Steven Wright~Home Real Estate~720-989-5283

How the Economic Stimulus Package might influence your buyer's Real Estate decisions.

The Economic Stimulus Package passed by congress dedicated $6.6 billion dollars to the incentive for first time
home buyers. First-time home buyers who buy a home before December 1, 2009 will receive up to $8,000
in a tax credit. This might be just what some buyers need to decide to buy. The housing market already favors
the buyer, with lots of inventory to choose from, sellers who are willing to negotiate and home prices which are
more affordable than they’ve been in years. The National Association of Home Builders are hopeful, that the
tax credit will spur some housing activity, “The new tax credit provides a great opportunity for first-time home
buyers,” said Joe Robson, NAHB chairman and a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “Combined with today’s near
record low interest rates, the large selection of homes on the market, and very competitive pricing, the tax
credit should be the extra incentive needed to get prospective buyers who have been sitting on the fence into
the market” ( ). The tax credit doesn’t apply to everyone, so buyers should consider the
following requirements of the tax credit before making any purchasing decisions:

• $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers does not have to be repaid.
• The tax credit is for 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to $8,000.
• You do not qualify if you have owned a home within the last 36 months.
• The home you use the tax credit to purchase must be your primary residency for at least the next 36
• months.
• The tax credit may be applied to your 2008 or 2009 taxes.
• The credit only applies to single taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes at or below $75,000.
• The credit only applies to married couples filing jointly with a combined adjusted gross income of
• $150,000 or less.
• You must purchase a home before December 1, 2009 to qualify for the tax credit.

I hope this reminder will help you to increase your business. Feel free to take this and send a blast e-mail to all the people you know that are on the fence.

All the best,

Steven Wright

www.stevensellsco.com (I just changed my website, let me know if you like it)

This may be old news for some, but The Real Estate commission in Colorado recently tripled our fees from 100 to 300 dollars.

Here is the reason they Give:

New Fee Schedule Background
"The Division is cash funded and does not receive any subsidy or other appropriation from the State General
Fund. As a cash funded agency, statute requires the Division to adjust program fees to generate sufficient
revenue to cover costs. In Colorado, all real estate program costs are 100% cash funded.
The Division of Real Estate has been able to keep fees low for the past several years. However, the Division
has experienced a 60% decline in new license applications in the past year. Since a decline in applications
means a decline in the fees received, overall revenue is no longer sufficient to fund the annual costs of the
program. To fund the approximately $4.1 million cost of the program, the Division must increase fees. Fees
are used only to fund the Division’s operating costs each year, and the Division cannot use excess revenue."

Here is the question that I have for them and any other State that does this to their Real Estate Agents, Mortgage Brokers and Appraiser's. What steps did this agency take to scale back their costs? For example, did they lay anyone off to help with the decrease in revenue. If there are less agents, shouldn't that mean you need less people? Why is it in a recession that the people have to cut back and modify their lifestyle, but the government never does, no they increase their size and spending.

Am I the only one bothered by this "willy nilly" drastic increase? Looks like the Real Estate Commission could use some regulation themselves. UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Your thoughts? Are other states doing this to their agents? Or is it just Colorado?

All the Best,

Steven Wright

My New Website (I just rebuilt my website, tell me if it was worth my time and effort)

I am so very grateful to be a Real Estate agent and self employed. Could you imagine what our Real Estate careers were like if we imitated Corporate America. Could you imagine scheduling numerous meetings throughout the work week with your clients where you discuss absolutely nothing? Not sure we would keep our clients for very long. What if 7 different people in our office sent the same e-mail or memo to our client telling them some useless piece of information?

Have you ever seen the move "Office Space"? Those of us that came from Corporate America were able to laugh at that movie even though it was way to real to us.

How many of you worked in Corporate America before going into Real Estate full time? Was that one of the things that pushed you into Real Estate? Would going back to Corporate America be like the worst kind of punishment for you? I would be interested in hearing your experiences or tidbits about Corporate America.

Don't Hold Back

All the Best,

Steven Wright

My New Website (I just recently updated my website with new SEO capabilities, tell me what you think)

I often reflect on my reasons for making money as a Real Estate Agent. I can tell you that my main reason for making money is not to get rich, although if it happens I will not turn it away. My main reason for making money is to do good. Good like supporting my wife and children and giving to those that are in need and most of all giving a share back to my God and Savior.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if we as a people gave more, especially us Realtors who sometimes do really well from a financial stand point. I wonder if we gave more to those in need around us, would that lessen the dependence people have on the government? This is definitely a time of great confusion for many people. For so long we have been a wants based society that now we view things like a plasma TV, cable and Internet as a need for survival. Not that I have anything against watching TV, but I really do think we have lost our way to some degree.

