquiring, constructing, or substantially…

4122 Views, 1 Comments