California Prop 90 Update!
California’s Prop 90 allows a home owner in California to sell their home, buy a replacement property in a participating county, and move a lower prop 13 based tax value from their old home to the new county for the purpose of home tax assessment. It allows the adjusted base year value of the original (sold) property to be transferred to the newly purchased or constructed home if eligibility requirements are met.There are some restrictions like the claimant or claimant’s spouse must be at least 55 years of age. The replacement property must be your principal residence and must be eligible for the homeowners’ exemption.
Participating counties are Alameda, Orange, San Mateo, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara and now, El Dorado County.
There are also purchase price restrictions on the new replacement property. Read more
A Look at the Past and a Look at the Future
This time last year we predicted that 2009 would end a lot better than it began. We were right, though it wasn’t a great accomplishment to be right considering how low the housing market, stock market, and overall economy had sunk during the latter half of 2008. As we’ve stated repeatedly over the past year, a low base and a dour outlook provide an excellent buying opportunity, so we weren’t surprised when buyers stepped forward to exploit the opportunities.
Looking ahead to 2010, we see continued improvement in home sales and home prices. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if the market turns to a sellers’ market from a buyers’ market by year’s end. We are almost certain that will be the case if we see a two to three percentage point drop in the unemployment rate. Low mortgage rates and income tax credits are contributing factors in stabilizing the market, to be sure, but no factor is more important than employment in not only maintaining stability but stimulating activity. Read more
Tenant Occupied Properties
For whatever reason, over the course of almost 16 years in real estate, I have very seldom sold homes that were occupied by tenants. Right now, I am involved with 3 properties that are occupied by tenants. Wow! Is it ever tough.
These transactions are so complicated with items that you would never think of. In the last couple of weeks I have dealt with:
1) Having the key to a tenant’s unit get stuck in the lock. The tenant was out and I have no phone number for him. I couldn’t reach the property management company and I, certainly, couldn’t leave this man’s home with the door unlocked. Fortunately, one of the people I had been showing the home to stayed with me, had a tool kit and, literally, took the lock out and solved the problem. Read more
A Few Bad Pennies….
About 3 weeks ago, I wrote an offer on a bank owned property in Hayward for a client of mine. I tried contacting the agent representing the seller to let her know that I was sending an offer, but wasn’t able to reach her. So, I emailed the offer and, also, faxed it to make absolutely sure that she received it by the deadline.
Over the course of the next 3 weeks, I tried diligently to reach this agent. I tried both calling and emailing. Sometimes when I called, I would get her voice mail. Other times, I got her husband who was listed as the co-lister, but knew nothing about the property. He indicated that he had “taken the phone away from her, because if she kept taking calls, she would never get anything done.” Read more
Real Estate Jargon…What Do All of These Terms Mean?
We Realtors often bandy about tons of real estate jargon. We talk to our clients and friends about short sales, REO’s, contingency periods, etc. I have come to realize, however, that just because we know what all of this stuff means, not everyone does, so I thought it would be helpful to describe some of the terms we use. Hopefully, this will give you some idea of what we’re talking about as we rattle on and on and your eyes are going bleary! Here goes:
Contingency Periods: We, generally, refer to these when doing our contracts. As an example, we tell you that you will have a 10 day period to “remove your property condition contingency” or 20 days to remove loan and appraisal contingencies. What this really boils down to, is that these are the time frames during which you will have the right to get your deposit back if you cancel the contract. Once you “remove these contingencies,” you are no longer entitled to get your deposit back, unless you can prove some sort of fraud. Read more
When Did I Agree to That?!
Recently I was in one the Prudential California Realty – San Bruno kiosks at the mall when a seller approached to ask if he, as the seller, has to pay the country transfer tax on a sale he is currently involved in. I asked him a series of questions regarding the transaction and was, frankly, surprised at how little he seemed to know about his own deal.
One of the questions that seemed to confuse him the most was whether or not he had signed a purchase agreement. It wasn’t until I described what the agreement looks like that he realized he had, in fact, signed the agreement and was in contract. Read more
There is no “I” in Real Estate Team!
You’ve decided to buy or sell a house so you gather all the players you’re going to need around you. You have your lender, your Realtor ®, escrow officers and any inspectors needed. You’ve gathered them around with the intention of meeting your goal of buying or selling that home. You’re all on the same page so how hard will it be to get along. That depends. Read more
Sellers looking at Contract Terms
Buyers and their agents need to be very careful about not only the offer price, but also the terms of the contract. Sellers do not always just accept the highest offer, as one might think.They want to SELL the property and the only way that would happen is Read more
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Recent Posts
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