Hi There,

If you are looking for REAL HEATHER she can now be found at The House Agents. Go to www.thehouseagents.wordpress.com.

Thank you,
Heather

WASHINGTON — Democratic Congressional leaders are working with the White House to extend an expiring $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, and aides said Wednesday that they were considering making it available to current homeowners who purchase a new residence.

Extending and possibly expanding the popular home-buyers credit, which is due to expire after November, is high among options for further stimulating the economy and creating jobs, Congressional aides said, though a White House official said it was only briefly mentioned on Wednesday in an Oval Office meeting between President Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader.

The Democratic leaders met with the president to discuss a broad range of options to combat persistent high unemployment, officials say. The existing credit for first-time home buyers will expire at the end of next month if not extended, and two other components of the economic safety net — unemployment compensation and health care benefits for those who have been out of work for long periods — will expire at the end of the year.

Besides the likelihood of extending those measures, which were part of the $787 billion stimulus law earlier this year, the president and Congress were also weighing additional steps, given projections that jobs will continue to be lost into the middle of next year despite signs of economic recovery, possibly driving the unemployment rate above 10 percent. But they insist that any package will not add up to a second stimulus package, a prospect that would invite Republicans’ attacks on the effectiveness of the first.

Keeping the home-buyers credit and broadening it has been a priority for real estate agents and the home builders lobbies, and for Mr. Reid, who faces a tough re-election race next year in a state that has been among the hardest hit by the housing crisis since mid-2007. In a statement after the White House meeting, Mr. Reid said the government should “continue efforts to strengthen the housing market by extending the home-buyer tax credit.”

By the time it is scheduled to expire, for home purchases that close before Dec. 1, the home-buyers credit will be responsible for nearly 400,000 sales of new and existing homes, out of total sales of 1.4 million, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. That is roughly in line with estimates from the National Association of Realtors.

Mr. Zandi, who formerly advised Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and is now consulted by Democrats in the administration and in Congress, has advocated extending the credit through next August and making it available to all home buyers.

Allowing the credit to expire this year would result in a decline in sales of homes that are not facing foreclosure just as sales of foreclosed homes are expected to pick up, Mr. Zandi said in an interview, “putting further downward pressure on house prices.”

“The economic recovery will not evolve into a self-sustaining economic expansion and risks unraveling back into recession until house prices stop falling,” he added.

But the tax break is not cheap. Congressional analysts put the cost in lost tax revenues at about $1 billion a month. Mr. Zandi said that expanding the availability of the credit to more home buyers through August would cost perhaps $30 billion. While some in the housing industry have proposed nearly doubling the credit to $15,000, Mr. Zandi said $8,000 “seems to have been a sufficiently powerful incentive.”

While Democrats in Congress and the White House emphasize that no decisions have been made about the home buyers credit or any other measures, two officials said that the cost of extending the credit could be covered by redirecting money in the two-year $787 billion stimulus package that was scheduled to be spent after this year.

The current credit is limited to buyers who earn up to $75,000 a year, or couples who make $150,000; in gradually smaller amounts the credit is available to individuals with income from $75,000 to $95,000 and to couples making from $150,000 to $170,000. While the housing industry supports lifting the income caps so that even wealthy home buyers are eligible, White House and Congressional aides say that is not under discussion.

On Thursday, the House is expected to pass legislation from Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, to extend the credit through 2010 for people who have been out of the country this year in the military or intelligence or foreign services.

Mr. Reid is a co-sponsor of a bipartisan Senate bill that would extend the existing credit for six months, through May.

The home-buyers credit has come in for criticism similar to that lodged against another popular stimulus program, the “Cash for Clunkers” subsidy that went to people who traded in vehicles for more fuel-efficient models — that the credit persuades people to act faster on purchases, depressing activity later.

Industry officials counter that expediting home sales helps to stabilize home values now, which is essential for sustaining economic growth. And unlike car sales, home sales have a multiplier effect that spurs job-creating growth throughout the economy. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said each house sale on average yielded $63,000 spent on goods and services, like moving vans and furniture.

