John Alesi (Orange County California Real Estate)

Holiday Events Planned Throughout Mission Viejo
by John Alesi, Mission Viejo REALTOR®
Mission Viejo CA Real Estate

My favorite time of year around Mission Viejo is, of course, the holidays. I just love to see the decorations and lights on the houses and public areas around the city. Long time residents always love the various holiday displays at La Paz and Chrisanta as well as the lighted trees along the center median of La Paz Rd. down to the civic Center at Marguerite Pkwy.

There will be a significant change this year as Santa's "workshop" will be relocated from the "Four Corners" area to the much larger Winter Wonderland Village in the Kershaw Garden at the Civic Center. Children will still be able to visit Santa and sit on his lap for photos but there will be much more happening around the Civic center plaza. Santa will arrive at 3pm on November 30th as usual. There will be about 30 booths of entertaining activities for the kids and a train ride through the area (for a small fee) and food available for purchase. At the old Four Corners location, the trees will still be decorated with lights, ornaments and packages with a sleigh and reindeer display set up in the former workshop location.

For more information, visit the City of Mission Viejo website.

Photo from www.FreeFoto.com

John Alesi - REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Superstars
Search the MLS at: www.YourOCHome.com

$7,500 Home Ownership Tax Credit
by John Alesi, Mission Viejo REALTOR®
Mission Viejo CA Real Estate

The Federal Government recently created a unique opportunity for home buyers when they passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (H.R. 3221). Being government sponsored, this "opportunity" comes along with a few conditional that are important to understand.

Here are 6 things to know and understand:

1. Applies to home purchases after April 8, 2008 and before July 1, 2009. Taxpayers can take the credit on their 2008 tax return if they bought their house this year after April 9.

2. Buyers don't have to be "first-timers." The tax credit is available to any individual or household that hasn’t owned a home for at least three years.

3. There are income limits to be able to qualify. The credit is reduced or eliminated for higher-income taxpayers.

4. Think of it as an interest-free loan. The "credit" is to be paid back in small, 6.67-percent increments over 15 years, although repayment will be no more than $500 yearly and payments will not start until 2011.

5. No pre-authorization before making a home purchase. Buyers simply have to claim the credit on their IRS Form 1040 tax return and/or any form that the IRS might devise.

6. New-home construction also qualifies. The purchase date is the first date the buyer occupies the home. However, any home that is not a primary residence, such as a vacation home or income property, does not qualify.

You can also visit the IRS web site for their interpretation and other information or contact me directly with your questions.

If you are considering a real estate transaction (buying,selling, relocating, investing), you can count on me as the local expert serving Rancho Santa Margarita, Ladera Ranch, Coto De Caza, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest and San Juan Capistrano, as well as all of South Orange County.

John Alesi - REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Superstars
Search the MLS at: www.YourOCHome.com

This post is copyrighted by John Alesi and may not be used without permission.

Car Show In Rancho Santa Margarita
by John Alesi, Mission Viejo REALTOR®
Mission Viejo CA Real Estate

On Monday, Oct 10th, local Orange County real estate prognosticator, Gary Watts, presented a seminar "The New Financial World and Its Impact on Real Estate." After explaining the reasons for the current slump in financial markets and the resulting overflow into real estate, Watts ended with a few points that may be the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, it's not an oncoming train!

-Credit conditions should greatly improve, bringing more buyers into the market place.
-Demand for properties will continue to be higher than the past three years.
-American households have $7.4 trillion in checking, savings, and money market funds.
-Americans have $4.1 trillion stashed in Treasury bills and other bonds.
-This total of $11.5 trillion could pay off every home mortgage in America!
-Investors have “parked” $3.5 trillion dollars in money market funds and it has to eventually move someplace. Hopefully, a large chunk goes into real estate lending.
-Most lenders will recover 70% of their outstanding loan balances through repossessing homes and then reselling them. If not, they can sell them off to the Treasury at auction.
-Price declines have allowed first-time buyers back into the real estate market.
-Pent-up demand from buyers, who have been “fence-sitting” for the past couple of years and are now re-entering the housing market, should help reduce our current housing supply.
-The U.S. income this year will be $14 trillion, while global income will be $53 trillion.
-The U.S. economy earns $26 billion every day and, even with loan write-downs in the hundreds of billions, it will represent less than ½ of 1% of the combined assets of all U.S. households and non-financial corporations.

So there is a bit of cautious optimism on the horizon. Most importantly, there is an unique window of opportunity for first-time buyers to get into the housing market while prices are much lower than in the past several years. If you are contemplating a purchase, consult with a professional Realtor® and/or trusted loan advisor. Now is not the time to be listening to the sage advice of your third cousin's hair dresser's trainer's boyfriend who heard some financial advice on a late night radio talk show.

If you are interested in more information or are thinking about purchasing or selling your home in Orange County, feel free to contact me.

This post is copyrighted by John Alesi and may not be used without permission.

Market activity - Rancho Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo, Ladera Ranch, Coto De Caza - Orange County - October 2008
by John Alesi, Mission Viejo REALTOR®
Mission Viejo CA Real Estate

Here is a snapshot of sales activity from Sept 15-Oct 15, 2008 for four cities in South Orange County. I have also included overall Orange County sales figures for comparison.

In addition to the declining prices, you can see the increasing number of foreclosures, which were nearly non-existent in 2006, now make up a significant part of the sales activity. The last section of the chart is year-to-date activity for all of Orange County. (These data were compiled from the SoCal MLS and may not reflect sales from other sources.)

Car Show In Rancho Santa Margarita
by John Alesi, Mission Viejo REALTOR®
Mission Viejo CA Real Estate

You may have heard of Habitat for Humanity's Homes For Heros commitment to build homes for disabled veterans and survivors of veterans killed in action. To support this cause, Cox Communications in Rancho Santa Margarita will host the 2008 Inaugural Rods, Rides & Racers CRUZIN4WISHES hot rod show. Set for this Saturday, October 18, 2008, from 10am-4pm, the event is open to anyone with a Motorcycle, Show Car, Exotic, Street Rod, Truck, Muscle Car, Fueler, Funny Car, Monster Truck, Boat or Classic Car. In addition to the awesome vehicles, entertainment will be provided by Turn The Page, a local Bob Seger tribute band.

For event information and registration of a show vehicle, just visit Cruzin4Wishes.net for all of the details. Bring the family and support Habitat for Humanity. Or view the Event Flyer.

John Alesi - REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Superstars
Search the MLS at: www.YourOCHome.com