OZARK MO REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2009

THREE YEAR COMPARISON OF HOME SALES IN OZARK MO

THREE MONTH COMPARISON OF HOMES SOLD IN OZARK MO

INVENTORY REPORT FOR HOMES IN OZARK MO

Homes for Sale in Ozark, MO:

• Total Active Listings: 285 homes
• Under Contract: 55 pending sales
• Total Sold Listings for September: 53 sales

Ozark MO Sales Price Information

• Average Sales Price: $146,967
• Sale Price to List Price Ratio: 99.27%

Days on Market (for Sold homes)

Average Days on Market: 69 days

Ozark MO Real Estate Market Report for August 2009

Ozark MO Real Estate Market Report for July 2009

SPRINGFIELD MO REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2009

Three Year Comparison of Home Sales in Springfield MO

Three Month Comparison of Home Sales in Springfield MO

Inventory Report for Homes in Springfield MO

Homes for Sale in Springfield, MO:

• Total Active Listings: 1,685 homes
• Under Contract:  410 pending sales
• Total Sold Listings for September: 241 sales

Springfield MO Sales Price Information

• Average Sales Price: $123,866
• Sale Price to List Price Ratio: 98.48%

Days on Market (for Sold homes)

Average Days on Market: 68 days

Springfield MO Market Report for August 2009

Springfield MO Market Report for July 2009

There are tax benefits some accountants don't even know about. Our office recently asked Ted Smith, CPA, an accountant in Ozark, MO, to come and speak with our real estate agents at our weekly office meeting. The information we learned was so incredibly helpful, not just for us, but for our clients. There are many tax benefits available in our area, and I asked Ted how he learned about them when other accounts didn't seem to be aware of them (or weren't passing them on to their clients). His response: I actually read the tax regulations...all of them. Hmmm....there's a novel idea. I realize that reading the tax regs has to be the most boring material known to man, but as an accountant, shouldn't you do just that? Ted did, and here are some hidden secrets he has uncovered:

First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit....FOR HOMEOWNERS?!? That's right. You CAN own a home and still qualify for the tax credit. If you own rental property, but have leased your primary residence for the past three years, you qualify for the tax credit. Also, anyone moving from abroad that owned outside the country qualifies.

Midwestern Disaster Area Tax Benefits. Because of the storms of 2008, there are several counties in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin that were declared disaster areas. The IRS has a webpage which details the counties included in the Midwestern Disaster Area. The effective date of these benefits is June 1, 2008.

• IRA and other Retirement Plan Benfits: If your primary residence was located in the disaster area on the date of the storms, any monies withdrawn from your IRA and other retirement plans between June 1, 2008, and December 31, 2009, are NOT subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty, and the income you must claim on the withdrawal can be claimed equally over the next 3 years. This is perfect for clients who are unhappy with the current state of their investments and would prefer to use the money to put down on a new home, or pay off an existing home.
  
• Cancellation of Debt: If your primary resident was located in the disaster area on the date of the storms, any cancellation of debt will not be considered taxable income. This is applicable to any debt canceled on or after the date of the storms, and before January 1, 2010.
• School Tax Credits: If your child attended a school or university in a county located within the Midwest Disaster Area, you benefit from DOUBLE the education credits. This includes tuition, room and board and supplies.

Hire Your Children: I actually looked at Ted and said, "But my son is only 11...isn't that child labor?" Guess what...it's not child labor when it's your own child. Does my son help me? You bet he does!!! I have always brought him with me when showing property to clients with very young children. He doesn't follow my orders that well, but he's a pro at making other people's children obey him. You can hire your child, as long as you pay him the usual and customary rate for the service being performed, whether that be babysitting, assisting in showings, or putting up real estate signs. You do not owe taxes on ANY money you pay them. Simply put the money in a savings/checking account to be used for their school clothes, birthday present, childcare, etc., and it's all pre-tax dollars. What a concept!!!

After an informative meeting at our office, I decided to have Ted prepare my taxes for 2008. You see, I have just been a target of an informal IRS audit wherein the IRS decided I owed them an additional $2,600 for tax years 2006 and 2007. Ted reviewed my taxes and recommended we file amended returns since there were several deductions that were available to me, but not utilized by my previous accountant or made known to me. Thanks to Ted's knowledge and diligent research, he was able to nearly wipe out any deficiencies for 2006 and 2007. Not to mention the superb job he did for me on my 2008 return.

