Hellooooo My Beautiful Wonderful Bay Area!!… Happy Day to You!!… You may or may not have heard… but its Happy Hallelujah Day for all First Time Homebuyers who have ratified contracts in place as of April 30, 2010!!… As of last nite the Senate passed the bill and the House of Representatives passed the same bill earlier this week to EXTEND the closing deadline for Homebuyer Tax Credit Eligibility from June 30, 2010 to the new date of September 30, 2010… The bill now goes to the President for his signature..
To be clear… the extension applies only to transactions with ratified contracts by April 30, 2010 that have not yet closed? (Nearly 180,000 homebuyers would have missed out on the tax credit had Congress not taken action to extend the deadline to close escrow… Estimates from the National Association of Realtors show as many as 17,700 home buyers in California would not have received the tax credit without this extension…)
Will keep you posted… Thanks for checking in…
Cheers Everyone!…
Isi
Isi Wu… the realtor for you…
Serving Clients All Over the Eastbay!
Greetings My Wonderful Beautiful Bay Area!!… Today I want to revisit what can happen to you if you enter into a Short Sale or if the Bank Forecloses on your property and sells it.
There is NO FREE LUNCH when it comes to the IRS… whenever your home is sold… whether by regular conventional means or if you sold your home at a loss and you paid the difference or by short sale approved by the Bank or involuntarily by foreclosure… be warned you may be subject to taxes!
It doesn’t seem fair and what’s worse… you may not even find out that you owe taxes until the day you open your mail and find a 1099.
The IRS has tax rules for foreclosures or repossessions by lenders of homes belonging to owners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments. There can be severe and unexpected tax consequences for any owner who simply walks away just because he or she has little or no equity and the lender takes over and sells the property. When a mortgaged property is foreclosed or repossessed and the bank re-acquires it or the bank knows the owner abandoned the property… the bank will send Form 1099 to the owner and the IRS… it will include the foreclosed bid price, the actual debt (loan) amount and the amount short of the debt amount… that amount will be taxed as ordinary income… the same as for your salary.
Sellers of residences acquired within the past two years or so are going to incur losses. Even assuming no price declines, losses will result because of expenses for real estate brokers, lawyers and the like. Sellers will not be able to deduct those losses… it makes no difference that they are forced to sell because of ie)… job changes or health reasons.
** There’s also information floating around that Banks where distressed properties have overtaken the area in certain markets…are taking steps where even after they approve and close a property for short sale… they will be actively tracking the owner of that short saled property over the next 6 years… during that time if their credit rating goes up and if they attempt to purchase another home they will be pursuing them for the “short amount” they lost when they approved that person’s short sale 6 years prior… This bit of information is not fact – as of yet here in California… yet people… Everyone please do everything you can to protect yourselves BEFORE A FORECLOSURE OR SELLING… PLAN AHEAD… especially before attempting to sell on a short sale or going through a foreclosure… please get legal and tax advice… do the planning BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!!…
Thanks for checking in…
Isi
Isi Wu… the realtor for you
Serving Clients All Over the Eastbay!
Hellooooo my Beautiful Wonderful San Francisco Bay Area!!… The Burning Question of the Day!!
Everyone listen up… NOT ALL BANKS have the same requirements to close short sales… Dont Assume they’re all the same… ding ding ding… please wake up sellers, buyers and agents!!… 
The short sale process is generally as follows…
- Complete Short Sale Package from seller and submit…
- Submit Offer…
- Bank acknowledges receipt…. 10 to 30 days…
- Bank orders BPO or appraisal… 30 to 60 days…
- File is reviewed… 30 to 60 days…
- Negotiator is assigned… 30 to 60 days…
- Level 2 Negotiator may be assigned… 30-60 days…
- File is approved or rejected… 60-120 days…
If you’re running past 120 days… its possible the listing agent or a 3rd party negotiator isnt on the ball and very lax in contacting the bank… calling the bank can mean waiting on hold anywhere from10 minutes to an hour or longer… or it could also mean the bank has internal problems ie) not enough staff or lost the file a few times… causing agents to resend packages over and over… You cant always avoid problems in a short sale… PATIENCE is key… threats to walk away from your offer means nothing to the bank… stick it out and wait… if you really truly want the home….
