Perry Thomas

There is a 6.5% national rise in home sales since November in 2008. This increase is driven largely by 4 states that experienced some of the biggest price declines in 2008. Home sales in California are up 84.7%, Nevada is up 133.7%, Arizona is up 42.6% and Florida is up 12.5%. The biggest reason for most of this new activity is because of distressed home sales, foreclosures and short sales.

It would appear that lower interest rates and lower home prices are attracting home buyers to Markets like California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada. Could it be the states that brought us into the market downturn could be the ones who lead us out of it?

Comparing home prices in 2008 to 2007, according to the National Assosiation of Realtors, California was down 26.9%, Nevada was down 22.8%, Arizona was down 19% and Florida was down 18.2%.

The states with the biggest price drops in 2008 are the same states that saw the biggest increases in home sales this year. With home sales on the rise .5% nationally, home prices low and mortgage rates at a low not seen since 1969, now is an incredible time to buy a home.

In February 2009, Congress expanded the first-time homebuyer tax credit (as modified in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) to provide a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first time home buyers that no longer has to be paid back to the government. It's called the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and this is fundamentally what it is:

• The Tax Credit is for first time home buyers only.
• The Tax Credit does not have to be repaid.
• The Tax Credit is equal to 10% of the home's purchase price, up to a maximum of $8,000.
• The Tax Credit is available for homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.
• The Tax Credit is available for single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000.

That is essentially it. If you have more questions about the plan, just visit the website where most of this information came from. It's www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com

This is an amazing time for the first time homeowner to purchase their first home. The price of most real estate is at a record low. Most everything is on sale. Interest rates are also low. 5% to 6% make already low priced real estate even more affordable. Now Congress has offered us $8,000 cash back on our taxes if we buy our first home in 2009. As the first-time homebuyer considers their first purchase, now is an incredible time to buy that first home.

Thousands of Keller Williams Agents from all over the Country and Canada filled up the Orange County Convention center in Orlando, Florida. Perry and Lynn met with old friends from all over the country and went to so many training classes. Perry said, "It's like trying to drink water from a fire hydrant; there is so much great information!"

Clint Swindall was the keynote speaker who explained when asking how someone is, rather than asking, "Hey how are you?" and getting an answer you way not want, try asking, "Tell me somethin' good!"

An incredible announcement was made during the state of the company event that Keller Williams bumped RE/MAX for the number 3 position in agent count in the United States. The current count is as follows: #1 Coldwell Banker 101,170 agents #2 Century 21 98,390 agents #3 Keller Williams 72,794 agents #4 RE/MAX 69,108 agents #5 Prudential 62,000 agents.

During a time when most real estate franchises are cutting back benefits for the agents, Keller Williams is adding more free training to everyone and unbelievably, affordable health care for their agents.

Perry and Lynn stayed two additional days in Orlando, Florida so Perry could swim in hte ocean at Coco Beach and go see Peter Pan and Tinkerbell at the Magic Kingdom.

On their drive home, Perry and Lynn were so inspired by the conference they couldn't wait to get home and omplement these phenomenal elements into their business. They feel challenged to give more time and energy to their staff and clients than they ever have before. The are off to not just survive, but to thrive in this current Louisville Real Estate Market.

Well We are beginning to dig ourselves out of the ice storm of 2009. We're cutting up trees and making piles. The sun is out. We have our gas and electricity. We feel like humans living in the 21st century again. The picture to the right is how our House looked from the street. Those Dogwoods don't usually touch the ground. Fortunately, it looks as iff our trees will all be saved. Perry climbed them all and cut away the broken branches.

February 13, 2008

Whats going on with the new Stimulus Package as it pertains to the Real Estate Market?

The senate is discussing a portion of the stimulus package called fix housing. There are two primary compents under discussion. The first on is the $15,000 Homebuyer tax credit.

Many of us know that current credit of $7,500 exists to those first time homeowners that purchase a house this year. The plan will expand that number to $15,000 and open it up to everyone not just to first time homeowners. Under debate is, will we have to pay it back? If so, how much? A tax credit is a powerful idea. That will certainly put money back in the hands of tax payers. For example, if you owe Uncle Sam $1,000, instead of writing a check for that amount, you will get a $14,000 check. That's dramatic. Not only will that put cash in peoples hands, it will cause more people to want to buy real estate. More buyers in the market place causes more demand. As demand increases, prices rise.

The other portion of fix housing talks about getting mortgage rates between 4.0 and 4.5%. It's complicated how they plan to achieve such a plan. One idea under discussion, is banks will issue these mortgages, then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will purchase these newly originated loans. That is not just new home purchases, but also refinancing of a current home. They are discussing an end date of these loans being the end of 2010.

They want to cap the program at $300 billion dollars. That seems to say, "If we hit $300 billion dollars in November of 09, that's it gang, no more loans." Estimates of the cost of the tax credit program comes in at about $20 billion. I don't hear language about a cap here, but the time period will be between January 1st (it will be retroactive for uswho already purchased) and December 2009. The minimum cost of both these programs will be $320 billion dollars. That comes to a little more that a third of the total stimulus package going toward fixing the housing problem.