Do you spend time reflecting on your life each day? Self examination is a healthy part of human existence and living. How many of you spend time just being quiet for a few minutes with no noise around you? Seems like an almost impossible mission and I know it isn't just because we don't try. We get so caught up in this rat race that we lose sight of the most simple things in life. I live in the beautiful state of Colorado in Denver and I cannot tell you how often I take the beautiful Panoramic Landscape of the Mountains for granted.

Here is my question for you, do you think that I am on to something here? Should we take the opportunity to reexamine our lives in these hard economic times? I don't think there is anything wrong with making as much money as we can while we have to work. The question is at what cost do we pursue this? Forgive me in advance if I am getting to philosophical, but I am really interested in hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Sincerely,

Steven Wright

My Amazing Website ( I recently did some work to my website to try and get more business, Please tell me what you think and how I can impove it)

Good Morning and I truly hope that your Real Estate career is booming this year. Hope you make a ton of money as soon as you possibly can. Who knows if our governments power grabbing ways will prevent you from doing so in the future. Oh and if you wish, you may write me off right now, but maybe you may change your mind after you read the following news article.

You see many of you who did not like the former president because you believed he was infringing on our civil liberties as a people, love the current president. Is anybody concerned that we are moving in a very dangerous direction as a country. This is very near and dear to me because my family immigrated to the country because they were fleeing Jews from Europe. If any of you know and Holocaust survivors ask them what it was like in the run up the Nazi regime (I am not calling President Obama a nazi, just in case you are wondering). Oppressive governments become oppressive because of the passivity of the people. It is usually a gradual process that can't be reversed in a easy way.

As Realtors our jobs are total dependent on the Free Market system, we don't want anyone dictating to us how much we can charge a customer. Guess what in Colorado legislation was proposed as a ballot initiative that did that very thing. If you think it can't happen to us, then I strongly encourage you to do some soul searching and think again. I honestly am not going to say at this point that President Obama is intending on infringing on our personal liberties, I am a reasonable person and believe he is doing what he and his administration believes right. The problem is that good intentions are not enough. What is taking place is frightening and should have everyone up in arms if you hate corporations or not.

Read the following Article Here is the Link you will find the article in full below. Let me know if you think I am off base here. What do you think we should do as a people?

U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms
Goal Is to Limit Risk to Broader Economy

By Binyamin Appelbaum and David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, March 24, 2009; A01

The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.

The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

Giving the Treasury secretary authority over a broader range of companies would mark a significant shift from the existing model of financial regulation, which relies on independent agencies that are shielded from the political process. The Treasury secretary, a member of the president's Cabinet, would exercise the new powers in consultation with the White House, the Federal Reserve and other regulators, according to the document.

The administration plans to send legislation to Capitol Hill this week. Sources cautioned that the details, including the Treasury's role, are still in flux.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner is set to argue for the new powers at a hearing today on Capitol Hill about the furor over bonuses paid to executives at American International Group, which the government has propped up with about $180 billion in federal aid. Administration officials have said that the proposed authority would have allowed them to seize AIG last fall and wind down its operations at less cost to taxpayers.

The administration's proposal contains two pieces. First, it would empower a government agency to take on the new role of systemic risk regulator with broad oversight of any and all financial firms whose failure could disrupt the broader economy. The Federal Reserve is widely considered to be the leading candidate for this assignment. But some critics warn that this could conflict with the Fed's other responsibilities, particularly its control over monetary policy.

The government also would assume the authority to seize such firms if they totter toward failure.

Besides seizing a company outright, the document states, the Treasury Secretary could use a range of tools to prevent its collapse, such as guaranteeing losses, buying assets or taking a partial ownership stake. Such authority also would allow the government to break contracts, such as the agreements to pay $165 million in bonuses to employees of AIG's most troubled unit.

The Treasury secretary could act only after consulting with the president and getting a recommendation from two-thirds of the Federal Reserve Board, according to the plan.

Geithner plans to lay out the administration's broader strategy for overhauling financial regulation at another hearing on Thursday.

The authority to seize non-bank financial firms has emerged as a priority for the administration after the failure of investment house Lehman Brothers, which was not a traditional bank, and the troubled rescue of AIG.

"We're very late in doing this, but we've got to move quickly to try and do this because, again, it's a necessary thing for any government to have a broader range of tools for dealing with these kinds of things, so you can protect the economy from the kind of risks posed by institutions that get to the point where they're systemic," Geithner said last night at a forum held by the Wall Street Journal.

The powers would parallel the government's existing authority over banks, which are exercised by banking regulatory agencies in conjunction with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Geithner has cited that structure as the model for the government's plans.