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Heating water or more accurately, keeping it heated, is an expensive process and especially unfriendly to the environment if you’re not using solar hot water system. Electric and gas hot water systems account for up to 20% of a household’s greenhouse gas emissions.

We generally set our hot water services to a temperature that’s too hot to immerse our hands in. Instead, we add a ton of cold water to achieve the desired temperature – which is rather wasteful; not to mention a safety issue.

Also, every time you turn off your hot water tap, there can be gallons of hot water still in the lines – the heat is wasted and your hot water service then needs to reheat the equivalent of the water lost. Additionally, the hotter the temperature of your service, the less working life it will have.

For each 10ºF reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3%–5% in energy costs! When we were on bottled gas, we certainly noticed a substantial saving just by dialing back the thermostat a couple of notches.

Other strategies for saving on hot water:

- Use faucet aerators

- Install low flow shower heads – this is very cheap to do and will save incredible amounts of water.

- Check the laggings on external pipes regularly and replace if necessary

- Buy a water heater insulation blanket that can help reduce heat loss (more suited to electric hot water systems) – another very cheap item

- Wherever possible, use cold water in food preparation and cooking. Heating water on your stovetop consumes less gas/electricity as your water heater is likely to go into a heating cycle whenever hot water is used. Better still, use a microwave to heat the water

- Use cold water for washing your hands – there are really no health benefits in using hot water as the temperatures that kill bacteria are also too high for human skin.

- These days, with the improvements in laundry products, there’s little need to use hot water in washing cycles. We use cold water for wash and rinse cycles and haven’t experienced any problems with getting our clothes clean – just be sure to use earth friendly detergents.

- If you’re replacing your dishwasher soon; consider buying one with a in-built water heater, which will save energy.

- If you are in the market for a new gas hot water service, consider a tankless system. Tankless systems operate on an “on demand” basis; heating water when it’s required. Anywhere up to a third of the energy used by a standard water heater is consumed by maintaining water at temperature in between uses.

Maybe you’ve considered solar hot water in the past, but it was too expensive? It might be worth your while to look into it again. Not only have prices generally dropped and the technology improved; but many governments also offer renewable energy rebates that can substantially offset the cost; in some cases making these systems comparable in price to a standard hot water service. By switching to solar hot water, you’ll not only slash your household carbon emissions, but up to 75% of your water heating costs.

How a Tankless Water Heater Works

Trade groups for real estate agents and home builders are pressuring Congress to continue and even broaden the $8,000 credit, which is scheduled to expire Nov. 30.
By Kenneth R. Harney

August 23, 2009

Reporting from Washington – It’s one of the biggest unknowns bugging would-be buyers of houses and condos this summer: Will Congress let the $8,000 nonrepayable tax credit for first-time purchasers expire as scheduled 14 weeks from now?

Or will the credit get a second life and be extended for six to 12 months, taking pressure off buyers, real estate agents and escrow companies?

That’s an especially urgent matter if you’re a buyer just starting to shop and you see entry-level prices bottoming out or rebounding in many local markets. The tax credit statute requires buyers to fully close on their purchases — not just be in escrow — no later than Nov. 30. This doesn’t leave a lot of leeway for people who haven’t yet decided on a specific house and who haven’t nailed down financing.

The process of negotiating offers, signing sales contracts, applying for a loan and completing the closing can easily extend for two months — or a lot longer if things get off track.

Given the rapidly approaching deadline, what’s the likelihood that Congress will allow at least a little extra time? Here’s a quick overview: Although Congress is on its summer break, most members of the Senate and House use part of the August recess to meet with and listen to constituents in their home districts.

This year, the two biggest housing trade groups — the National Assn. of Realtors and the National Assn. of Home Builders — are spending the month mounting intense lobbying campaigns to make the case for extending the credit and maybe even expanding it. The effort is targeted first at the districts of members of the two tax-writing committees — House Ways and Means and Senate Finance — but is expected to cover most other members as well, according to officials of the two groups.

