Colleen Lang Woodward

MY 2 CENTS:

So the BAD First, Cuz I Know You Wanna Hear It:

We were having crazy times leading up to the first week in November because we were getting everybody in to see homes, to be able to get a contract written, negotiated, and escrow closed all by November 30, 2009. It was busy, bustling, and so fun with madness. My listings were being shown like crazy. I was scrambling all over town to get my buyers in so we could make this magic happen on this short deadline. I was thrilled. I love the madness of real estate. Soooooo, when the extension passed we were mid negotiation on 2 contracts on listings. All the sudden negotiations came to a screeching halt and both buyers took an extra day to think over the contract. Why? Because all the sudden had this huge pressure off to pick something and close. Now, hmmm, shall they keep window shopping? Shall we stroll around the block again? Shall we play a game of pitch, do some cart wheels, play our playlist on iTunes, and then put in an offer? They could play with our poor sellers emotions. Poor, sad sellers having to be subject to this drunk with power buyers.

I think it would have been better to have the credit expire on the 30th, so you squeeze out and have real statistics on how the first one went. The people who were buying would have bought because they wouldn't have known if it would be extended. Our sellers that didn't get sold would get more motivated to get in on the next wave OR ELSE... We would have had a solid cut off. A solid, intense, driven market. Clean cut bought. Clean cut sold...All due to the Tax Credit of 2009 chalk it up.

Then start the other one Jan. 1, 2010 so again you can gauge and get statistics on the effectiveness of expanding it to non-first home buyers and if people didn't just extend from 2009 into 2010 just because they could.

THE REAL BAD:

Those poor non first home buyers that bought this year with no incentive. They sold their home because the market was good to sell since buyers were out in the sunlight, exposed with the tax credit as their carrot on a stick. One couple I have in particular who got bit in the rear by this is so deserving, is so sweet and wonderful; they lived in their home for 30 YEARS?! And missed this $6500 by a couple of months. Depressing for them. My sweet, sweet clients. I am so sorry the government screwed you like that.

THE GOOD!

I am thrilled it was extended and expanded! Ah, the clouds were starting to rumble, we were beginning to get scared what the missing carrot on the stick for buyers might do to the market. And then, the clouds parted, the sun shone through and the heavens sang down their great news of a continued proverbial carrot dancing in front of not only first home buyers...Wait for it...Also to people that had owned their home for at least 5 years. Hallelujah, Hilayahiya, Hallelujah!

Learn about the Nuts and Bolts of the Tax Credit Expansion/ Extension Guidelines visit my last blog entry.

OR you can just call me or email me with your unique situation and I will help navigate you through this wonderful world of real estate and any questions you may have.

www.ColleenWoodward.com

Prudential www.UrbanOmaha.com

402.571.5887

I just re-read my own blog post about the impending doom and gloom of the tax credit expiring on November 30, 2009. And now look at this world: Extended AAAANNND Expanded. How lucky are we?!

The Low Down of the Tax Extension:

Anything that is in a fully executed contract by April 30, 2010 and closes within 60 days will get the blessed and wonderful $8000 tax credit. This is cash. Not a deduction as many first homebuyers may not understand the difference here. It is an actual credit. If your balance for your tax return is 0, no return, no pay, then you would get $8000 from Uncle Sam. It's so exciting and historic, it makes us real estaters giddy.

The Expansion of the Tax Credit:

Anyone who has owned their current residence for the past five years that they are selling to purchase a new property qualifies for a $6500 tax credit (think: money in hand)

The Stipulations AKA: Fine Print

Unless you have already claimed it, the credit can now only be claimed when filing next year's tax return (in 2010) by using Form 5405. For qualifying purchases in 2010, taxpayers have the option of claiming the credit on either their 2009 or 2010 return. If you and your spouse claim the credit on a joint return (both of you must meet the income and past ownership criteria to qualify), each spouse is treated as having been allowed half of the credit for purposes of repaying the credit. So the total amount claimable is still only $8000 (up to April 30th 2010).

Tax Credit Exclusions: Homes that cost more than $800,000 aren't eligible for the credit and you must be over 18 years old to claim the credit. Those who sell their new home or stop using it as their main residence within three years would have to repay the credit. You cannot claim the credit if acquired your home by gift or inheritance OR if you acquired your home from a related person.

Income qualification limits: The home buyers' credit would be available to individuals earning up to $125,000, or $250,000 for couples, up from $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples under the original rules. However the higher income limits are not retroactive, and are only applicable for home buyers who purchase a home after Nov. 6, 2009. The existing income (MAGI) limits still apply to purchases on or before Nov. 6, 2009.

