$8,000 Tax Credit for First-Time Home Buyers in 2009

Buy this year and you can receive a tax credit up to $8,000!

A new law could put up to $8,000 in your pocket via a first-time homebuyer tax credit that does not have to be repaid.

But you must purchase a property this year to qualify.

FAQs:

When do I need to purchase to qualify?

If you buy a home between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1 this year and close escrow during these dates, you will qualify for a tax credit up to $8,000 - as long as it is your primary residence and you meet the simple requirements.

How does the law define "first-time homebuyer"?

The law defines "first-time homebuyer" as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.

What are other requirements to qualify?

All U.S. citizens who file taxes are eligible to participate. An income limit of $75,000 a year for individuals and $150,000 a year for joint filers also applies.

How do I apply for the credit?

Taxpayers should use IRS Tax Form 5450 to claim the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

Does the credit have to be repaid?

No. Unlike a similar tax credit passed in 2008, this $8,000 tax credit does not have to be repaid to the IRS.

(RealtyTrac.com email blast April 7, 2009)

4plex Investments in San Jose

There are some very good deals out there. And there is also a very fluid market too. If a property hits a certain price point, there are buyers who are lining up. I just went after a fourplex in San Jose. Decent condition, large property, fully occupied were the upsides. Crowded "fourplex neighborhood", not a great unit mix were the downsides. Approximately 4,000 square feet building with a short sale asking price of $675,000. After a few days, the listing agent has 5 offers! I'm sure this deal will sell very close to what they are asking or even higher. To land a good deal out there, I suggest being fast and when need be, aggressive. These low interst rates and low prices make for some very good cashflows. Buyers this year will be very happy down the road.

Stunning Estate Bank REO in Los Gatos - Open House April 11th.

Amazing Bank owned REO estate in Los Gatos. Huge, gated property very close to downtown Los Gatos. Outstanding schools, great demographics, perfect place to call home for a long time. Countrywide Home Loans took this property back and they are pricing it very low to get it sold! I am holding the home open on Saturday, April 11th from 1:30-4:30pm. Or call me for a private tour anytime this week. You will fall in love with this house and with the opportunity. Home is at 17450 Phillips Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030. Offered at $2,750,000 (new price as of April 7, 2009)for 5,725 square feet on over 4 acres. See the virtual tour here.

2 Stunning Short Sale Homes in Saratoga

20720 Leonard Road, Saratoga, SPECTACULAR NEW HOME ON A PRIVATE GATED CREEKSIDE CUL-DE-SAC NEAR TOWN. PROPERTY HOSTS 2 STORY MAIN HOUSE W/BASEMENT (5 BDRM 5.5 BATH W/BASEMENT BDRM)& SEPARATE GUEST HOUSE(1 BD 2 BATH W/KITCHEN,NOOK & LR).PERFECT INLAW, GUESTS,AU-PAIR QTRS,RENTAL OR GYM.PLANS AVAIL FOR POOL IN 2 LOCATIONS ON THE SITE. 3 CAR GARAGE,USE OF FINE MATERIALS & DETAILS.

Leonard was built in 2007 and never lived in! Amazing opportunity to buy a true estate home in Saratoga.

14190 Victor Place, Saratoga, $2,300,000, 5 bedrooms, 6.5 baths, 6,000+ square feet. Built in 2002. This is a wonderful home in a perfect location. The short sales were brain damage last year, now most banks are returning decisions in less than a month. Don't wait till this home becomes an REO and then there will be multiple offers.

Call me to tour - these are worth seeing.

Open House Bank Owned REO in Monte Sereno Stunning Estate Home

This Countrywide bank REO is an amazing opportunity to buy a stunning estate home in Monte Sereno, a short distance to downtown Los Gatos and downtown Saratoga. Over 4,900 square feet on 1.69 acres, stunning valley views. 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, Saratoga schools, built in 1990 with walls of glass to view the valley below. Easy access to the home from Saratoga Los Gatos Road @ Greenwood. I will be showing this home on Sunday April 5th from 1:30 - 4:30. Please come and see what this downturn in housing prices has to offer you. Asking price is $1,919,000.