Delegations of home builders and real estate brokers already have begun descending on district offices, delivering what Jerry Howard, president and chief executive of the builders association, calls “the hard economic facts” — the numbers of houses sold in each Congress member’s district that are attributable to the tax credit; the economic ripple effects on local businesses, manufacturers and service industries; new jobs and income; plus the additional tax revenue that all this activity will help produce for local governments.

On a national basis, according to economists at the National Assn. of Realtors, the credit will be responsible for 300,000 to 350,000 additional sales of houses this year. Each home sale generates about $63,000 in downstream “ripple effects” elsewhere in the economy, they say.

If you accept the numbers, which some analysts consider a stretch, this means the housing credit provides a powerful, immediate stimulus bang for the buck. Failure to extend what may be one of the most effective pieces of the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus legislation would cost jobs, economic growth and tax revenue, the housing groups contend.

There are some signs that Congress may be getting the message. Bills are pending in both houses to extend the credit for another year. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), whose state has been among the worst hit by the housing bust, reportedly favors an extension of the credit. He was quoted to that effect by the Las Vegas Sun on Aug. 5.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is cosponsoring a bill with Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) that would raise the credit amount to a maximum of $15,000. Meanwhile, the Realtors and the builders are pushing not only for extension of the credit, but for broadening it to cover all home purchases in 2010.

But can any of this happen before the Nov. 30 deadline? The key complicating factor here is Congress’ heavy load of higher-profile issues that will get attention before anything else in September and October. On top of that, a tax credit extension would cost billions in lost revenue — a big negative when the federal budget deficit is in record red-ink territory.

In the end, however, given the political economics of the housing credit, the odds favor some sort of extension, probably later rather than sooner.

The one thing that will say is pretty shocking is how fast the properties are going at the lower levels. Everyone is trying to get in before the cut off of November 30th to get the $8,000 tax credit. So I am finding that houses in the lower price ranges are going for more then asking with multiple offers. It is just the jumbo loan territory where the $8,000 is fairly insignificant and the qualifiers for the loans in that range wouldn’t even be eligible for the tax credits that the houses are sitting.

Let me know if you want me to help you enter the market.  The time to buy is now!  No, really!

Heather

By E. Scott Reckard

TransUnion expects the percentage of California home loans that are at least 60 days late or are in foreclosure to skyrocket to more than 14% by year-end.
Housing index hints at upturn in home prices Housing index hints at upturn in home price

August 25, 2009 | 12:25 a.m.

Mortgage delinquencies will continue to rise and set records the rest of this year in California, according to projections to be released today by TransUnion, one of the three big U.S. credit-reporting companies.

The good news from TransUnion’s number-crunching is that, even in the tarnished Golden State, the trend may finally reverse itself by the middle of next year.

Before that can happen, lenders must first work through scads of backed-up problem loans clogging their pipelines, F.J. Guarrera, vice president for banking at the Chicago data analyzer, said in an interview Monday.

So in the immediate future the percentage of California home loans that are delinquent at least 60 days or are in foreclosure is projected to skyrocket to more than 14% by year’s end from 9.7% as of June 30, TransUnion said.

In the region including Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the delinquency rate also was expected to hit 14% at the end of the year, up from 10.7% as of June 30.

“We think that’s about as bad as it’s going to get,” Guarrera said.

California’s overall economic picture is worse than that of the country as a whole. The unemployment rate was 11.9% in July compared with the nation’s 9.4%. What’s more, the whipsaw of home prices from the housing boom and bust was exaggerated in California, leaving more borrowers than average “underwater,” or owing more than their homes are worth.

It’s no surprise, then, that the state’s mortgage woes are far greater than the nation’s. At the end of June, 5.8% of home loans nationally were late 60 days or more, a percentage TransUnion expects to rise to 6.9% by the end of this year.

The TransUnion data reinforce a report last week from the Mortgage Bankers Assn. on the new records being set for problem home loans. But the credit-reporting company had more specific regional numbers than the national trade group.

In particular, the situation and the outlook in the Inland Empire are “kind of staggering,” Guarrera said.

As of June 30, 14.9% of residential mortgages in San Bernardino County were at least 60 days late. And in Riverside County, where boom-era home building reached a frenzied peak, 16.5% of home loans were at least 60 days past due.

