It's official now, Mr. President has signed it. So how is the newer version compared to the older version? Here is a chart comparing the two.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33522046/ns/business-real_estate/
AP announced that the Senate agreed to extend the tax credit.
Yes, it looks like first time buyers and even repeat buyers get upto $6500 and can can continue to purchase throught the spring.
I was reading over CAR’s 2010 Housing Market Forecast Presentation today and came across some interesting data I wanted to share.
When did the housing market peak? In the San Francisco Bay area, it peaked in the summer of 2007, specifically, May 2007, when the median home price reached $853,910! As of August 2009, it decreased to $531,580 or a reduction of 37.7%.
Fig. A
Anecdotally, many of us who list homes see a lot of cash offers being made recently, especially towards the lower end of the price spectrum. What percentage of buyers are actually making all cash offers? In California, in 2009. 19.6% of buyers are coming in with all cash.
Figure B
Why are buyers purchasing now rather than at other times? 67% of buyers said it was due to lower prices while 39% attributed lower interest rates.
Figure C
Directly related to the notion of “lower prices” is the Housing Affordability Index which measures the percentage of buyers who can afford to purchase an average home in California. It just fell shy 70% in August of 2009. This means for the first time in this decade, approximately 70% of Californians can afford to purchase an average home. This figure corresponds almost exactly with the 67% of those who purchased homes this year believing low prices prompted them to bite the bullet.
Fig. D
A good friend of mine and I like to meet up occasionally and go to a little hole in the wall restaurant which serves a wide array of Chinese food. The menu has literally a hundred items but we both eat the same thing and have for a few years now. We get together to have some good food and chat and catch up on things.
The other day, we were doing our usual routine of chatting and eating our same ole food. Suddenly, a foul, putrid smell overwhelmed and enveloped me. It literally stopped me in my tracks. I cautiously looked around to see what could be the problem, I was puzzled because I had never smelled such powerful stench in a restaurant and could only reach the conclusion that my friend had an episode of bad gas...... I tried not to make eye contact for fear that it would make him feel uncomfortable; after all, he did it, so he must be feeling really bad at that point anyway.....
I can't remember the exact details, but there was what seemed to be a long pause with no one saying anything and me not trying to make eye contact. The problem was the stench lingered; it would not go away. I quickly decided it was not him; it wasn't me, so it was ok to gather intelligence and talk.
So in my delicate manner, I ask: "Leland, what is that smell?" His reply was rather quick: "stinky tofu, I think." My mind instantly filled with images of Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Food and other Travel Channel celebrities discussing the stench of this peculiarly but accurately named food product.
For those who have not smelled it before, you cannot imagine such an odor emanating from something sold at a restaurant is all I can say. I’ve been to my fair share of Chinese restaurants, but I’ve never seen or certainly smelled this delicacy before that day.
The table to my left had ordered a small plate of this harmless looking, but nose hair burning soy product. And rather than quickly eating them and relieving the rest of the restaurant from the agony, they left it there and ate other food while they were talking. I guess one gets immune from the smell, but obviously neither of us was accustomed to it. Rather than continuing to chat and catch up, we got our checks and left in a hurry. That was my first encounter with stinky tofu and I feel bad for thinking my buddy Leland's accidental gaseous tendenacies were the source of that smell.
And you are wondering how this is related to Real Estate? My buddy Leland is a Realtor too……..
I had some things to say about a recent encounter with an appraiser who was sent out to my listing to place a value on it. The problem I had was that the appraiser was not local but from a suburb of Modesto, about two hours away. I was hot an bothered not only because he was non-local, but he also sent a trainee without accompanying him. Everyone hears about these non-local appraisers swooping in and killing the deal because they don't know the market. I was facing that scenario as well.
I promised to report back because some people wanted to see what would happen and follow the results.
The good thing is that the appraiser was smart enough to use the comps I handed him, so the appraisal value was exactly what I thought he should come out with; no drama there. Almost anti-climactic, because I almost wanted him to not use my comps, so I could challenge him and make a big deal of it. But that was it, no drama.
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