Top Realtor Omaha NE Real Estate

Colleen Lang Woodward www.ColleenWoodward.com

Prudential Urban Omaha www.UrbanOmaha.com

402.571.5887

Got busy, blog went to the wayside (sorry, clients to make happy)... Anywho, anyone wondering how the $8000 tax credit has affected our local real estate market?

It has been fascinating watching how this $8000 tax credit has affected the real estate market in the Omaha, NE. It has seen a swing and sway. It has been steadier with showings all around, but I have never seen such frenzy for homes under $120k. It is downright ridiculous. I have agents calling ahead of time to see if it's still for sale because all the others they have called on have gone under contract....This I like to hear. Nothing quite like hearing you lost out on yet another home to put a fire under a buyer to submit an offer (hopefully on my listing next)!

FASCINATING SCENARIO 1:

There have been some casualties to this madness. I have two distinct clients that their house sat on the market for a month or two, so when we got an offer, they accepted one lower than they had hoped because they were ready to move on with their lives and cut their losses...

Well, low and behold, during the period of inspection while freshly pending, I had this seriously ridiculous uptick in calls from every buyer wanting to write an offer on the house. I mean I was almost being stalked by the clients and their agents because they wanted to know if it looked like it was going to go through. My question for them is, "Where the heck were all of you the past month or two when we were just waiting for an offer to cross my desk???"

Each of these clients had outstanding homes; priced well, showed well, marketed well (of course), I mean dream listings. The buyers were on the same schedule it seems, everyone was swarming come March and then again in September. The other months were busy, but those two months were literally fanatic, people were going crazy to get offers in and see houses...But this was sad for 2 of my clients in some ways because they missed the frenzy by a couple days and maybe could have gotten more from the frenzy...Hindsight is 20/20. You don't know if it will truly happen until it does.

FASCINATING SCENARIO 2:

I had this adorable first home buyer Hearthstone home, Monticello plan in Carriage Hill. A couple weeks in we got competing offers...I realize that in coastal areas (OR anywhere HGTV films, don't get me started on HGTV and how people think its really how it works HERE) competing offers can be a normal occurrence...We live in Omaha, NE and people here are CONSERVATIVE. When an offer is on the table, they back away, shrug their shoulders, and say something like "humph, guess it wasn't meant to be".

Did you hear me: I HAD COMPETING OFFERS and yet neither of the people came in with full price offers! What the?! Then we went back and forth, one and then the other several times and still NO FULL PRICE OFFERS with closing costs as a concession? What the?! This is every seller and agent's dream. It was absurd. We put the deal together on one of them. It was a good deal, but really, really???!!! I really thought even full price with closing costs paid should have been feasible. Madness I tell you.

(I also must sidenote: the home was priced $6000 below what they paid for it in '05, just to give you an idea of prices in this market)

FASCINATING SCENARIO 3:

While this has been the busiest time I have literally ever seen in the business (psst, I started about 5 years ago when the impending crash media was starting) There are buyers everywhere.... Common sense would tell you that by supply and demand, that prices would be driven up by this demand...And that, my friend is where you would be wrong. Pricing has still had to remain low and offers, oh my, the offers have been coming in the lowest I have seen in years (and there has been a lot of bad times over the years)...Lots of buyers indeed, but not the kind around here, with our conservative nation, that is going to dare overpay for anything. They may want to buy, but they are not getting in to bidding wars, paying full price, or even full price when they are competing against another couple. They still want the entire farm, the cattle, the sheep, and your dog Jack over there to boot...And maybe if you're lucky they won't ask for your first born son.

It has been FASCINATING! I think the $8000 tax credit worked wonders for our local market, but it may have squeezed out all the buyers that would have been next years buyers, but again, we won't know that until it happens. My prediction is fairly bleak. I think people were optimistic, got out of hiding from all the fear the media has produced, and were buying/ selling again with some joy and fervor. However, I think we might hear crickets chirp when it comes to a screeching halt, we will all hold hands and look at one another blinking, anxiously waiting to see how it all plays out once the tax credit expires.

Mark your calendars for the 2nd Annual Green Home Tour put on by the Green Omaha Coalition

Shuttles will run from Village Pointe, so shop the Farmer's Market, hop on a shuttle to view cutting edge homes incorporating eco-friendly building and design as well as lifestyle. The homes will feature tips, tricks, and products that you can incorporate easily into your own life. Going green is much easier than people imagine it to be.

Held 9am -1pm from Village Pointe shopping center. The tour will showcase four west Omaha homes, three of which have undergone a series of green home improvement projects. The fourth home on the tour is a new Energy Star Home. Free shuttle service to the homes will be available at Village Pointe. Tour goers are encouraged to carpool, walk, cycle or take the bus to Village Pointe and use the tour shuttle.

New to the 2009 tour is an information fair at Village Pointe in conjunction with its weekly farmers market. Vendors will include area businesses and nonprofits interested in green living. In addition, Goodwill Industries will be accepting donations on site at Village Pointe throughout the tour, and tax receipts will be available.

