Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
To the SD peeps. Can u name the location of this home?
www. SDExclusiveproperties.com
San Diego Real Estate
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
http://mysandiegorealtor.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/you-are-ready-to-buy-a-home-but-you-offers-keep-getting-rejectedd/
When you decided it was time to buy a home, if you are like most people, you felt some apprehension and a lot of excitement. So you started going to open houses, along the way you might have gotten a hold of a Real Estate agent to help you along the process, you got pre-approved for a loan, you kept looking at houses, you searched online, probably every other day if not daily,twice a day, maybe three times a day, until one day you finally take the big step…You write up an offer!
You sign it and wait…and wait….and then, the news comes….It was not accepted, someone else’s was chosen. WHAT???? How can that be you ask yourself? The one house that is getting an offer is rejecting mine in this down market? Turns out, that it got three offers on the first week and one was full price so they did not choose yours that was way lower. So…your search continues because you know you are going to find a house.
Weekend of open houses, more appointments during the week, more homes, one that has a funky layout, one that does not have doors in any bedroom, one more that has apparently been lived in by the Adams Family, now you start comparing them all to the one that got away, and you are not liking any of them. You decide to take a break, so you go away for the weekend. During your relaxing get away you think about it and you decide to commit yourself to BUYING a house. So you come back renewed and refreshed and determined to start writing up offers right and left hoping that one sticks, one has to work!!!
Armed with a pen and lower expectations you go out to…see some more houses, many of which you have already seen but are giving them a second chance. And since you mean business you start writing up more offers, however since you feel you are definitely compromising on what you are buying you don’t feel you have to pay close to market price so you start writing lower offers, if one works for the amount that you are offering, you will handle living in that funky layout for a while.
You look, you, sign, you send, you wait…rejected, rejected, rejected, accepted….WHAT???? the funky layout one got accepted??? you open escrow and you are not excited, you are nervous, you don’t even remember the home that well, you have seen so many that even when you saw this one 4 times you can’t remember it now. So you ask to see it one more time.
You walk in this home that is soon to be yours, you start looking at it with different eyes, you had not noticed that the laundry is directly next to the living room, that the ceiling in the master bedroom is 2 feet lower than in the rest of the house, that the kitchen only has two cabinets and no pantry.During the inspections some details come to light and that is just more than you can bear. This, is NOT your house, you cancel escrow.
You take another break, a longer one in this occasion, after a month or so, you realize, your time frame to move is coming up, so you have to get back in the game. This time you are dreading it. How did you get to this point? shouldn’t you be excited? you are buying your home!!! You talk yourself out of your own head drama, and start the process one more time, hoping that this time things will work out because now you have the added factor of working against the clock. Question is, what are you going to do different this time? How will you get your offers accepted? or is that really the key question?
Of course this is an exaggeration, or is it?
Even though it is not a real case in particular, it is very real. Selecting a home to buy and buying it is a major decision in life, I don’t care if it is your first one or fifth one, it is something that will take a big toll on the way you will be living in the near future. So it is understandable that there will be some stress involved, which is why it is very important to have a plan, before you even begin looking at homes. An important part of this plan, should be to have a team of experts guiding you, that are capable of reading not only the local market, but specific situations on a case by case, and prepare you to what to expect along the process
In your team you need:
1.-A full time real estate agent that knows the area you are looking at but is also willing and able to research other areas that might work for you and that is getting trained and up to date with the constant changes in Today’s real estate market and the different ways that each of the distinct types of listings work, for example, he should know the best way to negotiate with a bank, the best way to write up and submit an offer for a short sale, even how to handle a regular sale, imagine that!.
2.-A full time mortgage broker or lender, that is reputable and up to date with the latest changes in rules and regulations in the lending arena. There have been many changes in the last months and some of this changes are very important and can throw off an entire escrow because there are issues of timelines, the margin for error here have become minimal so it is very important that you not only select the person who brings you the best rate, but the one that will be able to handle the transaction and ultimately close your escrow.
