Five Canyons Homes

Meena’s Pleasanton Blog

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25 Mar

New Home Buyer Tax credit signed today

Author: admin / Category: Palomares Hills, five canyons, five canyons homes

News from the California Association of Realtors:

Today Gov. Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 183, the Homebuyer Tax Credit legislation, into law. His actions today are the result of our efforts in Sacramento over the last several weeks as members and our team in the capital worked for the bill’s passage before it landed on the governor’s desk.

AB 183 will provide $200 million for home buyer tax credits, allocating $100 million for qualified first-time home buyers of existing homes and $100 million for purchasers of new, or previously unoccupied, homes. The eligible taxpayer who purchases a qualified personal residence on and after May 1, 2010, and on or before Dec. 31, 2010, or who purchases a qualified principal residence on and after Dec. 31, 2010, and before Aug. 1, 2011, pursuant to an enforceable contract executed on or before Dec. 31, 2010, will be able to take the allowed tax credit. The credit is equal to the lesser of 5 percent of the purchase price or $10,000, in equal installments over three consecutive years. Under AB 183, purchasers will be required to live in the home for at least two years or forfeit the credit (i.e., repay it to the state).

The positive impact of the federal home buyer tax credit is clear. Nearly 40 percent of first-time home buyers said they would not have purchased a home if the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers was not offered, according to C.A.R. research conducted last year.

The state’s previous home buyer tax credit program was so successful that it ran out of tax credits by the end of June 2009, eight months before it was set to expire and just as housing markets appeared to be turning a corner. Unlike last year’s legislation, AB 183 adds a tax credit for the purchase of an existing home by a first-time home buyer.

AB 183 will significantly contribute to the effort to stimulate jobs-creation within California’s housing market by helping to incentivize first-time home buyers to purchase homes that have been abandoned, foreclosed upon and returned to the lender, or have been sitting on the market for extended periods of time. It is these homes that will require substantial rehabilitation by the new owners, which will in turn generate a tremendous increase in jobs and accessory purchases connected to home improvement activities.

If I can help answer any questions you can reach me at 510-279-9580 or go to my website at: http://www.helpusellachievers.com

Meena’s Pleasanton Blog

Homes sold by Meena in Castro Valley, California

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23 Mar

Help-U-Sell leads way with set fee model

Author: admin / Category: Palomares Hills, five canyons, five canyons homes

Traditional real estate brokers are beginning to see what Help-U-Sell® brokers have known since 1976, selling consumers prefer set fee real estate services and a menu of services.

Trend toward fee-based services

In an online survey by Inman Publishing taken by 505 respondents between Feb. 5 and March 5, 2010, “more than half of respondents (57.8 percent) believe that real estate services will increasingly be fee-based in the next 10 years, moving away from the traditional commission structure,” which typically runs between 6 and 7 percent of the sales price of a home.

“Fees will increasingly be based on the consumer’s selection of services by the year 2010,” said 40.4 percent of respondents. Another 17.4 percent said “that brokers will increasingly charge a flat fee for real estate services.”

Buyer’s agent compensation trends

In the Inman survey, 44.6 percent of respondents said they thought the structure of buyer’s agent compensation will be unchanged for the next 10 years, and “that buyer’s agents will continue to be paid through the cooperative commission amount offered by the listing brokerage.”

Buyers negotiating the compensation for buyer’s agent services are a trend projected by 22.8 percent of respondents, while 16.4 percent thought that in the next 10 years “buyer’s agents will be compensated for the specific duties performed and/or hours worked.”

Help-U-Sell® Beliefs

“For more than 35 years, Help-U-Sell® has believed that the traditional 6 percent commission is an outdated practice and has no correlation to the cost of performing a real estate transaction,” said John Powell, Help-U-Sell® Chief Operating Officer.

“Our goal is to provide a fair price for the cost of services rendered, much like any other professional service that consumers pay for. Since the cost of doing business varies throughout the country, the set-fee offered for our services also varies, depending on the market. What doesn’t change is the scope of services we provide. We perform all the same services as traditional real estate companies, and, often times, more.”

For more information about Help-U-Sell® Real Estate services or to sell your home in Five Canyons, Castro Valley, Palomares Hills or the East Bay for a set fee, visit http://www.helpusellachievers.com or call Meena at 510-279-9580.

To see my other Real Estate Blogs click:

http://www.helpusellachievers.com

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20 Mar

Five Canyons Homes- Market Conditions

Author: admin / Category: Palomares Hills, five canyons, five canyons homes

As per the Bay East Association of Realtors, Days on Market (DOM) for the Castro Valley area year-to-date is around 71. The median attached home price in Castro Valley for February was $507,500. As of the last day of February there were 95 active homes in Castro Valley. At current selling rates this means there is approximately 2 months of inventory in Castro Valley remaining.

As of March 17, 2010 there were 4 homes in Palomares Hills listed in a price range of $595,000-$775,950. There are no homes currently on the market in Five Canyons.

98 SFR homes and 20 Condos / townhouses for sale in Castro Valley California. The price range for SFR is $214,000-$3,000,000 and for condos/ townhouse is $161,000-$649,000.

Castro Valley Statistics	Active	Pending	Sold	Months Supply
Feb 09	151	30	25	5.2
Mar 09	137	50	25	3.9
Apr 09	125	46	31	3.0
May 09	111	48	34	2.6
Jun 09	102	53	29	2.1
Jul 09	108	49	45	2.2
Aug 09	100	52	44	2.0
Sep 09	107	48	38	2.1
Oct 09	103	47	30	2.1
Nov 09	78	51	26	.16
Dec 09	75	41	42	1.6
Jan 10	77	35	23	1.8
Feb 10	95	41	26	2.3

Here is an article I read in the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal

Nabbing a bargain-basement mortgage before rates rise
The Federal Reserve has been purchasing mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since early last year. The purchase program has helped maintain low interest rates for borrowers. As planned, the Fed this week announced it will stop purchasing these securities at the end of this month. Many analysts anticipate this will result in a slight rise in rates by year’s end.

MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS

Interest rates have hovered at or near historic lows for much of the past 18 months, resulting in lower payments for many borrowers. With the Fed discontinuing its purchase program, some analysts believe a rise in interest rates could range from 0.25 percent to as much as 1 percent by the end of 2010.
The federal tax credit for home buyers also is scheduled to end April 30. The tax credit combined with the expectation interest rates will increase has created a sense of urgency for many home buyers. In fact, 23 percent of California home buyers purchased a home in 2009 due to the perception that interest rates will rise and they would be priced out of the market, according to C.A.R.’s 2009 Survey of California Home Buyers.
Rising interest rates will have an effect on home buyers. For example, a qualified couple with a combined pretax income of $100,000 per year and debt obligations (excluding mortgage) of $500 who receive a mortgage rate of 5 percent could qualify for a loan of up to $590,000, assuming a 20 percent down payment. If the interest rate were to rise to 6 percent, as analysts at Barclays Capital predict, the same couple could only qualify for a mortgage of $540,000.

I specialize in Five Canyons and Palomares Hills. If you are looking for a list of Castro Valley Homes for sale, or sell your home in Castro Valley for a flat fee or full service and save thousands of dollars, please call Meena Gujral at 510-279-9580 or go to my website:

Homes sold by Meena in Castro Valley, California

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