Come to the open house even if this may not be the perfect home for you. This is a great time to talk about the market, plan your next move, strategize and find a solution to your housing desires. I am always glad to talk face to face - although it is very un-techie!

Bank REO San Jose Great Price $124,900

828 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 1 very nicely remodeled bath, open floorplan on 2nd story of two story building. Great location in complex near main gate. Bank owned by Countrywide. Very good value in Berryessa area. Offered at $124,900. This is a steal!

San Jose Bank REO on Communications Hill

2,200 square foot end unit townhouse in wonderful Communications Hill with views. 4 bedrooms and 4 baths! Bank owned by Countrywide, offered at $594,900. This home has had many upgrades including granite counters and located across the street from a quiet park. Very wonderful home and very well priced. Call to tour today.

1031 Exchange Timing Issue

Normally the 1031 tax deferred exchange of investment property allows for 180 days from the sale of your relinquished property to acquire the replacement property. That is what most people remember as the amount of allowable time. People tend to forget the second line of that regulations which states -or until the next tax return filing - by the way, that is not a direct quote. 180 days is maximum time allowed and it can be shortened if you file your taxes. An example would be if an investor closes escrow (through a 1031 exchange) on Dec. 1st. 180 days ahead would be approximately the end of May (depending on leap years, etc.) If you file your taxes on April 15th or sooner - that date then is the last day of your exchange. The reason for this moving target is that the IRS wants both legs of the exchange reflected on the tax return. The solution is simple to keep the full 180 days - file an automatic extension. Then, when you actually file your taxes, you will have hopefully completed your exchange and can reflect the whole transaction on the form.

My office partner Christine Kim and I attended a live home auction on Tuesday in San Jose off of Capitol and 680. There were some 25 bidders in attendance with down payment cashier's checks in hand. Three properties were to be auctioned - all three were open for public viewing over the last few weeks. A small starter house in the 7 Trees area started at $50,000 (an obvious teaser price if I ever saw one) and sold for $207,000. The second home which was in a similar area with additional square feet sold for $280,000. The bidding depth was light. There were only a few serious bidders - or perhaps after the $50,000 price was blown up, the other bidders quickly became quiet. The interesting thing about this auction was that the winning bid was not contractually binding - it still had to be presented to the bank (REO department) for their approval of the price. The bank could easily reject the offer as too low and the deposit money would be immediately returned. This is the background of why many REO listings on the MLS had previously been offered at auction. Yes, there is always a winning bidder, and no, that does not guarantee that the home will sell. More definitive of a market is when there is no "strike-price" and the auctions are "absolute". Then the true market value is more easily achieved. Worth the effort - yes - we suggest the drive through at In and Out Burger prior to the auction to keep you content through the process.

Full Catwalk Loft Santana Row Short Sale with SR View

Great short sale opportunity in Santana Row's DeForest Building. This is an "A-3" floor plan with the full catwalk. 1,250 square feet. View of Santana Row. Blonde wood cabinets in kitchen. Very nice unit. This may be one of the last financially strained sales in Santana Row. Prices for these units were $100,000 higher less than a year ago. Call me for a tour.

Santana Row Short Sale Loft Condo

There is a very good opportunity to purchase the largest "A" model in the DeForest building. 1,250 square feet of two story loft with the full catwalk and an outdoor approximately 600 square foot patio facing the back side. Offered at $550,000, this short sale will sell at a very good value. And, do not be discouraged by short sales anymore. I am seeing decisions by the banks coming in within 30 days. I just had a two-lender short sale approved for a fourplex in that timeframe. Now is the best chance since the units first sold to buy into Santana Row. Call me for a tour.

Los Gatos Bank REO - Huge, Good Condition & Pool

3,500 square feet on an over 10,000 square foot lot in a pretty part of Los Gatos off of Quito Road. Very nice pool and two story "trex" decking and pool house! Not Los Gatos schools although schools are very good. Offered at $999,900 - this home had offers a few weeks ago and just fell out of escrow. Very nice deal and great home to live in for a very long time. Call me for a tour - you will be intrigued.

