About Anchorage County, AK

Obama signed the Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension and Expansion on November 6, 2009. The original First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit that was introduced in February was a $8000 tax credit for any one who had not owned a home in the past three years. The $8000 was based on the sale amount of a property. The refund is 10% of the purchase price, up to $8000. Any first time home buyer qualified for this if they found, bought, and closed on a home by November 30, 2009.

Now that Obama has signed the new and revised version of the Home Buyer Tax Credit, consumers are given an additional five months to complete their home purchase. Home buyers now have until April 30, 2010 to close and record on a home to qualify for the tax credit.

In addition to the extension, congress has also moved to expand the tax credit so that move-up buyers or second home buyers would qualify for a tax credit up to $6500, as long as they owned their previous residence for at least 5 years.

For more information regarding the tax credit, refer to the IRS website

For more Anchorage Real Estate, call Vanna 907-720-4663

If you are watching snow outside your window from your home or office right now, you need to give me a call. Consider spending your cold months in Benson Arizona. If you love horses and horse property appeals to you, you need to treat yourself to your next property purchase here in Benson, Arizona. If you have had or still have a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and love to watch western movies, chances are, Benson Arizona will suit you just fine. With Historic Tombstone just 25 miles down the road a piece and vibrant Tucson, Arizona (Home of the Wildcats) less than 1 hour away you need to look into the affordability of real estate in Cochise County, in particular, Benson. Enough said, now let me sip my lemonade out on the porch in my bathing suit.

The Anchorage swine flu vaccinations have been delayed due to a shortage of H1N1 vacine. The Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services (ADDHS) will not be providing vaccinations at their clinic this week. However, the Anchorage School District will be providing the H1N1 vaccine to elementary school children this week as previously scheduled. The ADHHS does not have a new date scheduled yet to resume group shots for the public. As soon as more shipments of vaccine come in, they will continue providing free vaccinations in their clinic. The Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center will continue to provide free shots Monday through Friday.

For the latest information on the availability of H1N1 vaccine through the Department of Health and Human Services, please visit the ADHHS website. The delay is only temporary.

Pauline Hofseth, your Anchorage real estate expert

The 2009 AHBA Parade of Homes was held the last weekend of September. The weather was nice and the 100's of people hit the streets to see the latest creations of the Anchorage Home Builders. The total number of entries in this years Parade of Homes was 25. These home were spread out across Anchorage and Eagle River. They ranged in price from $199,000 to $1,800,000, and were situated in new subdivisions as well as older established areas that were being rehabilitated.

Last night was the awards banquet held in Builder's Millwork showroom. The group assembled included builders, bankers, tittle companies, Realtors and their spouses. The night was entertaining and food was great, but the main reason we were all there was to see who walked away with the hardware. It is a great honor to win a ''Golden Hammer', showing that you are the best in your class (at least for this year).

I am very proud to tell you that two of the entries were located in Eagle River's Premier Subdivision, Powder Ridge. The Harmony Town-homes, built by the Peterson Group, and a single family home built on Ezi View Circle by Nolan Homes.

In the single family homes priced from $300,000 to $500,000 the winner was "Nolan Homes". The home on Ezi view won awards in the following categories:

• Best Exterior
• Best Design
• Best Interior
• Best Kitchen
• Overall Workmanship

And last but not least the home won the coveted

'Golden Hammer Award'

This years Parade of Homes was a great success, and I am glad that we were able to participate in it. I was able to meet many of you that came through the home and hopefully we will be able to work with you in the future. There is still time to start a new home this year and current prices and interest rates are added incentives. For information call or text me at 907-360-7471.

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The H1N1 vaccine is now available for FREE to kids ages 2-18 in Anchorage. While the vaccine to help prevent the "Swine Flu" is limited to children in this age bracket for now, it is expected to be available for everyone over the age of 6 months as soon as more shipments arrive, which should be very soon. Right now, the Anchorage Department of Health wants to focus on the children that are at highest risk for hospitalization. The vaccine will be available at the Neighborhood Health Center every Monday through Friday from 8-11am and 1-4pm. The vaccine will be administered as long as it is available. Regular shipments are expected to continue over the next several weeks.

The Municipality of Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services is planning to make the H1N1 vaccine available on a much larger public scale to Anchorage residents throughout November and December. And it will be absolutely FREE to the public. The Anchorage School District is expected to start offering FREE H1N1 vaccinations for all their students beginning in November as well. To find out who is offering the vaccine and where you can get it, please visit the Municipality of Anchorage's website. Bookmark it and visit it often, as dates and times are updated daily.

Pauline Hofseth, your Anchorage real estate expert