By comparison, at the end of the first quarter of 2007, Riverside County’s delinquency rate was 2.6% and San Bernardino County’s, 2.3%.

The normal national rate for these delinquencies is 1.6% to 2%, Guarrera said.

Although California will struggle for the rest of the year, the outlook nationally is brightening a bit, he said. For example, Ohio, a Rust Belt state where foreclosures surged long before those in California, recorded a lower delinquency rate in the second quarter with 4.57% of loans in the problem category, down from 4.79% the previous quarter.

By Kathleen M. Howley and Shobhana Chandra

Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) — The worst may be over for the U.S. real estate market, according to two gauges of home prices.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index, which tracks 20 metropolitan areas, declined 15.4 percent in June from a year earlier, the smallest drop since April 2008, the group said today in New York. Nationally, prices fell 6.1 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the best performance in a year, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

“It is real and it looks like a turn,” said Karl Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College and co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller indexes, said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio. “It’s not going down any more and it’s beginning to come up. That’s very good for the future of this financial problem.”

Falling prices and government stimulus efforts have made houses more affordable for first-time buyers, spurring increases in sales that have pared the number of available properties. Gains in housing and stock prices could speed the process of restoring the record loss of wealth that has shackled consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy.

About $3.4 trillion worth of U.S. houses are at risk of default because the owners owe more than the market value, according to an Aug. 13 report by First American CoreLogic. The number of so-called underwater properties totaled 15.2 million in the second quarter, or almost one-third, the study by the Santa Ana, California-based data company showed. If prices fall 5 percent, 2.5 million more properties will have negative equity.

Surge in Sales

National sales of existing homes jumped more than forecast in July to the highest level in almost two years, fueled by a tax credit of as much as $8,000 for first-time buyers.

Purchases climbed 7.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.24 million, the most since August 2007, according to an Aug. 21 report by the Chicago-based NAR. The gain was the biggest since records began in 1999.

Home prices probably will fall 13 percent in the current quarter compared with the drop of 16 percent from April through June, the National Association of Realtors said in a forecast on its Web site. Price declines may slow to 2 percent in the fourth quarter before gaining 2.3 percent in the first three months of 2010, the Realtors said.

“The sharp freefall in prices is over,” said Michelle Meyer, an economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York.

Home prices measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller index climbed 1.4 percent in June from the previous month, the second consecutive gain and the biggest since June 2005. The FHFA index showed a 0.5 percent increase during June.

California Prices

California single-family home prices fell 20 percent in July from a year earlier as the sale of foreclosed properties pushed down values, the state Association of Realtors said today in a separate report.

The median price for an existing, single-family detached house dropped to $285,480 last month from $355,000 a year earlier, according to the report by the Los Angeles-based group. The July price rose 3.9 percent from June.

In Las Vegas, the median home price fell 41 percent from a year earlier in July, according to a report today by research company MDA DataQuick, based in San Diego. Almost 70 percent of the homes that sold during the month had been in foreclosure at some point in the prior year, according to the report.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kathleen M. Howley in Boston at kmhowley@bloomberg.net; Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 25, 2009 16:24 EDT

So now I am armed with a clear destination.  Next she helped me to create a daily schedule that includes 2 hours each day of lead generation, has classes scheduled, and appointments and showings, as well as time to work out and a day off.  And if I erase, I must replace these essentials.  And of course, each daily event leads me closer to my goals.

My first assignment for lead generation: to call all of my friends (or my “sphere of influence”) and let them know, if they don’t already, that I am now a real estate salesperson.  I need to put it out into the universe for the universe to take my path seriously.  Plus, I have heard stories from friends that became real estate agents where peers went to other agents because they thought of the friend as a friend, and not as a professional.  I don’t want to be the person that gets sad when friends go elsewhere for their real estate needs when I didn’t let them know that I wanted to help them buy and sell their homes.

Also, even if my friends aren’t ready to enter the real estate market, people talk to the people in their lives and mention life changes.  If one of my friends hears about someone buying or selling, I want them to know how much I would appreciate it if they would forward my information on.

So this has been great so far….  But that story will be for another day.