Nancy McNamee

According to California Assn of Realtors, The House today passed a bill extending and expanding the Federal Tax Credit. The Senate passed the bill late yesterday and it will now go to President Obama for his signature. When signed it will extend the credit to April 30, 2010 with a 60 day extension possible if a binding contract is in place before the April deadline.

FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS will continue to receive a tax credit of up to $8,000, while existing homeowners will receive a reduced credit of up to $6,500.

EXISTING HOMEOWNERS will be eligible for the $6,500 if they have lived in their current residences for at least five years. The bill also will increase the qualifying income limits from $75,000 for single tax filers and $150,000 for joint filers, to $125,000 and $225,000, respectively. The purchase price of the home is capped at $800,000.

The home buyers do not have to repay the credit provided the home remains their primary residence for 36 months after purchase, and waives this requirement for active duty military personnel who move due to a military order.

News from Washington said Senators agreed to extend the $8000 tax credit for first time home buyers until June 30, 2010. They also are offering $6500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current home more than 5 years.

The 3.6% drop in home sales in September, the first sales decline since March, may have prompted them to extend the credit. There is speculation that the drop is due to the uncertainty of the continuation of the tax credit.

This will help those of us with Short Sale deals pending and in danger of not closing by Nov 30th, enough breathing room to do our clients justice and complete their purchase or sale without them missing out on the credit. How many of you out there are as relieved as I am?

Anybody out there frustrated with the time it takes to get a response from the bank on Short Sales? I know, silly question. Today after umpteen minutes waiting on HOLD with the bank, my own phone told me it had put me on hold. What the!!! Grr was my first thought but my mood changed when I called again and after only 10 minutes (what have we come to when 10 minutes on hold seems short) of waiting on the second call a man answered and identified himself by name. "Wow," I said, "You're just the person I need to speak to." He was a little apprehensive with that opening... but asked how he could help. I explained I had sent an offer in 2 months earlier and it seemed that nothing was happening. He asked me to wait on hold for a while longer and returned to say that everything he needed was in the file (I knew that!) and that he had ordered not one but 2 BPOs (while I was on hold) so it should be ready to assign to a negotiator next week when the BPOs are submitted. Now, how hard was that and it took less than 10 minutes on his part.

Oh, he also said that he has been spending 8-9 hours a day with incoming calls. So, here's my question? Is someone asleep at the switch??? Why in the world are they having all of these people answer the phones instead of working on the files. We wouldn't be calling and wasting our time on hold and their time on the phone if the short sales were progressing and we knew what was going on. I would be willing to have phone lines only open two days a week if they would spend the other three working on the files. They could choose to cc us on their notes to the file and just call us when they want to negotiate the nitty gritty. Or they could use one of the programs that lets both sides log in and see what's happening. I'm sure there are a lot more ideas out there, but please DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME ON THE PHONES GUYS.

When I received a call with a referral for a short sale listing, I prompty gave it away because I wasn't going to get involved with "all that paperwork and hassle." But, when a friend asked me to help him get out from under an investment that was costing him $1000 a month I said, "Sure, why not." I asked a few questions of those who had gone before me and priced it based on a model match that had been sold two months earlier. I saw no reason to price it crazy low.

Very shortly we received an offer over asking price. I put all the papers together in a nice orderly fashion and faxed the entire package to the fax number I had been given by the lender. That was the only frustrating part of the entire process. It took two and a half weeks and two more faxes to confirm that it had indeed been received by the lender.

Meanwhile the buyer's agent kept calling wanting to know if I had heard anything. No, was always the answer. Phone calls and emails to the lender went unanswered. I told her that my impression was that this asset manager was tending to business instead of wasting time on the phone or answering emails and that one day an approval notice would appear in my inbox. And what do you know, that impression was correct and when I was away for two days, of course, isn't it always when you are on vacation, I recieved the approval with the terms exactly as written. That was a happy day but not as happy as today when it was recorded! And all of it done from listing to close in less than three months. The buyer's agent said her faith is short sales has now been renewed. So, if your client sees a short sale that is perfect for them, do some research and give it some consideration. It could work!

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Have you been slaving at the office and need a vacaton? I just returned from a 14 day cruise in the Caribbean and would be happy to let anyone who has a desire to visit any of the same islands a synopsis of what we did and my impression of the islands. We visited St. John; Cabrits, Dominica; Kingston, St, Vincent; Scarborogh, Tobago; Gustavia, St Barts; Virgin Gorda; Ponce, Puerto Rico; Cayo Leintado, Dominican Republic; and Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos. Some were beautiful and some I wouldn't really care to go visit again. We like to snorkel and enjoyed that on three islands. Some of the islands had more beaches than others. Our whole reason for going there was to snorkel at Devil's Bay at Virgin Gorda. I had a poster of it for a long time and vowed to "go there some day."

Do you have a "go there some day wish?" Maybe it's time to start planning.