3.- Other professionals: Which might include ,A Financial advisor, CPA, Real Estate Lawyer and even a contractor. Not everyone needs all of this professionals, however in most cases at one point you will need the advice of one or the other and it is best to have them in place from the start so that when you are ready to move on a home, you can access them and get the answers you need as quickly as possible. Which of these you will need depends on you, everyone does things differently.
Now that you have assembled your team, the next step is to get pre-approved. Notice that you have not started to look at homes yet, it is smarter to know with certainty how much home you can afford, before you start looking. You do not want to look at homes in the wrong range because if you qualify for less the step down will be hard to swallow, and can hurt your chances of liking the homes you will look at.
In the meantime with your agent, you can start discussing parameters, he will have a lot of questions for you. Make a list of what you like in a home, what you NEED in a home, what you dislike and put them in order of non-negotiables down to acceptable. Understand that there is no perfect home, not even if you built it yourself. So it will require some compromises on your part.
Now is the time to understand what you are looking for, and make a strategic plan accordingly. What are you looking for? Are you buying a deal or a home? I am not saying that you should pay asking price on the first house you see.That would be plain stupid, but understand that everyone dreams of buying a great home at an amazing price, however you have to be realistic or else you will get caught up in the trap that I presented before. Know that if what you are looking for is a deal, your search will require you to be more able to compromise on other things, you will need to have more time to find it, be realistic and knowledgable about the specific market where you are looking, and be clear. What does a deal look like in this area in this market? understand that in this case you will get rejected many times, however you are going about this as a business, you are looking for a deal.
If you are looking for a home, that again does not mean you have to overpay, but understand that if you want a home, with all the bells and whistles, with privacy and a big yard, it will be more sought after and you will have more competition, those things come at a premium, but remember that those things have value so that when you are ready to sell, you also get a premium for them. If you are willing to compromise on some of the most sought after elements you have a stronger position to negotiate. And yes, you will negotiate, and to negotiate you need to have clarity in the following:
1)What is the motivation behind the sale.
2)How badly do I want this house.
3)What are the properties weaknesses.
4)What can I offer to make myself a stronger candidate.
And as I had said previously you have to understand the market, its prices, etc, Be knowledgeable be smart and be quick. In other words, be prepared.
You can not negotiate with an un-motivated seller. Move on. If someone does not want to sell, or if they don’t need to sell, they will not negotiate in the price they have set as a minimum in their mind.
Now here is the big secret…ready? Listen to your team. I dont mean hear them out, I mean listen carefully and communicate back to them clearly, what your expectations are, give them constant feedback. Be ready to change your point of view as things progress but communicate any changes to your team so that they can adjust the search and the plan accordingly. Understand that they are on your side and they know what they are doing, they have done it many times before. They will be strong at reading the situation, telling you when something is already a deal at the listed price, when you are looking at properties they have a trained eye, listen to what they say, I can assure you in the story that I used to open this post, the agent must have pointed out to the buyer some of the problems with the funky layout home, but sometimes out of desperation we don’t listen, and later question why we were not told.
Also, there are different and creative things that your team can come up with, but you have to understand each one has implications, be open to them but ask questions.
Now, knowing all of this, the question is are you ready to buy a home? I mean, are you really READY to go out and BUY a home?
If you need any help or advise on buying a new home you can contact the author at info@SDExclusiveproperties.com or if you want to search the San Diego area market you can do so at www.SDExclusiveproperties.com
Filed under: Buying a home, Fist Time Homebuyers, Foreclosures, Getting Offers Accepted, San Diego Real Estate | Tagged: Del mar homes, carmel valley real estate, carmel valley short sales, del mar real estate, Rancho Santa Fe Real Estate, Rancho Santa Fe Bank Owned Homes for sale, car, Del Mar Short Sales, Del Mar Foreclosures, Rancho Santa Fe Homes, Rancho Santa Fe Foreclosures, Rancho Santa Fe Short Sales, Getting offers accepted, Secrets to writing up an offer, Carmel Valley Bank Owned Homes, Sergio and Rina Real estate proffessionals, SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
http://blip.fm/bright_side
bright_side is a Blip.fm DJ.On Blip.fm you create your own internet radio station and listen to free music played by you and your friends. Join for free to start sharing music!
