Lynn Kenton Ventura Real Estate

Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed Assembly Bill 183, the Homebuyer Tax Credit legislation, into law. This bill provides $200 million in tax credits for qualified first time home buyers in California.

It involves a credit of 5% of the purchase price not to exceed $10,000 . To qualify you must be a first time home buyer of a new OR existing home and the sale must occur between May 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010 or after December 31, 2010 until August 1, 2011. This credit will be applied in three equal installments over three consecutive years and the buyer must live in the property for two years or will have to repay the credit.

The bill received wide support on all sides and is expected to generate some economy stimulus via construction repairs and rehabilitation to the homes as well as retail sales of items for home improvements.

Almost 40 percent of first-time home buyers say they wouldn't have bought a home if the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers was not available to them, per C.A.R. research done last year. The positive effect of these home buyer tax credits is obvious.

California's former home buyer tax credit program for new home purchases had such a favorable outcome (particulaarly in the Ventura County Real Estate Market) that it depleted the tax credits by the end of June 2009, eight months before it was to expire and just as the state's housing markets seemed to be making a comeback. Unlike last year's legislation, AB 183 includes a tax credit for the purchase of an existing home by a first-time home buyer.

There likely will soon be a tax credit of 5% of the purchase price not to exceed $10,000 for home buyers in the state of California. To qualify you must be a first time home buyer of a new OR existing home and the sale must occur between May 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010.

The bill received wide support on all sides and is expected to be signed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

We've all heard that phrase resonate throughout our industry as we deal with the banks and try to pick up the pieces for our clients in desperate need of a loan modification or short pay. (Advil, anyone?) The newspapers and high end politicians blithly tout the virtues of these programs to the public (really?) and have little idea as to what's truly occuring in the trenches.

The reality is a lot of unfair treatment by banks on loan modifications, short pays or foreclosures....Some of it simply defies common sense. We all have some nightmarish stories and it doesn't seem to be abating.

From my recent blog, "Ventura County Realtors are in the process of forming a focus group (Realtors, lenders, escrow officers, etc.) to present to Congresswoman Lois Capps and Representative Elton Gallegly. Both have expressed a desire to meet with us and provide a package of these stories to higher political offices."... We now have dates.

March 8, 2010 10 AM Please join us to contribute your experiences so we can formulate our presentations. I know you all have at least one! (Held at Aliso Escrow.)

March 18, 2010 9 AM Meeting with Rep. Gallegly's office (Held at VCCAR office)

March 24, 2010 9 AM Meeting with Congresswoman Capps office (Held at VCCAR office)

We need to create a groundswell of awareness with the people who have the power to exert some pressure on the lending institutions to expedite the processes. If you don't sell Ventura County Real Estate, you can get the ball rolling in your own area.

Give me a holler if you want more information- more to follow!

Does the real estate market and it's challenges weigh heavily on you sometimes? Does your soul want to scream George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can't Say On TV"? Of course it does.

Of course there are those magic moments in our career that make our hearts go pitter-patter and we realize this is why we forge ahead and do what we do for a living. Ah yes, but one never knows when that will be. In the meantime we need to stay mentally healthy so we don't reach through the phone and strangle people some days, right??? They say keep smiling so when you get older all your wrinkles will be in the right place.

So take a few minutes for your mental health and take a look at this video. I promise you it is laugh out loud, slap your knee funny and will make your day better. The link below will take you to the video and comments page (which, by the way, you are welcome to make). Just be sure to scroll up to the video part and know that the show really gets started around the two minute mark.

Here's to your health!

http://www.vendoralley.com/2010/02/01/life-of-a-realtor-video/comment-page-1/#comment-866

Regarding unfair treatment by banks on loan modifications, short pays or foreclosures.... We all have some nightmarish stories and it doesn't seem to be abating.

Ventura County Realtors are in the process of forming a focus group (Realtors, lenders, escrow officers, etc.) to present to Congresswoman Lois Capps and Representative Elton Gallegly. Both have expressed a desire to meet with us and provide a package of these stories to higher political offices.

Let me know if you'd like to contribute your experiences or know of someone who does. If you're not in our area, feel free to get on the bandwagon in your zone. It would be great if this could become a grass roots effort on our part as professionals.

Far too many elected officials are still looking through rose colored glasses.....