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As we begin the New Year there are several pieces to the real estate and mortgage market puzzle that I think will be helpful to home buyers, sellers and home homeowners. Let’s start with the $8000 Federal Tax Credit. The credit is limited to 10% of purchase price not to exceed $8000 and the purchase price cannot exceed $800,000. In other words, if you pay $810,000 for a home, no tax credit, buy it for $800,000 and you may qualify for an $8,000 federal tax credit. As amended and expanded, the Tax Credit can be used by first time homebuyers and, with some restrictions, by move up buyers as well. To qualify, the sale must be in escrow by April 30 and close by June 30. The tax credit can be used for the tax year 2009 or 2010 and does not need to be repaid as long as you meet the requirements. Your REALTOR® or Tax Advisor can give you all the details. And speaking of tax credits, the Governor has proposed an extension and expansion of the 2009 state tax credit for California that was limited to new construction purchases only. The $100 million allotted in the 2009 program was gone within five months. The proposal put forth in the Governors state of the state address would be for all homes, not just new construction and $2billion would be allotted for the tax credit by the state. Remember, it just a proposal and must be approved by the somewhat contentious California Legislature. Rates continue in an historic low range, so really there is nowhere to go but up. Rates jumped up at year end, however have drifted back down this past week. The long term consensus is that conforming rates will rise to 6% by the end of 2010, which is still low by historical standards. There are three primary categories of conventional loans today. For conforming loans up to $417,000, rates are very near 5% on single family homes. The second category is high balance conforming loans up to $729,500. This segment runs .375% to .50% higher in rate than conforming. Today, that would be the mid 5%’s or slightly less. And then we have Jumbos. Lenders offering competitive jumbo financing are few in number. At best add .375% to .50% to the high balance conforming rate or somewhere between 5.75% and 6% for a 30 year fixed rate. The best rate in any category is with at least 20% down on a single family with credit scores above 720. FHA Loans are available up to $729,500 with as little as 5% down and scores in the mid 600’s. You may have heard that pending home sales have increased for 9 months in a row until November. As expected the number of pending contracts fell as buyers waited for the federal tax credit to be renewed. This chart shows the history of pending home sales going back to 2003. Red reflects contractions and green, expansions. While it is expected that the pending home sales will continue to expand, the expansion may be negligible in December and January due to the holidays. This chart reflects further indication that the bottom of the market was a little over one year ago. A question that comes up, especially with first time home buyers, is “how should I take title”? To shed some light on that subject I’ve put together helpful tips in the Quick Links Section of our Resource Center Home Page. Quick Links are located in the right sidebar at the top of the page. In these complex times, I am always available to answer your questions or discuss you concerns. Simply call, text or email me for a prompt response. Now, more than ever buyers and sellers will benefit from the advice and guidance that an experienced REALTOR® can provide. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, I invite you to start at our Resource Center, www.AboutBayAreaHomes.com. There you will find links for active home listings, including bank owned and short sales, home loans, market activity reports, home seller strategies, staging and decorating, a suite of 19 calculators, plus my book, “Let’s Make a Deal, The insiders Guide to Buying and Selling Real Estate” and more. Of course I am always available to discuss your real estate or mortgage related questions or concerns, just call, text or email me for a prompt response. Russ Boyd and his team professionally assist buyers, sellers and homeowners in the Peninsula Communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. They serve clients in San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Licensed as a Real Estate Broker by the California Department of Real Estate, 01264240.

Real Estate and Mortgage Market Updates and Commentary Videos by Russ Boyd are uploaded to Youtube, MetaCafe, Veoh, Vimeo and Yahoo Video by

