Brandy Hart

Frank Augustus Miller Middle School

Frank Augustus Miller Middle School | Riverside Homes for Sale

Riverside's newest Middle school is nearly complete and is open this fall to it's very first group of students. Miller is the 7th middle school in RUSD and is situated right here in the community of Woodcrest. Our new school will serve students from Mark Twain, Woodcrest and Lake Mathews Elementary schools. It will also relieve overcrowding at the nearby Earhart Middle school. As the mother of three students here in Woodcrest I couldn't be happier to welcome this new state of the art campus to our community! We already boast the best schools Riverside has to offer and it the beautiful campus at Miller is sure to be a wonderful addition.

As your local Riverside Realtor and neighbor, I am happy to answer any questions about the area or helping to find the perfect home for your family in this great community. Feel free to use my website at www.brandyleon.listingbook.com to browse through available homes in the neighborhood as well. If you do not currently live in the Woodcrest/Orangecrest area the time has never been better to become one of our neighbors! Hope to see you all at back to school night in September!

Here in southern California, the word has spread that NOW is the time to buy. The number of residential sales is up drastically month over month and public opinion has shifted, those who have been waiting and waiting for this bottoming out of the market to occur are now jumping at the opportunity to purchase their first home, upgrade to a larger home, or pick up that investment property they've been talking about. this buying frenzy is great for our market and is certainly helping to reduce available inventory, BUT...

It is creating a whole new dilemma for those looking to buy. Each day our inventory of homes is shrinking and each day when we as Realtors run our property searches for new listings we are coming up with less and less options for our clients. Many potential buyers are putting in offers on multiple properties only to be out bid each and every time. After weeks or even months (ouch) of doing this, the clients get discouraged and their Realtor gets frustrated. The end result of this in many cases is that the buyers either give up all together or they settle for something very different from what they actually want. Either way you end up with an unhappy/dissatisfied client.

This does not have to be the case, there is an ART to writing offers in a way that makes them more attractive to the banks and there are often ways to overcome bank objections to VA or FHA financing. If you are considering purchasing in Southern California this year, you will need to select a Realtor that is ready to do the extra work involved in getting your offer in front of the people who make the decisions. It is not uncommon for new listings to receive ten or twenty offers within days of being listed on the MLS. How will your offer compare? Will it stand out above the rest? Unfortunately not all offers are created equally, the little details, the presentation, and the submission of a completed packet are crucial in an offer making the cut. If you are looking for Realtor who has the experience and dedication needed to help you into your new home contact me today for more information.

HUD announced last Friday that first time buyers may now use their $8,000 tax credit instantly to pay closing costs or additional down payment on their home purchase! This means you no longer have to wait until tax time to take advantage of this free money. HUD is hopeful that this new program will allow many more families to qualify for a home purchase this year. With signs of a housing recovery on the horizon act now to take advantage of this amazing opportunity before prices go up!

On March 1st the state of California launched it's $100,000,000 stimulus tax credit to give residential construction push in the right direction. Although many Realtors consider new construction to be a threat to their business, it is an integral part of our local economy and provides countless employment opportunities. It goes without saying that without jobs, people cannot purchase any type of home, be it new or used. I was employed in the home building industry for four years and watched, as our economy turned, hundreds of my fellow colleagues lose their positions. With my background in building I may be more passionate than most on the subject, but regardless of that, we should all be watching the building industry very closely for signs of improvement. When construction spending is down, the rest of our economy goes with it, and vice verse.

The good news is that Californians are responding to this tax credit with much excitement and as shown below, in only 5 weeks over 3,000 new homes have been purchased in the state! A third of the allotted funds have been claimed much faster than the state anticipated! If you have buyers in the area that are considering new construction, encourage them to act quickly before the funds are depleted!

The inventory of available homes is quickly depleting here in Southern California, and we are down to a three month supply rather than the 9 month supply we ended 2008 with! Hopefully this trend will spread throughout the country and we can begin to stabilize the market a bit going into next year!

The following is an update for all of you looking to purchase a brand new home (new construction) this year to take advantage of the California $10,000 tax credit being offered. Unlike it's federal counterpart, this credit is not just for first time buyers, it's for everyone who purchases a never been lived in home this year. The state alloted $100,000,000 to this credit and will issue on a first come first served basis. The credit began just three weeks ago and already over 10% of the available money has been spoken for. If you are planning on taking advantage of this one, you may want to act quickly! Read below for the details from the franchise tax board website.

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We will update this information frequently. Please check this page often.

This tax credit is available for qualified buyers who on or after March 1, 2009, and before March 1, 2010, purchase a qualified principal residence that has never been occupied. The buyer must reside in the new home for a minimum of two years immediately following the purchase date.

We will accept applications for allocation of credit by fax only (916.845.9754), starting March 1, 2009; however, we will not send notifications of credit allocation until we have developed procedures. Once we begin processing allocation applications, credits will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We will update this page as soon as we begin mailing credit allocation letters. We plan to begin mailing credit allocation letters no later than May 1, 2009. This delay is necessary to allow us time to develop a system to capture and verify the application information, allocate the credits, and send the credit allocation letters. Please be patient with us and do not send applications more than one time.

Tax credit amounts

California allocated $100,000,000 for this tax credit. Buyers must apply for credit allocation from us. Applications will be reviewed and credit allocations will be made on a first-come, first-served basis. Once $100,000,000 has been allocated, the tax credit will no longer be available. Please check this page for updates on the allocated and remaining credits available.

Note: The remaining credit amount displayed above only reflects allocations processed. This amount will be updated once we begin mailing credit allocation letters, which is expected to commence by May 1, 2009. This amount does not include applications that have been received, but not yet processed.

Applications for New Home Credit received, but not yet processed as of 3/18/09

This reflects the total amount of credit reported on applications received as of the date indicated. This amount has not yet been verified and may include duplicate, incomplete, and invalid applications. This amount is provided for informational purposes and does not reflect the actual amount to be allocated. We will update the amount received, but not yet processed, on this webpage each Friday. As we approach the $100,000,000 limitation, we will update the reported amounts on a daily basis. Keep in mind, that all applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis, based on the date received by fax only.

California allows qualified new home buyers a total tax credit amount equal to either five percent of the purchase price or $10,000, whichever is less. Taxpayers must apply the total tax credit in equal amounts over three successive taxable years (maximum of $3,333 per year) beginning with the taxable year (2009 or 2010) in which the new home is purchased.