With an accountant like Ted, tax time was not the gut-wrenching experience it has been in the past for me. Thanks, Ted!

THIS IS FOR THE ENTIRE GREATER SPRINGFIELD BOARD OF REALTORS

Homes for Sale in Springfield, MO:

• Total Active Listings: 4,732 homes
• Under Contract: 949 pending sales
• Total Sold Listings for September: 551 sales

Springfield MO Sales Price Information

• Average Sales Price: $125,060
• Sale Price to List Price Ratio: 98.67%

Days on Market (for Sold homes)

Average Days on Market: 76 days

I turned 40 today. Yep - the "BIG 4-0." It really doesn't bother me. I subscribe to the theory that 40 is the new 30. My boyfriend took me shopping for new clothes for my birthday. As we walked into Macy's I was struck by a "deja vu" moment. I can remember standing in that EXACT spot, staring at the EXACT clothes, EXACTLY 20 years ago. Of course, back then it was Famous Barr, now it's Macy's. I had a flashback to my senior picture where I was wearing stirrup pants and a large sweater that swallowed me. Staring at the clothes racks now....same thing. Only now we call them leggings, but the same oversized sweaters are still there.

Something else struck me. EXACTLY 20 years ago, we were going through the S&L crisis. In 1989, I didn't pay much attention to the S&L crisis. I was a 20 year old who thought she knew it all. So, after shopping, I came home and looked up the S&L Crisis on Wikipedia. Some of the similarities I saw were frighteningly eerie. Here are some excerpts:

• In an effort to take advantage of the real estate boom (outstanding US mortgage loans: 1976 $700 billion; 1980 $1.5 trillion)^{[citation needed]} and high interest rates of the late 1970s and early 1980s, many S&Ls lent far more money than was prudent, and too-risky ventures which many S&Ls were not qualified to assess. L. William Seidman, former chairman of both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Resolution Trust Corporation, stated, "The banking problems of the '80s and '90s came primarily, but not exclusively, from unsound real estate lending."^[4]

• The ultimate cost of the crisis is estimated to have totaled around $160.1 billion, about $124.6 billion of which was directly paid for by the US government—that is, the US taxpayer, either directly or through charges on their savings and loan accounts^[1]—which contributed to the large budget deficits of the early 1990s.

• The concomitant slowdown in the finance industry and the real estate market may have been a contributing cause of the 1990–1991 economic recession. Between 1986 and 1991, the number of new homes constructed per year dropped from 1.8 million to 1 million, which was at the time the lowest rate since World War II. ^[2]

• While not part of the savings and loan crisis, many other banks failed. Between 1980 and 1994 more than 1,600 banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) were closed or received FDIC financial assistance.^[16]

• From 1986 to 1995, the number of US federally insured savings and loans in the United States declined from 3,234 to 1,645.^[7] This was primarily, but not exclusively, due to unsound real estate lending.^[17]

• The US government ultimately appropriated 105 billion dollars to resolve the crisis. After banks repaid loans through various procedures, there was a net loss to taxpayers of approximately $124 billion dollars by the end of 1999.^[18]

• Some commentators believe that a taxpayer-funded government bailout related to mortgages during the savings and loan crisis may have created a moral hazard and acted as encouragement to lenders to make similar higher risk loans during the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.^[19]

So...here we are...20 years later. The details of how we got here may not be the same, but the economy is nevertheless. And I have to wonder: Didn't we learn anything? How did we end up back here again?

I don't want to think that I'm destined to keep repeating the same cycles in life. But I think I have managed to learn a few life lessons in the past 20 years:

• Hard work always pays off. Maybe not immediately, but eventually it will.
• What comes around....goes around.
• Sob stories are like belly buttons - everyone has one.
• True love begins with yourself.
• Unanswered prayers are usually the greatest blessings we receive.
• Everyone has dues to pay in life.
• Never judge anyone...most likely you will find yourself in their shoes somewhere down the road.
• When you see someone finally get what they having coming to them, it doesn't make you feel any better.
• People who brag about their money almost always don't have any.
• There is no glory in being a victim. Glory comes from picking yourself back up after you've been victimized.
• Just when you think it will never end....it does.
• When the dust clears, if you still have your loved ones...nothing else really matters.
• When I was 20....I didn't know squat.
• My parents actually did know what they were talking about. (I hope my mother isn't reading this).
  

Growing up, I always wondered where I'd be and what my life would be like when I was 40. Now I know....it's not a lot different than when I was 20. Only now, I'm qualified to say Been There....Done That.