It's an intimidating process to start going green, but as soon as you start you realize it was really so much easier and lifestyle changes are easy to make. Recycling that I had regrettably put off for years is shocking to me. I have so little trash after all the recyclables are out of it! It's good for my kids to see and learn as they grow. Elkhorn Sanitation has an amazing program called Curbside Rewards. I was paying for trash removal anyway. I spend $10 more a month, but also get it back in the rewards from recycling that they offer!

I am now on the steps to going more green everyday. All my lightbulbs are changed out, recycling grocery bags are in full effect, recycling is in full effect, I am growing a garden this year, trying to use less paper towels (ugh, this one was the toughest for me) and opting for wash rags, and I have gone vegetarian which is both an ecologically friendly AND body friendly thing to do. I highly recommend the book "Skinny Bitch" : )

It's easier than you think, so why not explore some more ideas into going Green by visiting the tour. It's a fun way to spend a Saturday out at Village Pointe!

Colleen Woodward

Prudential Urban Omaha

www.ColleenWoodward.com

Selling Real Estate for the Cure

I have 3 little pork chops. My little love bugs ages 8, 5, and 2...And when I am trying to find a place to go, the internet is my favorite place to search for ongoings and tips on the best kid activities to do in Omaha. So here I am with my own list of TOP THINGS TO DO IN OMAHA WITH KIDS:

Here are the givens of things to do with kids, but beyond this I will get further in to less well known venues:

1. Henry Doorly Zoo: This zoo is absolutely amazing. It is spread far and wide with new attractions being built all the time. Omaha prides this city on our top notch zoo. The butterfly exhibit is breathtaking with the fluttering, gorgeous butterflies flitting all around you. The new gorilla complex is outstanding and takes my favorite badge. I particularly like that so many of the exhibits are indoor/ outdoor, since we do live in a climate that has ALL seasons. This zoo has so much to offer year round. You can spend one afternoon just enjoying the aquarium, jungle, or desert dome and barely leave the zoo's entrance.

2. Omaha Children's Musuem: The Omaha Children's Museum has an all new look, revamped by my husband's top notch company, Kiewit Construction (Building Group), gotta give a little shout out to their great work! Oh the hours that can be spent here. You can spend one whole day just doing one little exhibit they have tucked into each little section of this place.

There is the water area (don't worry, they provide raincoats, not that it helps sometimes), a grocery store with realistic foods, boxes, and with true mini carts they can go through the "check-out" that has a working conveyor belt (so cute!)...Or the ball-o-mania that is every kid's favorite. They stuff balls through these tubes that get pushed by air up through all these neat twirls into a giant bin, once it hits a certain mark, an alarm starts sounding, the kids scramble to get beneath it as its mouth opens and drops all the balls onto the kids below. There is a playhouse, a specified infant area half walled off on its own, so you can have an infant playing and watch your older ones run around. They can milk a cow, pick corn, deliver mail, put on a play, have a puppet show, make a video of themselves as news reporters, and there are rotating exhibits that go on upstairs. I highly recommend getting a membership. If you go more than twice a year, it pays for itself in most cases. Ditto on the zoo pass!

3. City of Omaha Splash Parks:Hey this one is free and sooo fun! Find the one nearest you, slap on a swimsuit and splash away

4. Elmwood Park: Here nestled in the heart of Omaha is a great park with a public pool (baby pool fenced in- yippee) a huge green space where you will find on any given day, bands practicing, bag pipes playing, people acting out Mid-Evil Times, a great sandy park in the middle, a cheap public golf course to the rear, ample parking, trails galore weaving through the charming area known as Dundee. I love this park!

5. Fontenelle Forest Nature Center:If you haven't been to fontenelle in a while, its time to go. They have this adorable "Mud Pie" program that is Tues/ Thurs, about $2/child for a few hours of creative play. Indoors is a new craft each time, places to dig and find fake insects, a pet rabbit, a snack, TONS of educational toys and play, a cave with chirping crickets, frogs, and all. OUTDOORS: is this wonderful trail area that has educational spots where you match up leaves or there is a pile of true sticks to build something out of, or musical instruments made out of natural things.

6. Kids Create Their Own Pizza: Old Chicago, California Pizza Kitchen will gladly host a group of kids to give a restaurant tour to where the kids then get to create and bake their own pizza! Gather some friends and set it up.

7. Elkhorn Common Ground: This community center has classes for 2 yr old to 10 yr olds about 30-45 minutes each, some back to back named such cool things as: Lego Mania, kid yoga, tumbling, gym fun, tetherball, arts & crafts.

Be back with more soon...So much to cover, so little time : )

www.ColleenWoodward.com

RE/MAX The Producers