Marty Woomer

The January housing market data was made available today. There was an improvement on many fronts, but first the cold hard facts...

39 Homes went pending, the most since September (67).

12 Homes sold in January. This is largely driven by the lower pendings in the previous 2 months.

Inventory decreased for a 6th consecutive month, down to 652 from a high of 1010 (July).

Median Price was $151,000, down from last months $180,000, and down from a January 08 median of $190,000.

Average Price Sold price was $189,000, up from last months $184,000, but down from a January 08 average of $197,000.

The average time to sell a home was 221 days, which is significantly higher than the years historical average.

There is still a large inventory(54 months based on closed sales, and 16.7 months based on pending sales) that will continue to enable buyers to pick and choose their property closely, and will continue to drive the prices down. The good news is the inventory keeps decreasing.

Marty

The January housing market data was made available today. There was an improvement on many fronts, but first the cold hard facts...

229 Homes went pending, the most since September(262) and almost as many as November and December combined(277)

114 Homes sold in January. This is largely driven by the pendings in the previous 2 months.

Inventory decreased for a 6th consecutive month, down to 1755 from a high of 2589(July).

Median Price was $234,000, up from last months $225,000, but down from a January 08 median of $270,000.

Average Price Sold price was $285,000, up from last months $263,000, but down from a January 08 average of $324,000.

The average time to sell a home was 147 days, which tracks closely with the last several months

There is still a large inventory(15.4 months) that will continue to enable buyers to pick and choose their property closely. The good news is the inventory keeps decreasing.

I sincerely hope this is a sign of things to come for 2009.

Marty

If you have a TSP account, please read on...

The following e-mail is being distributed by an unknown source to numerous Bureau of Prisons employees. It has been confirmed with TSP that the e-mail address is not a legitimate TSP address. TSP does not communicate via e-mail except to confirm inter-fund transfers and contribution allocation changes initiated by the participant. Legitimate TSP e-mail addresses end with .gov, not .us. There is no Department of Justice sponsored bailout option.

The text of the scam message reads:

">>> "TSP Account Coordinator" <tsp-coordinator@tsp-bailout.us> 1/16/2009

2:09 PM >>>

Dear Customer,

Our records indicate your investment balance may have dropped below the allowable loss threshold set by the U.S. Government. This threshold has been set to notify customers that have lost over 30% of their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) investment balance as of October 1, 2008.

Due to the unfortunate decline in the public stock market, the USDOJ is authorizing a one time bailout option to recover your losses. If you wish to participate, please visit the website(https://www.tsp-bailout.us), log in using your USDOJ domain account credentials, and then select the bailout agreement link at the top of the page. Upon receiving confirmation, you will be sent the agreement paperwork.

You will only have until January 31, 2009, to take advantage of this bailout option. After that time the U.S. Government will no longer accept bailout requests from TSP customers.

Thank you,

Thrift Savings Plan Account Coordinator"

Since all federal employees utilize the TSP system this type of scam could easily be distributed to any and all federal employees . Do not provide any Privacy Information without verifying the source of the request particularly requests via re-mail.

Marty

Hello all,

It is that time of year again when DFAS releases it BAH rates for the upcoming year. There are many 3rd party sites that will give you the rates with a bit of advertising. Here is the link to the official site, as bland as it may be. You just go to the site and enter your zip code & rank.

http://perdiem.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/bah.htm

There was a good increase for Bremerton, WA. Here are some examples for Bremerton, WA

E5: $1258 with dependants, $1010 without

E7: $1484 with, $1173 without

01: $1277, $1076

03: $1586, $1365

Hope you find this helpful, and Happy New Year!

Marty

All, if not most of us, know about the IRS rule that if you live in your home 2 of the last 5 years proceeding the sale date, that all gains are exempt from Federal Capital gains. What if I told you it only had to be 2 out of the last 10? Well it can be if you are active duty military, and had a PCS move. I am not an accountant, but I married a very smart one. I can't legally give tax advice, so I will quote the IRS Tax Law below.

Source: IRS Publication 3, Armed Forces Tax Guide, 2007 returns. Pages 10-11

"Rules for Sales in 2007

You generally can exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000, in most cases, if married filing a joint return) realized on the sale or exchange of a main home in 2007. The exclusion is allowed each time you sell or exchange a main home, but generally not more than once every 2 years. To be eligible, during the 5-year period ending on the date of the sale, you must have owned the home for at least 2 years (the ownership test), and lived in the home as your main home for at least 2 years (the use test). Exception to ownership and use tests. You can exclude gain, but the maximum amount of gain you can exclude will be reduced if you do not meet the ownership and use tests due to a move to a new permanent duty station. 5-year test period suspended. You can choose to have the 5-year test period for ownership and use suspended during any period you or your spouse serve on qualified official extended duty as a member of the Armed Forces. This means that you may be able to meet the 2-year use test even if, because of your service, you did not actually live in your home for at least the required 2 years during the 5-year period ending on the date of sale.

Example. David bought and moved into a home in 1999. He lived in it as his main home for 2.5 years. For the next 6 years, he did not live in it because he was on qualified official extended duty with the Army. He then sold the home at a gain in 2007. To meet the use test, David chooses to suspend the 5-year test period for the 6 years he was on qualifying official extended duty. This means he can disregard those 6 years. Therefore, David's 5-year test period consists of the 5 years before he went on qualifying official extended duty. He meets the ownership and use tests because he owned and lived in the home for 2.5 years during this test period.

Period of suspension. The period of suspension can-not last more than 10 years. You cannot suspend the 5-year period for more than one property at a time. You can revoke your choice to suspend the 5-year period at any time.

Qualified official extended duty. You are on qualified official extended duty if you serve on extended duty either:

• At a duty station at least 50 miles from your main home, or

• While you live in Government quarters under Government orders.

You are on extended duty when you are called or ordered to active duty for a period of more than 90 days or for an indefinite period.

Property used for rental or business. You may be able exclude your gain from the sale of a home that you have used as a rental property or for business. However, you must meet the ownership and use tests discussed in Publication 523.

Loss. You cannot deduct a loss from the sale of your main home.

More information. For more information on the laws affecting the sale of a home in 2007, see Publication 523"

I hope this helps provide insight, or at least the location of the applicable tax law. Happy Holidays.