One of my favorite songs...just had to share it :) Hope you enjoy it!!!
http://mysandiegorealtor.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/51/
I want to share with you some information that came to me from Chris Sorensen and the HELP project.
If you are in a situation where you are considering; A Short Sale, Loan Modification, Letting your property go to Foreclosure or even Bankruptcy, there are Several Tax implications to consider before taking any of the before mentioned routes. I would really hate for you to be in a position where after the fact you learn that you not only lost your home, but now owe money to the IRS.
Here is the information that Chris suggest you take to your CPA so he can help you understand where you and your particular situation would stand.
DEBT CANCELLATION OVERVIEW
Prepared by Jerrie Muir, IRS Tax Consultant
March 5, 2010I. General Rule. When a taxpayer borrows money from a commercial lender and lender later cancels or forgives the debt, the cancelled amount may have to be included in income.
II. Common Exceptions:
Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness- IRC Section 108(a)(1)(E)
Bankruptcy- IRC Section 108(a)(2)(A)
Insolvency- IRC Section 108(a)(1)(B)
Certain Farm Debts
Non-Recourse LoansIII. Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-142)
a. Generally allows taxpayers to EXCLUDE from income debts forgiven or cancelled which were used to buy, built, or substantially improve a home OR refinance debt used for one of those purposes
• Debt must be secured by a home
o Principal residence defined under Treas. Reg 1.121-1(b)(1)
• Maximum amount treated as Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness is $2 Million ($ 1 Million for taxpayers who file a Married Filing Separate Tax Return
• Applies to 2007, 2008, and 2009 Tax Returns
• Forgiven debt excluded from income is reported by taxpayer on IRS Form 982, Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness (and Section 1082 Adjustment), which is attached to the filed tax return
• Forgiven debt of a taxpayer is reported by the lender on Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt
• Taxpayer can also exclude debt if they are insolvent or debts are discharged through Title 11 Bankruptcy
o Taxpayer may make an election to reduce the basis of depreciable property by the excluded income rather than the other tax attributes- IRC Section 1082
• Forgiveness of a Non-Recourse Loan, which is a loan where the lender can ONLY repossess the property and not pursue you personally- Cancellation of this type of debt is NOT TAXABLE
• Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act does NOT apply to debt forgiven on second homes, rental property, business property, credit cards, or car loan
• Capital Loss on the sale of a primary residence is NOT deductible on a tax return• EXAMPLE:
2002
Home Purchase $435K
1st Mortgage $420K
Down payment $ 15K2003
2nd Mortgage obtained to build $ 30K
to build additional room2006
1st and 2nd Mortgages $440K (Loan Balances)
(Before Refinance)
Fair Market Value of Home $500K
Refinance Amount $475K (Cash out of 35K)2008
1st Mortgage $475K (Loan Balance)
Fair Market Value of Home $425K
Loan Modification Amount $ 40K• Taxpayer has 40K in cancelled debt
• 35K Non-Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness is reported on Form 1040, Line 21, as Other Income
• 5K Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness is reported on Form 982IV. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-343)
• Extends the mortgage debt relief on Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness for tax years 2010, 2011, and 2012V. Recourse Debt- When the amount of debt discharged exceeds
Fair Market Value of property
a. Difference is cancellation of debt and considered income
i. Treas. Reg. 1.1001-2(c), Ex. 8; IRS Revenue Ruling 90-16VI. Non-Recourse Debt-
b. Foreclosure/Deed of In Lieu of Foreclosure treated as deemed sale with proceeds equal to the amount of nonrecourse debt
c. Abandonment of real property that has nonrecourse financing treated as deemed sale
d. NO cancellation of debt when treating the nonrecourse debt principal as the amount realized from a deemed salePlease seek good counsel with an acredited CPA and depending on the case perhaps you will need a lawyers advice as well.
Please be wary of companies charging up front fees for any help with one of the situations mentioned before, it is many times not legal and in most cases a bad idea.
I have just added a new post to my blog. If you are considering a Short Sale, Foreclosure, Bankruptcy or Loan Modification...here is a quick thought before you make a decision.
