Venetian Bay Auction Part 3

The Auction is just 2 weeks away, there have been 5 contracts written on the purchase of townhomes and condos since the pre-auction started. This enables buyers to lock in the price and take that unit off the market before the auction begins. It is a win win for both the buy and the builder.
If you are looking to join in on the auction make sure you preregister with me by sending me an E-mail. You will also need a cashiers check payable to yourself for $10,000 on the day of the auction.
Visit one of my websites at http://selldaytona.com/ or http://www.venetianbay.org/

First Time Home Buyer Extended for U.S. Military

The House of Representatives voted 416 to 0 to pass the Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009, which pushes the credit's current November 30 deadline back an additional year for members of the military, Foreign Service, and intelligence corps who served at least three months of qualified overseas duty in 2009. The next step is to pass the Senate and then to be signed by the President.
Extending the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit for everyone else is high on the Democratic Congressional to-do list. After meeting with President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) released a statement that the government should “continue efforts to strengthen the housing market by extending the home buyer tax credit.”
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, who is a consultant to Democrats in the administration and Congress, is advocating extending the credit and making it available to all home buyers. Opening it up to all home buyers would really help the housing market. Although it would cost the government a lot more money to fund, it is not nearly as much as we the tax payers have given to the big banks and their CEO's. This would give money back to the people who really drive the economy, the American home buyer.

Visit one of my websites at http://selldaytona.com/ or http://www.venetianbay.org/

Why Are My Florida Property Taxes Going Up?

The proposed property tax notices are out and if your home is Homesteaded, you may be paying more in taxes. The reason for this is the millage rate has increased and the assessed value is still lower than the market value on your home. So even though the value of your home has dropped, it has not dropped below the assessed value. For example: if the assessed value for your home last year was $200,000 and your millage rate was 19, then your tax bill was $3,800. This year, your assessed value remained at $200,000 but the millage went up to lets say 22, then this year's tax bill will be $4,400.
The reason the Taxing Authorities have raised the millage, is because the values of all the properties in Florida have gone down. Unlike most of us, when we have less money to spend we lower our budget, rather than lowering their budget, they are increasing our taxes. I guess they can't figure out that we are in a recession, income has remained level at best. The truth is that if we are lucky enough to still have a job, we have probably lost income.

Florida has legislation stating that the proper “measuring-stick” for taxing authority growth, from year to year, is the “Per Capita Income (PCI) Index + Growth” (meaning annual growth in newly constructed properties). Clearly the Taxing Authority's spending far exceeded increases in the personal income and the growth of newly constructed properties.

Our only recourse is to attend the public meetings and make our voices heard.

Visit one of my websites at http://selldaytona.com/ or http://www.venetianbay.org/

Will the $8000 First-Time Buyer Tax Credit be Renewed?

The $8,000 First-Time Buyer Tax Credit expires Nov. 30, there are Bills pending in both the U.S. House and the Senate to extend or revise the credit.
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid of Nevada favors an extension of the current credit. He was quoted by the Las Vegas Sun saying, "It's something we can get done."
Connecticut Democratic Senator Christopher J. Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, is co-sponsor of a bill with Georgia Republican Senator Johnny Isakson that would raise the credit amount to a maximum of $15,000. I don't think this is going to fly, but an extension is possible.
As I have said before, a bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush. If you are planning on buying a home and you can close before Nov. 30th, I recommend you do so. Home prices are low, interest rates are low, it is a buyers market and we don't know what our leaders in Washington are going to do for sure.
Visit one of my websites at http://selldaytona.com/ or http://www.venetianbay.org/

Chronicle of a First Time Home Buyer Chapter 6

On June 23rd, Rob contacted me about see a home that was back on the market. 5308 Georgia Peach is a 4 bd 2 ba 2020 sq ft home on a lake. This is the home they saw listed that started their home search.

It had a contract on it that fell through, I talked with the listing agent and found out the bank would accept the asking price of $174,000. I wrote up a contract for $180,000 with the seller paying $6,000 towards cosing cost, before going to show the home to Rob and Tina.

Rob and Tina both really liked the home and were ready to sign the contract. We talked about the timeline that would follow after submitting the contract, and both decided they needed to check on finances before signing.

I told them I wanted them to be sure, and to take the time they needed, but homes in this price range are not sitting on the market for long. Rob said he understood that and was willing to lose the home rather than jumping in without everything in order. And the home in Bay Berry Lakes was a good backup.

5308 Georgia Peach went under contract on 7/6 and the home in Bay Berry Lakes went under contract on 7/7.

Rob and Tina have decided to postpone the search for a new home until August, when his new union contract at work will be final.

View Rob and Tina's cart click on th is link: http://dabmls.com/day/plog.php?a=day&u=runter&p=3746

Visit one of my websites at http://selldaytona.com/ or http://www.venetianbay.org/

Should you wait for the $15000 Homebuyer tax credit

Senator Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, introduced a bill in June that would increase the homebuyers tax credit to $15,000 and remove the income restriction and expand the program to all borrowers, not just first time homebuyers.
Some of my clients have asked if they should wait for the new tax credit of $15000. First of all, no one knows if the bill introduced by Senator Isakson will ever became law. The old adage "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" is perfect for this situation. The current tax credit has cost the government $2 to $3 billion, the proposed bill will cost around $32 billion. There is a lot of opposition to the $15000 credit so it is definitely not a sure thing.
YOU MAY NOT GET THE FULL $15000
The tax credit is based on 10% of the purchase price, so if you buy a home for less than $150,000, you will not receive the full $15000.
Unlike the current $8000 credit, it only offsets your tax liability over the next 2 years. Most first time homebuyers should take advantage of the current $8000 credit. I say this because most first time homebuyers do not have a $7500 tax liability each year and will not be able to receive the full $15000 credit. Also your tax liability will be lower after you buy a home because of your new mortgage deduction. To find your tax liability for your 2008 tax return, look on form 1040 line 61 or if you filed a 1040A it is on line 37 and line 11 on the 1040EZ. If the amount on this line is lower than $4000, you are better off taking the current $8000 credit.
If you are not a first time home buyer, and your situation allows you to put off buying a home, I recommend you wait and see what happens to this bill.

Visit one of my websites at http://selldaytona.com/ or http://www.venetianbay.org/

Chronicle of a First Time Home Buyer Chapter 5

6/18, We went to Coquina Cove to look at a home on the resale market. 5370 Cordgrass Bend Lane-nice house but they still the one under construction better. We then went to Bay Berry Lakes and saw a single story 4 br 2 ba brick home that backs up to a preserve area, 112 Briarberry Court. Rob and Tina's comments: "great single story house, very well taken care of, also high on our list right after the CC-under-construction".

112 Briarberry Ct

From there we went back to 109 McGill Circle, one of the houses we were unable to view on our first outing. Rob and Tina's comments: "very beat up, carpet stained in almost every room and writing on a lot of the walls, one wall had a piece missing!" Finally we we went to the Oakbrook subdivision in Port Orange to see 3844 Calliope Avenue, a 2 story in foreclosure. Rob and Tina's comments: "very cool looking house on the outside, inside needs some cleaning up but nothing major, another potential"

View Rob and Tina's cart click on this link: http://dabmls.com/day/plog.php?a=day&u=runter&p=3746Visit one of my websites at http://selldaytona.com/ or http://www.venetianbay.org/