Large Family Home Sunnyvale Bank REO $679,900

1,832 square feet with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, two story home in a nice Sunnyvale location near Fair Oaks and El Camino. Well priced and in good condition. Come check out one of the opportunities in a nice Sunnyvale neighborhood.

Two Bank REO Homes in Evergreen (San Jose)

Two awesome opportunities from Countrywide's REO listings in Evergreen:

Fronda Drive at Flint, 4 bed, 2 bath, 1772 square feet, nice quiet street, good sized lot, in very nice condition $495,900

Nickel Avenue off S. King, 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,200 square feet, great starter single family home, offered at only $340,000!!!

Let me know if you want to see any of these deals.

Commercial Short Sales

The commercial short sale market is dramatically different than the residential short sale market. The commercial market is just starting to have negative issues, about a year after the residential market started to slide. What was normal a year ago in the residential market - banks not willing to negotiate short sales and being quick to foreclose - is the way commercial banks are acting now. They have yet to "get it" and will learn the hard way. I am dealing with a short sale in a commercial warehouse condo right now and the banks involved (a major bank and the Small Business Administration as a second lender) are not willing to consider a short sale until the borrower defaults for a few months. Foolish attitude. The residential lenders realized that this did not make sense about 6 months ago and the transactions started to flow. The commercial lenders will have to go through this learning curve too - hopefully not as long - we shall see...

Home Loan Modification Blog

I just started building a blog for home loan modifications. Obviously this is a large and growing aspect of real estate this year and for sure for years to come. Please see what I have offered and let me know what you think. Thanks!

3 Townhouses Milpitas Bank REO under 200k

There are now 3 bank owned REO townhouse style units for sale in Milpitas from $175,000-$196,900. All are two bedroom one bath units, some are two story "townhouse" style floor plans with 1 car garages! Great rental properties in a city with excellent future growth of infrastructure (think Bart, light rail, the Great Mall and condo towers) and schools. Good time to buy these and rent them out.

Foreclosure Statistics Bay Area Counties

These are the tallies so far for the foreclosures in each of our Bay Area counties. Interesting that the very expensive counties (San Francisco, Napa, Marin and San Mateo) have fared quite well. My two cents on that is - these areas did not have many buyers taking option ARM loans with very low down payments - thereby having healthier financials and more ability to weather storms. This doesn't mean that those areas will get by without turmoil, it just may be lighter and later. I (of course) like the fundamentals in the South Bay - jobs in the long run will be here, there is a scarcity of land and we have a lot of foreclosures from which to choose. Now we are even seeing some good deals on the 85 corridor and the west side.

Napa 539
Sonoma 1804
Marin 286
San Francisco 434
San Mateo 1011
Santa Clara 4738
Alameda 5679
Contra Costa 7877
Solano 3816
Santa Cruz 689

San Jose Bank REO 2 Bedroom Condo $139,900

Very nice location in gated complex off Capitol and McKee, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom very nicely remodeled, offered at $139,900. 828 square feet of sunny space. Complex is large and has lots of amenities. Interior was well kept and updated. Upstairs unit with balcony. Low association fee of $230. Sold for $355,000 in October 2006! Good deal that won't last. Consider renting this out for $1200 per month or maybe more. Call me for a tour.

Very Nice Bank Owned Fourplex in Cambrian Area

Well priced fourplex just reduced to a very attractive price near Almaden and Blossom Hill. This now bank owned deal sold for $880,000 in 2005! Now offered at 665,280! Two units are vacant - which in this market is not a difficult issue. Rents are up and vacancies are down. The banks tend to vacate buildings that they foreclose on. Fully occupied gross rents should be in the $52,000 range for all 2 bedroom 1 bath units with garages. This was listed at $734,900 and now with the price reduction, it will move. Call me for more info.