As we begin the New Year there are several pieces to the real estate and mortgage market puzzle that I think will be helpful to home buyers, sellers and home homeowners. Let’s start with the $8000 Federal Tax Credit. The credit is limited to 10% of purchase price not to exceed $8000 and the purchase price cannot exceed $800,000. In other words, if you pay $810,000 for a home, no tax credit, buy it for $800,000 and you may qualify for an $8,000 federal tax credit. As amended and expanded, the Tax Credit can be used by first time homebuyers and, with some restrictions, by move up buyers as well. To qualify, the sale must be in escrow by April 30 and close by June 30. The tax credit can be used for the tax year 2009 or 2010 and does not need to be repaid as long as you meet the requirements. Your REALTOR® or Tax Advisor can give you all the details. And speaking of tax credits, the Governor has proposed an extension and expansion of the 2009 state tax credit for California that was limited to new construction purchases only. The $100 million allotted in the 2009 program was gone within five months. The proposal put forth in the Governors state of the state address would be for all homes, not just new construction and $2billion would be allotted for the tax credit by the state. Remember, it just a proposal and must be approved by the somewhat contentious California Legislature. Rates continue in an historic low range, so really there is nowhere to go but up. Rates jumped up at year end, however have drifted back down this past week. The long term consensus is that conforming rates will rise to 6% by the end of 2010, which is still low by historical standards. There are three primary categories of conventional loans today. For conforming loans up to $417,000, rates are very near 5% on single family homes. The second category is high balance conforming loans up to $729,500. This segment runs .375% to .50% higher in rate than conforming. Today, that would be the mid 5%’s or slightly less. And then we have Jumbos. Lenders offering competitive jumbo financing are few in number. At best add .375% to .50% to the high balance conforming rate or somewhere between 5.75% and 6% for a 30 year fixed rate. The best rate in any category is with at least 20% down on a single family with credit scores above 720. FHA Loans are available up to $729,500 with as little as 5% down and scores in the mid 600’s. You may have heard that pending home sales have increased for 9 months in a row until November. As expected the number of pending contracts fell as buyers waited for the federal tax credit to be renewed. This chart shows the history of pending home sales going back to 2003. Red reflects contractions and green, expansions. While it is expected that the pending home sales will continue to expand, the expansion may be negligible in December and January due to the holidays. This chart reflects further indication that the bottom of the market was a little over one year ago. A question that comes up, especially with first time home buyers, is “how should I take title”? To shed some light on that subject I’ve put together helpful tips in the Quick Links Section of our Resource Center Home Page. Quick Links are located in the right sidebar at the top of the page. In these complex times, I am always available to answer your questions or discuss you concerns. Simply call, text or email me for a prompt response. Now, more than ever buyers and sellers will benefit from the advice and guidance that an experienced REALTOR® can provide. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, I invite you to start at our Resource Center, www.AboutBayAreaHomes.com. There you will find links for active home listings, including bank owned and short sales, home loans, market activity reports, home seller strategies, staging and decorating, a suite of 19 calculators, plus my book, “Let’s Make a Deal, The insiders Guide to Buying and Selling Real Estate” and more. Of course I am always available to discuss your real estate or mortgage related questions or concerns, just call, text or email me for a prompt response. Russ Boyd and his team professionally assist buyers, sellers and homeowners in the Peninsula Communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. They serve clients in San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Licensed as a Real Estate Broker by the California Department of Real Estate, 01264240.

As 2009 comes to a close best wishes for a happy, peaceful and prosperous new year. One of my blog goals is to keep you up to date with what is really going on in the real estate market.

Earlier this month I alerted a buyer client that this home was a new listing. As you can see, this is a cute vintage home with great curb appeal. Looking at the interior photos reveals a traditional home built in the 1930’s.

The list price was in the low $700,000’s. The appealing look of the home and that price was the first indicator of what was coming. As I expected, my client wanted to see the home the next day, which was Thursday. Broker Tour was scheduled for Friday and both Saturday and Sunday open houses were on the calendar as well. Offers were scheduled for the following Wednesday.

The home was originally built as a two bedroom one bath. Over the years a third bedroom and bath had been added in the attic and a family room addition was built at the back of the home. The home’s interior condition is what could be called “vintage”. In other words it need compete updating, plus the additions created what is called “functional obsolescence”, although some might call it “funky”. To create stairway access to the attic bedroom a kitchen wall had been removed. Now there was no room for the refrigerator in the kitchen so it was located in the laundry area, which also served as the back porch and led to the upstairs staircase. The entrance to the “family room” was through this combination back porch, laundry, staircase area.

Turns out that there were nearly 500 people through the open houses over the weekend and by Tuesday there had been 80 disclosure packages downloaded and the listing agent had 15 confirmed offers.

Since my client wanted to make an offer we determined that the best shot would be their “highest and best “offer up front. This turned out to be $202,000 over the asking price, a 30 day escrow and a five day inspection contingency period. Of course, they already had their loan approval.

There were at least 20 offers and my clients offer was not the winning offer. I strongly believe (although it is not confirmed) that the home went for well over $1million.

The lessons for sellers; picture perfect presentation and pricing at the low end of the value range is what will get you top dollar in the shortest time.

For buyers; a new listing that gets your attention with price and presentation will get the attention of others. Despite what you’ve heard, there are plenty of qualified buyers and inventory is low. Be prepared to be in a competitive situation and make your “highest and best’ offer first because you probable will only get one chance. Another strategy is to look for homes that have “aged” on the market due to cosmetic appearance or high pricing. Over time sellers become more realistic about price.

Now, more than ever buyers and sellers will benefit from the advice and guidance that an experianced REALTOR® can provide. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, I invite you to start at our Resource Center, www.AboutBayAreaHomes.com. There you will find links for active home listings, including bank owned and short sales, home loans, market activity reports, home seller strategies, staging and decorating, a suite of 19 calculators, plus my book, “Let’s Make a Deal, The insiders Guide to Buying and Selling Real Estate” and more. Of course I am always available to discuss your real estate or mortgage related questions or concerns, just call, text or email me for a prompt response.

Russ Boyd and his team professionally assist buyers, sellers and homeowners in the Peninsula Communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. They serve clients in San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Licensed as a Real Estate Broker by the California Department of Real Estate, 01264240.