Get Real Tacoma

The News Tribune blog has a great article today about my very favorite lunch spot,Infinite Soups.  To celebrate their anniversary they will be giving customers free cupcakes from Corina Bakery.  Um. Yeah. I’ll totally be there.

$169,950 Townhouse 3 Beds 3 Baths

These days, it seems the majority of my time looking at homes with buyers is focussed on homes that are priced under 200k.  

There are a lot of reasons for this, most of them having to do with how much buyers want to be paying for their mortgage each month.  

A lot of my clients are buying their first or second house and would prefer that their monthly payment not exceed $1,500.

The great silver lining of the whole housing kurfuffle is that there are finally some really great homes under $200,000 in Tacoma.  There are even some great homes under $150,000.  Not suprisingly, this has become the most popular price range, and the good houses in this group tend to sell more quickly than homes in other price ranges.  Below you’ll find the stats on the under 200k price range in Tacoma, as well as some examples of what you get for the money!

Read the rest of this entry »

Homebuyers, Rejoice.  Buying a house in 2009 just got even easier.

The President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 this week.  The bill is a $780 billion package, with about 35% of the package devoted to tax cuts (mostly for 2009) and the rest to spending intended to occur in 2009 and 2010. 

The major part that agents have been watching for, (especially agents like me- 80% of my clients are buyers) is the tax credit.  Previously, there was a credit of $7500 that had to be paid back. Not anymore!

 – The bill provides for a $8,000 tax credit that would be available to first-time home buyers for the purchase of a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.  The credit does not require repayment.  Most of the mechanics of the credit will be the same as under the 2008 rules:  the credit will be claimed on a tax return to reduce the purchaser’s income tax liability.  If any credit amount remains unused, then the unused amount will be refunded as a check to the purchaser.      Source: Realtor.com

This is very exciting.  I have a client right now who just bought a 3 bedroom, 1 bath house for $120,000.  The seller (a bank) is paying his closing costs.  His downpayment is $3,600.  His house payment will be $897.00/month including taxes, insurance, and everything else.  When he receives his tax return this year, he will be getting an extra $8,000 back that he will NOT have to repay.  Thats enough for him to pay his mortgage for almost 9 months, or make some improvements to his house, or….put 6 months expenses in the bank like Suze Orman tells us all we should!

The News Tribune did an excellent article today about the 2009 Property Tax Assessments that came out on Friday in Pierce County.

I thought this article was very well researched and (however you feel about property taxes) gives good insight into what they’re thinking over at the Assessor Treasurers Office.

Here is a link to the cities (including Tacoma!) that actually saw DECREASES in property taxes this year.

On average, property tax bills went down for Tacomans by -.87%. We were joined by UP (-1.3%), Fife (11.43%), Puyallup (3.66%), Fircrest (1.44%), and Lakewood (1.34%). Certainly the pecentage of property tax we’re paying does not reflect the loss of value in these same areas, which is the focus of much of the News Tribune’s Article.

For more Tacoma Real Estate Information visit Get Real Tacoma.

Last week credit companies made some changes to how your FICO score is calculated.  

If you are buying a house, refinancing a house, or renting an apartment- you are being judged based on your credit score. I am not one of those people who advocates being obsessed with your score. I spent two years of my life obsessively reading and worrying about how every minor financial event in my life impacted my score, which is silly.  Obsessing about credit is unhealthy, but understand the scoring process staying on top of how to put your best foot forward to creditors is a good thing! 

Credit scores range from 300-850. The lowest I have ever encountered was a 463, the highest I’ve seen was 840. Both of those people made about the same income, it was all about how they managed their money. The average credit score in america is about 678.  If your score is 700 or above, your interest rates should be low and credit should be readily available to you.

Here is a breakdown of how scores are determined, from Suze Orman: Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s one way to increase the pool of home buyers: Allow more skilled immigrants to enter the United States legally.  Erik Emery wrote a post on a Thomas Friedman article in the New York Times that says we should do exactly that.

“All you need to do is grant visas to two million Indians, Chinese and Koreans,” said Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Indian Express newspaper. “We will buy up all the subprime homes. We will work 18 hours a day to pay for them. We will immediately improve your savings rate — no Indian bank today has more than 2 percent nonperforming loans because not paying your mortgage is considered shameful here. And we will start new companies to create our own jobs and jobs for more Americans.”

So… people come here to start companies that employ people and buy houses.  Sounds good to me. Click here to read the full article.

I was having a delicious breakfast with some friends at Puget Sound Pizza this weekend, and this blog came up in conversation.  

“I never read the numbers and stuff” my friend said. 

“But the numbers are the most interesting part!” I exclaimed in reply. 

So, in an effort to make my boring numbers more entertaining for you, I am learning how to make graphs and charts online.  Here is my very first one:

I know it’s a little dry, but bear with me.  I’ll get better at it! Hopefully this will make some of the dryer data a little more digestable in the future.

The New York Times has a great article out about some of the new tax breaks available to people buying, selling, and improving their homes!

Among the highlights, more information about the $7500 home buyer credit, a new tax break for widows & widowers, residential energy credits, and more.  It also points out which tax breaks are being looked over by congress that might be coming down the pike soon.

Tax time is getting closer, if you own a home (or plan to buy one this coming year) this is essential information.  So read this article and then call your tax professional.

Thanks to my #1 Client Matt for sending this my way!