Thanks for checking in… your comments are always welcome…
Come back and visit all the time!!…
Isi
Isi Wu… the realtor for you…
Serving Clients All Over the Eastbay…
Greetings to You My Beautiful Wonderful Bay Area… The Thanksgiving Holiday has come and gone… hope it was spent the way you wanted! It always takes me awhile during and after the holidays to come back to full work mode… its always a special time for reflection and its a great way for me to just take it all in… whatever that might be… but you’re never ever far from my mind…
Today I want to share this with you… Its something that came across the news yesterday… There’s a growing epidemic of people across this country… about to be foreclosed on who have resorted to burning down their homes!!… mostly out of sheer desperation because they cant get help from their banks… many resort to this with the misguided understanding that by losing their homes to fire their home insurance will pay off their mortgages!!… Some may look at this as not being desperate, but being spiteful and destructive and greedy. The fact is… its happening… right or wrong… (its not the issue)
http://bit.ly/7zUIUI and http://bit.ly/8cX1lv
Its a terrible terrible situation… this problem obviously is too large for any one of us (as individuals) to fix…but we need to remember that there are so many others with much bigger problems than we have… whether they brought it upon themselves or not… I surely dont know what the solution is or if there ever will be…
I just hope we can keep in mind the “reason for the season”… and work towards a better future for all.
Thanks for checking in… your comments are always welcome… Come back and visit all the time!!…
Isi
Isi Wu… the realtor for you…
Serving Clients All Over the Eastbay…
I’m sure the thought has entered our minds… just when the “bad guys” were going to pop into the picture… in the rush to save their homes and reaching out to those “legal eagles” who have made themselves available to the homeowner in trouble… Consumers Beware…
The State Bar of California has recently launched numerous investigations against attorneys for misconduct related to loan modifications. In a rare move, the State Bar has released the names of 16 attorneys under investigation, by opting to waive investigation confidentiality in favor of public protection. These attorneys have allegedly taken fees for promised services, but failed to perform those services or even communicate with their clients who face the possible loss of their homes. Their non-attorney staff may also be under investigation for unlawfully practicing law.
Not all attorneys engaged in loan modifications are unscrupulous. However, this announcement from the State Bar serves as a good reminder for REALTORS® and their clients to be careful when dealing with attorneys and others for loan modifications. Scam artists may intentionally associate or affiliate themselves with attorneys in an attempt to lend credence to their fraudulent schemes. The list of attorneys currently under investigation is available at http://calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10144&n=96395
1. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorizes a tax credit-set to expire in the fall-of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time homebuyers purchasing a principal residence.
2. Builder incentives are aplenty; from including upgraded features to generous financing assistance (keep an updated list handy!)
3. Your chance to move into the school district or neighborhood of your choice has never been better than now.
4. You can take advantage of historically low interest rates on mortgages. Today’s rates are some of the lowest seen in the past (30) years.
5. You have lots of inventory to choose from – take your pick from single family homes, condominiums, garden homes, gated communities, upscale homes, homes on the golf course, and many others.
6. If you are currently renting, a mortgage payment could be lower than your monthly rent, plus you could be building up equity and getting a tax deduction in the process.
For all you buyers in Northern Calfornia who want to purchase a Bank Owned or Short Sale property:
1. Please do not believe what you hear or read from the Media.
2. Please listen to the advice of your Realtor.
3. Please believe us when we say the lenders are not willing to give away the properties.
4. Please understand that that the lenders are taking anywhere from 30 to 50 per cent loss on the home.
5. Please understand for the most part the lenders will not take less than listed price.
6. Please understand that when the property is in great condition and in a good location that the there will be multiple offers.
7. Please understand that when there are multiple offers, you need to offer more than listed price.
8. Please understand that real estate in the long run has always gone up in value.
9. Please understand that interest rates will not remain low forever and now is the right time to buy.
10. AND finally, Please understand that there are not any deals!… The deals are here right now!… Homes are ON SALE right now!!!
